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Crystal Meth Treatment

Addiction experts admit that meth is, in addition to being one of the most addictive street drugs, it is also one of the most difficult to treat. Many feel that the drug surpasses cocaine and heroin in its “hold” on the addict. Relapses are fairly common, but treatment can be effective.

The Partnership For A Drug-Free America suggests that the process of treatment can be seen as four distinct stages, which combine to allow the former addict to remain drug-free following rehabilitation (“rehab”).

1. Abstinence: While the drug is still in the bloodstream, the addict’s thinking is distorted. Under the supervision of the treatment center, the patient experiences (perhaps for the first time in a long time) the feelings of a gradual clearing of the mind. A complex psychological and biological process, this “weaning” of the patient from the effects of the drug is key to the success of all other aspects of treatment. As long as the patient’s thinking is distorted, no amount of treatment would be effective.

2. Removal of Denial: Almost always, when the patient is brought to treatment involuntarily (through the courts, as the result of an intervention by family, or on the advice of the employer), the addict is unsure of, or unwilling to address, the extent of his or her problem. Even those who admit that their drug use is problematic may not yet fully acknowledge how out of control they have been. In treatment, the group process allows the patient to examine this understandable denial, and admit the need for help and support.

3. Removal of Isolation: The longer an addict uses, the more deeply he or she retreats from society. Relationships deteriorate in quality and quantity. Whether the isolation is a result of shame, paranoia, fear of discovery, or other reasons, the patient in treatment discovers that others have had similar experiences. Experts understand that the bond between those in recovery is perhaps the most potent force to keep the addict focused on getting better. The intensity of the shared experience of rehab builds fundamentally different relationships that will provide support for the patient outside of treatment.

4. Basic Training: This term is suggested by Jeffery Smith, MD, as a good way to think of the experience of rehab. “Soldiers need a rapid course to give them the basic knowledge and skills they need to fight in a war,” he says. “Some kinds of learning need to be practiced so well that you can do them without thinking. In addition to the learning, trainees become physically fit and, perhaps most important, form emotional bonds that help keep up morale when the going is hard.”

By the time most addicts have “hit bottom” in their disease, they have lost some of the basic skills most people practice daily without a thought. They may need to relearn common principles such as basic hygiene and proper nutrition, keeping commitments to friends, school or work, and managing money. Practicing these “life skills” is a pivotal component of most treatment programs.