Who’s a Good Candidate for Suboxone Rehab?
Up until 2002, methadone offered the only medication-based approach for treating chronic opiate addiction. While effective, methadone treatment has limitations that may cause more harm than good depending on a person’s circumstances and overall drug history. Suboxone rehab offers an alternative medication-based approach that improves upon methadone in certain key areas.
For someone who’s had little to no success with conventional drug treatment, Suboxone rehab treatment takes a two-fold approach to treating addiction in terms of helping overcome urges to use and providing preventative measures in the event of an unexpected relapse. While Suboxone rehab may not work for everybody, your life circumstances can provide the information needed for determining whether Suboxone rehab will meet your individual treatment needs.
Suboxone Rehab Benefits
Group therapy is a behavioral intervention offered at Suboxone rehabs.
Chronic opiate abuse leaves behind widespread chemical imbalances in the brain. These imbalances impair the brain’s ability to regulate bodily processes, which accounts for the residual withdrawal effects and intense drug cravings people experience throughout much of the recovery process.
According to the U. S. Food & Drug Administration, Suboxone contains buprenorphine, an opiate agonist, which corrects for the brain chemical imbalances left behind by chronic opiate use. Suboxone also contains naltrexone, an opiate antagonist. The naltrexone component only takes effect in cases where a person tries to snort or inject Suboxone, so it essentially acts as an “anti-abuse” agent.
Suboxone rehab also employs behavioral treatment interventions to address the warped thinking that drives compulsive drug-using behaviors. Behavioral interventions typically take the form of:
- Drug counseling and education
- Individual psychotherapy
- Support groups
- Group therapy
In effect, combining Suboxone with ongoing behavioral interventions treats both the physical and psychological aftereffects of chronic opiate addiction.
Questions to Ask
How Long Have I Been Abusing Opiates?
In general, the longer a person abuses opiates the greater the damage done to the brain’s chemical system, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Like methadone, Suboxone works as a type of medication therapy, providing a level of physical support to damaged brain chemical processes. Ultimately, anyone who’s abused opiates on a regular and frequent basis for six months or longer can benefit from Suboxone rehab treatment.
Have I Tried Drug Treatment Before?
It’s not uncommon for people coming off chronic opiate addiction to go in and out of drug treatment programs with little to no success to show for it. Conventional drug treatment focuses more so on addiction’s psychological aftereffects, which is important, but doesn’t address the physical aftereffects that chronic addicts experience.
As withdrawal and drug cravings effects are the two biggest obstacles to maintaining abstinence in recovery, the medication component of Suboxone rehab gives recovering addicts a fighting chance at long-term abstinence.
Do I Have a Strong Support System in Place?
Unlike methadone treatment, Suboxone rehab doesn’t require daily clinic visits to receive treatment, which can be good or bad depending on your circumstances. Without a strong support system in place, it can be easy to skip scheduled behavioral treatment sessions since Suboxone’s effects alleviate much of the discomfort associated with withdrawal and drug cravings. Skipping the behavioral treatment portion essentially leaves the addiction “mindset” intact, which places a person at high risk of having a relapse episode.
Considerations
Unlike many other forms of addiction, chronic opiate use has lasting effects on a person’s brain chemistry as well as on his or her thinking and behavior. The benefits of Suboxone rehab can go a long way towards undoing the damaging effects of opiate addiction and helping you take back control of your life.
If you or someone you know is considering Suboxone rehab treatment and have further questions about how the treatment process works, please don’t hesitate to call our toll-free helpline at 888-646-0865 (Who Answers?) for more information.
