There are many illegal drugs on the streets today, but heroin is one of the more destructive. When injected, it gives the user an almost instantaneous high, which leads to the allure of it. The high rate of addiction also leads to an increased chance of an overdose which could be fatal. If someone you know or love is using heroin and you feel they are an addict, it is imperative to get them into heroin rehab as quickly as possible to combat the addiction.

Addiction

There is a good chance that an addicted person will die if they do not seek treatment. This can come about many ways. They could overdose because a lot of heroin being sold today is very strong and pure, increasing the chance of overdoses. If the user injects the drug and the needle is contaminated, it could lead to a disease. Some of these diseases like AIDS have no cure and can be deadly.

Treatment Programs

The first step in any rehabilitation program is detoxification. This breaks the addict of their physical addiction and can be very painful. Some of the symptoms of withdrawal and detoxification include shakes, night sweats, nightmares, nausea, hallucinations and much more. To help alleviate the symptoms, prescription medicine will often be dispensed to them.

Treatment Plan

When the patient first comes in, the doctors assigned to them must determine just how severe their addiction is. This helps them determine the best course for their rehabilitation. No two rehabilitation plans are exactly alike, because it must be tailored to the patient’s needs to work. Their current physical health, age, gender and severity of addiction are all taken into account to make a plan that will work for them, though it can be adjusted as needs change.

Therapy

After detox, a patient may then begin therapy. Both individual and group therapy may be prescribed to help the person understand their addiction. In some cases, family therapy is prescribed, particularly in the case of minors or people who still live at home.

Sobriety

The therapy is extremely important towards recovery. For this reason, it is often prescribed for the patient even after they leave the rehab facility. It helps them continue to deal with their illness once they return to regular life and provides a sounding board for their feelings and frustrations if necessary.

Post-Rehab

The post-heroin detoxification therapy helps them continue to build the life skills necessary to deal with the challenges to their sobriety. It helps them understand that they will forever be an addict but that doesn’t meant they can’t stay sober. This is especially important with heroin addicts because it has one of the highest relapse rates of all the addictive drugs available. Only 30-50% of heroin addicts stay sober a year after treatment.