Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction is recognized as a central nervous system disorder, caused by continuous opiate intake. After prolonged opiate abuse, the nerve cells in the brain, which would otherwise produce endogenous opiates (natural painkillers, or endorphins), cease to function normally. The body stops producing endorphins because it is receiving opiates instead. The degeneration of these nerve cells causes a physical dependency to an external supply of opiates. Abrupt or sudden abstinence from opiates induces yet another traumatic disorder – opiate withdrawal.

Opiate Dependency

Substance abuse is a major health concern in the United States. Heroin, an opiate drug, has been viewed as a key player in this rapidly growing arena of drug addiction. While heroin addiction is increasing at an alarming rate, a previously unrecognized opiate dependency is moving to the forefront – prescription painkillers (opiates, narcotics).  Chronic pain sufferers, surgical patients, sickle-cell patients, and cancer patients seeking relief from pain are prescribed pain medication by their physicians and subsequently become dependent.  These people are not "drug addicts" in the stereotypical sense, but people with real medical conditions who find themselves in the same situation as drug addicts.  In fact, so addictive are these opiate-based pain medications that despite fully understanding the medications' addictive nature, ten percent of physicians are themselves dependent on the very drugs they prescribe, according to the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD).

Opiate Detox

An opiate addiction is one of the hardest drug addiction problems to address and resolve. The very nature of the substance is what makes an opiate addiction such a difficult habit to break. The effects of opiates like oxycontin and percocet on the body is so highly chemical, that the only way to really address the problem of an opiate addiction is to undergo an opiate detox program. The aim of an opiate detox program is to flush out the toxins that have been left inside the body by the opiates. These toxins have accumulated in the body because of opiate abuse.

Opiate detox is the first crucial step toward the road to recovery and removal of the dependence on these drugs. By detoxifying the body from these harmful toxins, the issue of opiate withdrawal can be more easily handled by the patient. For example, if a person does not undergo an opiate detox, he will experience strong opiate withdrawal symptoms and the severity of these symptoms may be so uncomfortable that a relapse into taking drugs becomes a big likelihood. Opiate detox in a medically monitored drug rehab eases that transition from a drugged state into recovery.

There are various ways of undergoing an opiate detox. Certain opiate detox programs  dispense medications in order for the patient to avoid suffering from physical opiate withdrawal. In an ideal situation the opiate detox program would incorporate clinical activities during the detox phase as a way of also addressing the psychological aspects of the addiction. By also tackling this aspect of a patient’s well-being, the hope is that after the whole opiate detox is finished the patient will have a lesser likelihood to relapse because he has also addressed the mental and psychological reasons for using drugs as a crutch.