The Importance of Opiate Detox

  • Author Damian Graham
  • Published February 14, 2012
  • Word count 407

Opioid addiction is one of the most physically challenging addictions to treat. This makes it necessary to have an opiate rehab program that is fully equipped to provide people with both medical care and psychological support. Addictions to painkillers, heroin and methadone are the most common types of opiate addiction and they all require opiate detoxification and addiction treatment.

Opiate addiction treatment is a medical treatment that helps break a person’s physical and psychological dependency on the drug and helps them move on to a drug and alcohol-free life. When you use opiate prescription painkillers, the receptors in your brain that bind with the drug come to depend on it and thus, needs a base amount to function normally and an increased dose to continue blocking the pain with the same quality of effectiveness. Helping the body return to a state that allows you to handle pain successfully without the need for painkillers or any other opiate medication is the first half of opiate addiction treatment. The second half of the treatment helps you to handle the psychological, mental, emotional and spiritual issues that are associated with the addiction.

About Opiate detoxification

Opiate detoxification is not, itself, a treatment for opiate addiction; however, prior to commencing treatment, it is critical to remove the opiates from the body. Toxins build up in the system during heavy use of drugs and are commonly found in heroin addiction, Vicodin addiction, OxyContin addiction and morphine addiction.

Opiate detox helps the individual overcome their physical addiction to drugs. It is an important first step in the addiction recovery process and one that greatly reduces the chance of relapse. Drug detox makes people healthier and provides the clarity needed to make real, long-term life changes via a drug rehab program.

Primarily, detox will take place either at the drug rehab facility itself, or if the facility is not equipped to handle detox services, an outside provider. In the latter case, the individual will be referred to a detox facility and asked to complete the process there before they begin treatment.

Opiate detoxification is one of the most important parts of the drug rehab process. Detoxification helps purge the system of all the harmful toxins associated with drugs, but more than that it builds confidence and promotes good health. In order to truly get the most out of any drug rehab program, it is absolutely essential that the individual completes opiate detox first.