There are a plethora of opiate addiction treatment programs that people who are addicted to opiates can choose from. Opiate addiction and drug use can lead to hazardous health issues such as, high blood pressure, heart failure, a coma, and even death.

About Opiates

Opiate medications are created through the opium poppy plant, hence the name opiates. Opium has been used for centuries for pain relief and opiates have been around for decades. The abuse of opiates has continued to increase throughout the years which have led to a multitude of people becoming addicted to the substance.

Opiates are pain killers that block the pain sensors in the brain and depress a person’s nervous system. A person using opiates will feel little to no pain and many users report feeling a euphoric type high while using the drug. Opiates are highly addictive and many people become addicted once they use the drug for the first time.

Opiate Addiction

Peer support is a big part of opiate addiction treatment.

The majority of opiate users will begin to take more and more of the drug in order to reach that first time high feeling. Opiate abusers soon tend to develop a dependence on the drug causing them to want more and more of it.

Opiate addiction eventually controls a person’s life, which tends to cause opiate addicts to act irrationally and do things that they never did before. Many opiate addicts lose their friendships and their relationships as well as their jobs and their finances. Opiate addiction also causes health complications which can lead to hospitalization or death. Many opiate deaths are the result of overdose simply because users do not realize or understand when they have taken too much.

Treatment Programs

Opiate addiction treatment is the best choice a person can make when they decide to come clean of opiates. Detoxing from opiates can be painful and psychologically difficult for a person to do on their own. It has been proven that people who have support from others when ridding themselves of an addiction will help them to succeed.

A person has the option of going to an inpatient treatment program where they will reside and be monitored while coming off of their addiction. At an inpatient treatment center, once a person admits themselves in they will not have any access to opiates and will have to come clean.

A person can also choose to go to an outpatient center that will provide them with help during the day but will allow them to go home at night. Outpatient centers have different schedules and times of service depending on the center, but they are effective with providing a person with all of the resources they need to come clean.

If a person cannot afford an inpatient or outpatient program they can find a Narcotic Anonymous (NA) group in their town and begin to go to meetings once a week or more if need be. NA groups will provide a person with support and a person will be surrounded by other people going through the same hardships as they are. NA groups are completely free, but they are usually meant for people who have already detoxed from the narcotic and wish to remain clean. There are services out there that provide free help for drug addicts as well as drug abuse hotlines that people can call to receive free help and information regarding their addiction.