According to the Centers for Disease Control, opiate addiction and opiate overdose has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. One way to overcome an opiate addiction is through inpatient treatment. People who choose treatment for an opiate addiction try inpatient because other treatments have failed, either do to the severity of withdrawal or the amount of triggers they have in their environment. Most ordinary people have no idea how to find a good inpatient opiate treatment center. In order to evaluate a treatment center there are a few things you have to know first.

What is Opiate Addiction?

Opiate addiction is an addiction to any one of many opiate drugs or medications. The most common opiate addiction is to prescription painkillers such as:

• Hydrocodone,
• Oxycodone,
• Vicodin,
• Codeine,
• Suboxone, or
• Methadone.

These drugs are extremely dangerous and addictive. Many people choose to treat their addiction because they begin to fear overdose, which is a very common outcome when someone is addicted.

Opiate addiction usually starts as a prescription to a painkiller. A person might use the painkiller to treat chronic pain or an injury. You can take an opiate as prescribed and still become addicted to them. It is important to remember that all opiate drugs are addictive.

Why Inpatient Opiate Treatment?

Some people choose outpatient treatment and it works for them. Unfortunately, this does not work for certain people. The people who normally need inpatient treatment are those who:

• do not have another place to go:

o the victims of domestic violence,

o the homeless,

o people who have been kicked out of their homes,

• cannot go home due to triggers such as:

o other people who use in their home,

o paraphernalia in their home,

o things that will cause a person to use,

o painful or stressful conditions.

• people who have a medical illness

o certain illnesses cause opiate withdrawal to be dangerous,

o people with an irregular heart rhythm,

o people with respiratory illnesses,

o people with other illnesses that need to be treated during detox.

• people with mental illnesses

o opiate detox can cause severe depression and are at risk for suicide,

o detox causes severe anxiety which can make a mental illness worse,

o people who are generally at risk for psychosis or suicide.

There are many other reasons to choose inpatient detox. Each person can have his or her own very personal reasons to choose an inpatient setting.

What Happens in Standard Inpatient Treatment?

Standard opiate addiction inpatient treatment begins with detox.

In standard inpatient treatment, you go through a period of detox which usually lasts one to four weeks. This allows you to get the opiates out of your system completely. Most withdrawal symptoms end by the time you have completed detox.

After detox, comes a period of intense counseling and other forms of rehab. Many centers have activities such as exercise, dietary counseling, and other forms of counseling. A well-rounded rehab facility offers these and other services to help you recover from your addiction.

What are the Types of Inpatient Treatment?

There are a few different types of inpatient treatment to choose from. These types are relatively standard depending on the treatment center. As with anything, the more expensive the treatment center, the more services they offer. All inpatient treatment centers have a few basic features that comprise a good center program. These features are:

• Medication Management – medication management can be either an opiate replacement medication or medications to manage the symptoms of withdrawal. Some of the opiate replacement medications are:

o methadone – one of the longest used and most popular medications that is used as an opiate replacement. This medication fell under criticism recently because of its potential for both addiction and overdose.

o Suboxone – one of the newer medications that combines the popular opiate replacement buprenorphine and Naloxone. Naloxone is an opiate antagonist. This means it completely blocks opiates. If you were to take Naloxone by itself it would send you into instant opiate withdrawal.

• Counseling – counseling in an inpatient treatment center falls into two categories. These categories are:

o Group counseling – counseling sessions are held with other addicts and a therapist. The therapist acts as a guide for the group. Group counseling helps people realize they are not alone and establishes a feeling of mutual support.

o Individual counseling – during individual counseling you work one on one with a therapist. The sessions are geared towards discovering the cause and consequences of your addiction as well as changing the habits that started it.

Some counseling centers also have holistic treatments. Holistic treatments are alternatives to the traditional medical approaches to addiction treatment. Holistic practitioners believe that in order to conquer addiction you need to treat the whole body and not just one area of the addiction. This has proven very effective when combined with other forms of treatment.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 4.2 million people suffer from an opiate addiction of some kind. It is one of the hardest addictions to break, which is why many people consider inpatient rehab as the best option for treatment. Finding the best inpatient rehab for your addiction and circumstances might be difficult. If you need help, please give us a call at  800-442-6158 Who Answers? . We are happy to provide you with any information that you need to make an informed decision.