Opiate drugs cover a wide spectrum of legal and illegal substances with heroin and prescription pain pills breeding the highest rates of addiction to date. If you’ve abused opiates for any length of time, you’re likely well aware of the havoc compulsive drug use can wreak in one’s daily life.

The decision to enter opiate addiction treatment program often comes with much frustration and heartache. For these reasons, it’s especially important to ensure you get the level of care that best addresses your treatment needs. Knowing which types of opiate addiction treatment program to consider can go a long way towards help ensuring a successful recovery process.

Opiate Abuse vs Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction develops over time as the effects of the drug weaken critical brain functions. During the course of a developing addiction, most people move from physical dependency to psychological dependency, which operate as different stages in a developing addiction.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the difference between these two stages marks the difference between opiate abuse and opiate addiction. Someone who’s at the opiate abuse stage will most likely require a different level of treatment than someone at the opiate addiction stage.

Effects of Opiate Abuse

Withdrawal symptoms indicate the start of an addiction.

Uncomfortable withdrawal effects most characterize the opiate abuse stage as the brain becomes physically dependent on opiate effects to function. Before long, withdrawal effects start to drive continued drug as a means for relieving uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.

In effect, a person uses opiates as a means to self-medicate withdrawal symptoms. Ideally, it’s best to get opiate addiction treatment at this point as this is the lesser of the two stages that makeup the addiction cycle.

Effects of Opiate Addiction

Much like opiate abuse practices work to relieve physical withdrawal effects, addiction-based behaviors cater to the psychological dependency that develops out of chronic drug use. Psychological dependency takes root within the cognitive and emotion-based centers of the brain as opiate effects continue to disrupt the brain’s chemical processes.

Ongoing drug use drives a person to believe that he or she can’t cope with daily life without the effects of the drug. At this stage, a more intensive level of opiate addiction treatment should be considered as this mindset can persist for months or even years into the recovery process.

Residential vs Outpatient Treatment Programs

Residential and outpatient opiate addiction treatment offers two levels of care with residential being the more intensive treatment option. Residential programs operate as live-in facilities that require patients to live at the facility for the duration of the program. Outpatient treatment offers more freedom and flexibility, allowing patients to schedule treatment sessions while residing at home.

If you’re struggling with opiate abuse issues, you’re still at the early stages of the addiction cycle. Under these conditions, an outpatient opiate addiction treatment program may well suffice in terms of providing the level of care most needed, according to the University of Delaware.

Someone who’s dealing with a full-blown opiate addiction problem requires the type of day-in, day-out support and guidance provided by residential programs as he or she is dealing with both physical and psychological dependency issues.

While the decision to get needed treatment help does not come easy, taking the necessary steps to overcome opiate’s hold over your life is well worth the effort. If you have further questions about opiate addiction and its effects, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-442-6158 Who Answers? to speak with one of our addiction counselors.