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Heroin Addiction

Table of Contents
- The Basics
- How Heroin Is Used
- Who's Using It
- Effects of Heroin Addiction
- The Dangers of Addiction
- Recognizing Addiction
- Treatment and Recovery
- Treatment at The Canyon

Heroin is one of the most addictive and devastating drugs in the world and, in the United States, it contributes to the ever-growing problem of opiate addiction. A 2003 survey conducted by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that about 3.7 million Americans have used heroin at some point of their lives and, of those 3.7 million people, nearly 120,000 of them report abusing heroin within 30 days of the survey. It’s an epidemic and one that is caused by a number of factors – but it’s also an issue that has a solution – heroin rehab.

The Canyon, located in sunny California, is a heroin addiction rehab center that helps patients to break free from the addictive cycle, but gives them the tools they need to help them stay drug-free for the rest of their lives. Licensed and highly trained therapists, using a variety of treatments, help patients in this journey, leading them back to a normal, healthy life. If you would like to learn more about the detox and addiction treatment services available to you at our Southern California facility, contact us today at the phone number listed above. Our counselors are standing by to speak with you about what you need from a drug detox and addiction treatment program in order to heal from heroin addiction.

The Basics

Heroin has long been an issue for cultures around the world. Cultivated from poppy plants, the drug was first used much like morphine – both recreationally, in some circles, and medicinally in others. Unfortunately, it was quickly evidenced that heroin was as addictive and destructive as morphine, no matter what form is ingested.

Currently available in black tar form and in white or brown powder, heroin is often cut with other drugs or substances, according to DrugAbuse.gov. This means that the street heroin purchased in different areas, from different sources, or at different times can be extremely variable in potency in effect. It’s one of the biggest problems for patients fighting dependence upon the substance – even long-term heroin addicts cannot ascertain the strength or toxicity of the heroin they ingest ahead of time. As a result, overdose is exceedingly common among new users and long-term users alike.

How Heroin Is Used

Heroin is abused through a number of different methods, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Injection, smoking and snorting the drug are the most common, and the style of ingestion is usually dictated by the type of heroin purchased. The powder form is more often snorted or injected while the black tar version is more often injected or smoked. Unfortunately, many who abuse the drug start by snorting it or smoking it and ultimately end up injecting the drug – by far the most dangerous choice. While issues of overdose, miscarriage, lung and breathing issues, blood and heart valve infections are always concerns, heroin abuse by injection can mean the passing of contagious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis C.

Who's Using It

Heroin abusers are no longer the stereotypical “junkie” in the street as seen on television and in the movies. No longer a class issue, heroin abusers can be found in suburban homes, rural areas and urban cities across class divides. Functional addicts can be found in higher education institutions, the workplace and affluent neighborhoods.

The National Institutes of Health reports that more than 57 percent of past-year heroin users were dependent upon the drug or chronic heroin abusers, yet only 281,000 received the treatment they needed to effectively treat the issue. Additionally, the Monitoring the Future survey that follows the drug and alcohol use and beliefs among students in 8^th grade, 10^th grade, and 12^th grade shows that about 1.6 percent of 8^th graders and 1.5 percent of kids in 10^th grade and 12^th grade report abusing heroin at least once in their lives.

The risks of the high rate of abuse are clear; according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), an organization that collects drug-related admissions data from emergency rooms at hospitals in 21 metro areas, more than 93,500 patients were admitted for treatment in ERs across the country due to incidents related to heroin abuse in 2002.

Who Need Help for a Heroin Addiction?

The Effects of Heroin Addiction

Heroin is a very powerful drug, and many who ultimately seek rehabilitation for addiction report that they felt physically and/or psychologically dependent upon the drug after the first use. The “high” experienced can be seductive and many patients say that they use the drug regularly in the hopes of reaching the same depth of feeling – to no avail. The body begins to build up a tolerance to the substance, requiring the patient to use more and more of the drug just to avoid the withdrawal symptoms that ultimately develop whenever the body is without the drug. According to Medline Plus, these withdrawal symptoms can include constipation, restlessness, stomach cramping and other pain, muscle and bone pain, hallucinations (visual and/or aural), sleep disorders, vomiting and nausea, sweating, cold flashes, loss of appetite, diarrhea and more.

The Dangers of Addiction

The dangers of continuing to abuse drugs or live with an active addiction while avoiding the treatment necessary to create positive changes in life can develop relatively quickly among patients whose drug of choice is heroin. According to AbovetheInfluence.com, some of the dangers associated with untreated heroin abuse and addiction include:

Health problems. Collapsed veins, abscesses, heart lining infections, blood infections, heart valve infections, liver disease, kidney disease, pneumonia, a depressed respiratory system and more are all health effects that plague heroin abusers as reported by NIDA.
Financial problems. Though there are heroin addicts who are functional in the workplace and actively earning for their families, even these patients have money difficulties. Heroin is expensive and even those with a legitimate income end up spending beyond their means in order to maintain their habit.
Interpersonal problems. Issues with a spouse or significant other, children, close friends, extended family, coworkers, neighbors – it’s difficult to maintained balanced interactions with others when the focus of the brain and body is on heroin.
Legal problems. When patients get fired due to an inability to perform the job and/or can’t find work due to their ongoing addiction, many turn to illegal acts in order to get more heroin. Additionally, when on the drug, many behave erratically, harming others or causing a disturbance – also issues that can mean legal problems when the patient is caught.

Recognizing Addiction

It’s often a quick journey from sobriety to full-blown heroin addiction, but when it is oneself or a loved one who is struggling with the issue, denial can be an obstacle to treatment. How can patients determine whether or not their abuse of heroin has taken a turn into addiction? According to DrugFree.org, asking the following questions can help patients to pinpoint the problem:

Is heroin use a daily occurrence? Does it happen multiple times per day?
Is heroin use the first thing that happens in the morning? Does it feel urgent to ensure that there is a “wake up” dose of heroin ready for the next day?
Has a loved one expressed a concern about the effects of heroin abuse?
Is use and abuse of the drug hidden even from those who also abuse heroin for fear of criticism?

One of the quickest ways to determine whether or not heroin abuse has become an issue of addiction that requires treatment is this – if the patient has ever tried to stop abusing heroin and been unable to maintain sobriety on their own without help, it’s time to enroll in heroin addiction treatment.

Addiction Treatment and Recovery

Treatment and recovery is best tackled with the assistance of medical and therapeutic providers who specialize in treating the specifics of heroin addiction. Because withdrawal symptoms can be so physically and psychologically devastating and due to the high rate of fatal overdose when relapse occurs during attempted detox, it is important that patients avoid attempting to treat themselves at home.

There are a number of different heroin addiction treatment options for patients to choose from, both inpatient and outpatient as well as medicated and un-medicated. Each patient will be able to find a treatment program that is effective for their needs. The National Institutes of Health report that the following options are approved for opiate detox and addiction treatment:

Maintenance Programs. Based upon different medications, there are a number of “maintenance” programs available to those attempting to stop abusing heroin. Methadone and buprenorphine are the two most common medications prescribed to patients fighting heroin addiction, and the rules and expectations for each program will differ depending upon the medication chosen. Both are heavily regulated by the federal government, which means that patients will need to be accountable for their use of either medication. They work by blocking the opiate receptors in the brain much like heroin, mitigating withdrawal symptoms while providing little or no “high.” This allows patients to focus on the psychological aspects of addiction and/or to move forward in their lives rather than be slaves to addiction.

Outpatient Treatment. It is possible to undergo heroin detox on an outpatient basis, but these programs are rarely effective without coupling them with outpatient psychological addiction treatment. These can be obtained while the patient begins the process of getting their lives back on track (e.g., school, work, time spent with family, etc.). Intermittent drug tests may be utilized to ensure that patients are working the program honestly, and other therapy options like holistic methods and family therapy may also be provided.

Inpatient Treatment. Inpatient or residential heroin addiction treatment programs provide a comprehensive program designed to meet the needs of each individual patient. Detox services including medication may be made available depending upon the needs of the patient but psychotherapeutic treatment makes up the bulk of each day’s schedule. Patients can explore underlying psychological issues as well as trauma experienced before and after the onset of heroin addiction while learning effective coping tools to help them avoid returning to abuse of heroin in order to deal with the pain and emotions that often accompany living with those issues.

Dual Diagnosis Rehab. For heroin addicts who are also diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health disorder like depression, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety and other issues, it is imperative to find a drug rehab that can treat both the mental health disorder as well as the heroin addiction. Because each issue makes the other one worse, receiving medical and psychotherapeutic care for both problems at the same time increases the chances of success in recovery on both fronts.

Aftercare Services. In order to solidify the principles of care that patients learn during detox and treatment, aftercare services provide patients with ongoing support and added assistance in building a solid foundation for a balanced life without heroin. These can come in the form of 12-step meetings like Narcotics Anonymous found out in the community, or they can be more personalized and individual in nature like yoga classes, personal therapy, or hiring a life coach or a personal trainer. Many drug rehabs offer ongoing aftercare services through their program in order to maintain a connection to patients after they are graduated from drug treatment.