Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Teen Prescription Addiction Treatment


Available options for effectively treating teen addiction to prescription drugs depend on the medication the teen is abusing.

Approaches to treating teen pain reliever addiction are drawn from research on treating heroin addiction, and may include medications combined with behavioral counseling. Promising new approaches include depot or long-acting formulations of medications with effects that last for weeks instead of hours or days. This approach with the opioid blocker naltrexone is showing remarkable promise in clinical trials for heroin addiction-increasing abstinence, treatment retention, and decreasing craving.

Although no medications yet exist to treat addiction to CNS depressants or to prescription stimulants, behavioral therapies proven effective in treating prescription drug addiction.

Risks of Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs Used by Teens
Opioids (used to treat pain):
Addiction. Prescription opioids act on the same receptors as heroin and therefore can be highly addictive. People who abuse them sometimes alter the route of administration (e.g., snorting or injecting vs. taking orally) to intensify the effect; some even report moving from prescription opioids to heroin.
Overdose. Abuse of opioids, alone or in combination with alcohol or other drugs, can depress respiration and lead to death. Overdose is a major concern: the number of fatal poisonings involving prescription pain relievers has more than tripled since 1999.
Heightened HIV risk. Injecting opioids increases the risk of HIV and other infectious diseases through use of unsterile or shared equipment.

CNS Depressants (used to treat anxiety and sleep problems):
Addiction and dangerous withdrawal symptoms. These drugs are addictive and, in chronic users or abusers, discontinuing them absent a physician's guidance can bring about severe withdrawal symptoms, including seizures that can be life-threatening.
Overdose. High doses can cause severe respiratory depression. This risk increases when CNS depressants are combined with other medications or alcohol.

Stimulants (used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy):
Addiction and other health consequences. These include psychosis, seizures, and cardiovascular complications.

If you have a child struggling with prescription drug addiction and the chaos of een behaviors, Inspirations Teen Rehab can guide you in the right direction by choosing an addiction treatment program that will provide the treatment and therapies specifically related to your child’s needs. If your doctor has recommended that your teen stay in an inpatient/residential addiction treatment program, we can help you through the admission process, step by step. Inspirations Teen Drug Rehab also provides an educational program, so that your child will be able to keep up with his/her school credits.

Reach out to us and we will help identify the most suitable treatment program for your child. Most insurances accepted.

Addiction Treatment for Teens: 1-888-757-6237

Addiction Treatment for adults and young adults: 1-888-387-6237

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