Residential Treatment

Residential treatment centers are in a secluded setting and provide nonstop daily care. They are commonly therapeutic communities which have a planned length of stay between 30 to 90 days. Their primary focus is on the rehabilitation of the individual and most of them use the facility's entire community, such as the residents and the facilities staff. Residential treatment develops personal accountability, responsibility and socially productive lives. Recent research has indicated that the most beneficial length of stay for people in drug rehab is 90 days. Our professionals can help you locate the most appropriate drug rehab for you loved one.

Short term residential treatment facilities provide intensive but relatively brief residential treatment. Most short term residential treatment facilities consist of a 3 to 6 week inpatient treatment phase followed by a lengthy outpatient therapy and participation in self help groups.

Residential treatment is usually offered in a safe, empowering setting that gives dignity and respect to the patient, while challenging them in the first steps toward recovering from their addictions. Patients will receive intensive treatment, including education, counseling, goal based treatment, and relapse prevention groups.

Outpatient Treatment

Outpatient drug rehabilitation is a lower intensity and more cost effective alternative to the long term residency programs. They are complete, varied, and highly specific programs created to address drug addiction problems of individuals while remaining in their homes. They are based more on education than therapy. Outpatient drug rehabilitation is recommended for those individuals who need a support system. Outpatient drug rehabilitation is usually split into outpatient individual therapy, family therapy, and group therapy. Outpatient programs include problem-solving, insight oriented psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, 12-step programs, and other various types of therapy.

Outpatient drug rehabilitation team will usually contain psychiatrists, doctors, nurses, social workers and lawyers. The assistance of family and friends will greatly accelerate the recovery process. Treatment for teenagers always requires parental involvement. Outpatient drug rehabilitation will teach the family how to create a better home environment for a more successful recovery. In addition to being present for class at a facility, patients are usually required to attend 12 step meetings and case management conferences.

The 12 Step Method

The 12 step method is composed of guiding rules for recovery from either addictive or behavioral issues. It was developed by Alcoholics Anonymous and is a tried and tested method for long term alcoholism and drug addiction recovery. It is an effective yet simplistic treatment that uses 12 steps for living life in an easier and more rewarding way. The main principle of the program is letting go of the past and dealing with problems as they arise and being aware of the positive success achieved each day.

Report highlights the successes of public health responses to this epidemic, but also warns of sharp rise in all drug overdose deaths

A new report provides an unprecedented look at the scope and nature of an epidemic of overdoses related to illegally produced (non-pharmaceutical) fentanyl -- an epidemic that ultimately killed at least 1,013 people within less than two years.  Published in the July 25 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR), Non-Pharmaceutical Fentanyl-related Deaths, Multiple States chronicles the steps public health and law enforcement authorities at the federal, state and local level took in identifying and responding to the problem, and notes how these measures could be applied to public health threats.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid medication that when properly manufactured and administered is an effective treatment for severe or chronic pain.  It is a very potent drug; however (30-50 times more potent than heroin), and can be extraordinarily dangerous when produced illicitly or used non-medically.  Non-pharmaceutical versions of fentanyl have not only been sold directly as street drugs, but have also been mixed in with other street drugs such as heroin and cocaine –sometimes with fatal consequences.  

An April 2006 spike in the number of drug overdoses in Camden, N.J., was reported to the Epidemic Information Exchange (EpiX), a communications network developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Similar reports of sudden increases in overdoses and deaths from other parts of the country led the CDC, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other public health and law enforcement officials to launch a government-wide effort to investigate the problem and protect the public health.

Working closely with state and local authorities, experts from these agencies were able to determine that what were initially suspected to be heroin overdoses were actually overdoses related to illicit drugs containing non-pharmaceutical fentanyl.  Federal authorities immediately undertook a wide range of efforts to determine the source and extent of the problem – including epidemiologic studies to assess its origins.

Federal, state and local authorities simultaneously launched intensive outreach efforts throughout the medical and substance abuse treatment communities to alert people of the dangers.  Practical information and measures were also provided for helping prevent exposure to illicit fentanyl drugs and for treating those who had been exposed.  Thanks in large part to these efforts, the epidemic, which was determined to have begun around April of 2005, ended by March 2007.

“This MMWR report details the effective measures CDC, ONDCP, DEA, SAMHSA and others implemented to stem this epidemic, save countless lives and help address possible future outbreaks,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. “It also highlights the very disturbing rise in overdose deaths related to both the abuse of street and prescription drugs, and the continuing need to address this dire problem.”

The report’s editorial notes point out that the non-pharmaceutical epidemic occurred against a backdrop of dramatic rises in deaths from drug overdoses.  For example, unintentional drug poisoning (primarily drug overdoses) deaths rose from 11,155 in 1999 to 22,448 in 2005 – an increase of more than 100 percent.  The editorial notes that many of these fatal overdoses involved the use of opioid prescription drugs.
  
In light of this public health problem, the report recommends building upon many of the measures put in place to address the non-pharmaceutical fentanyl epidemic, including enhancing mechanisms for identifying and reporting drug-related deaths, establishing national standards for guiding the toxicological testing and analysis of these deaths and maintaining outreach programs for effectively providing vital information to potentially affected communities.

Finds some significant differences in perceptions among various population groups.

Nearly half of American adults report knowing someone in recovery from the use or abuse of alcohol or drugs, according to survey results announced today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

A large majority of Americans believe that people in recovery from substance addictions can live productive lives and contribute to their community, the report also said.

SAMHSA’s announcement came during National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, an annual observance of efforts aimed at helping people with substance abuse problems restore their lives.

SAMHSA sponsored the nationwide survey to gain insight into public attitudes toward substance abuse, and the effectiveness of prevention, treatment and recovery programs.  The survey showed that most Americans are supportive of people in recovery, and that the public overwhelmingly believes that prevention and treatment efforts can work.

“These results are encouraging and offer hope to everyone affected by substance abuse problems,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick. “The survey shows that the American people believe that prevention and treatment efforts make a real difference in addressing this public health challenge and improving lives.”

Among the survey’s more notable findings:

• Less than one-fifth of Americans (18 percent) would think less of a friend or relative who is in recovery from addiction.
• Nearly two-thirds of the public (66 percent) believe that addiction to illicit drugs can be prevented.
• Most Americans report that they would feel comfortable being friends (66 percent) or working (63 percent) with someone in recovery for a substance abuse problem.

Although the report found widespread agreement on many issues, it also found some significant differences in how various segments of the public view certain substance abuse-related issues. 

For example, younger Americans aged 25 to 34 are more likely than those age 65 and older to believe that people in recovery from illicit drugs can go on to live productive lives (70 percent compared to 51 percent).

Differences were also found between the sexes on some issues.  Females were more likely than males to believe that people with illicit drug addictions posed a danger to society (80 percent compared to 73 percent).  Women were also more inclined than men to believe that people in recovery from illicit drug addictions can live productive lives (65 percent compared to 56 percent).

In addition, the survey revealed differences in the way the general public views various types of substance use and abuse.  For example, more Americans felt comfortable living next door to someone in recovery for alcohol abuse than for drug abuse (57 percent compared to 46 percent).

Finding May Lead to New Treatments to Decrease Risk of Relapse

Scientists have identified a mechanism in the brain that helps to explain why craving for cocaine, and the risk of relapse, seems to increase in the weeks and months after drug use is stopped. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The study1 published in the May 25 issue of the journal Nature, "reveals a novel mechanism for why cocaine craving intensifies after cessation of drug use and suggests a new target for the development of medications to decrease the risk of relapse in abstinent cocaine abusers," says NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow.

Exposure to environmental cues (e.g., people, places, things) previously associated with drug use can trigger drug craving, often leading to relapse. Previous NIDA-funded research using a rat model of drug craving and relapse (published in Nature in 20012Ä) has shown that the responsiveness of rats to cocaine cues progressively increases, rather than decreases, over the first 60 days after cessation of intravenous cocaine self-administration.

In the current study, also in rats, researchers demonstrate that after prolonged periods of forced abstinence from cocaine self-administration, there is an increase in the number of proteins called AMPA glutamate receptors in a brain region known as the nucleus accumbens (a brain area involved in motivation and reward). "The additional AMPA receptors increase the reactivity of the nucleus accumbens to cocaine-related environmental cues, explaining the intensified cue-induced cocaine seeking that occurs after prolonged abstinence from the drug," explains lead investigator Marina E. Wolf, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Neuroscience at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago. "This happens not only because there are more AMPA receptors, but also because the new AMPA receptors are atypical - they are missing a particular subunit, and therefore enable stronger stimulation of the nucleus accumbens than typical AMPA receptors," adds Wolf.

When the investigators blocked these atypical receptors (termed GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors) after prolonged abstinence from cocaine, they were able to substantially decrease intensified cue-induced craving in the rat model. "The finding suggests," says Wolf, "that medications could be developed to block the atypical GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens, thus reducing drug craving and the risk for relapse, without interfering with neurotransmission at typical AMPA receptors, which are important for normal brain functions such as learning and memory."

The research was performed in the laboratories of Wolf, Michela Marinelli, Ph.D., and Kuei Y. Tseng, M.D., Ph.D., at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and Yavin Shaham, Ph.D., of the NIDA Intramural Research Program in Baltimore, Maryland.