Addiction Service

Addiction service can refer to a wide range of services and supports offered by professionals in the field of addiction. These include specialized medical, mental health and social service programs that offer treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse.

The goal of Meridian Addiction Services is to help individuals stop using drugs or alcohol and learn to live a drug-free life. This is a challenging task, but one that can be accomplished with the right approach and support.

Treatment for chemical dependence is a comprehensive program that addresses the medical, emotional, social, economic, legal and other factors involved in an individual's substance abuse and dependence disorder. It includes both inpatient and outpatient treatment, with a range of intensity levels, and offers the possibility for continued involvement in aftercare and extended followup services.

Inpatient care involves a period of residential or hospitalization in which a patient receives individualized care from an interdisciplinary team. This type of care is usually provided by trained specialists in the field of addiction, including physicians, nurses, social workers and psychologists.

A structured and organized approach to treatment is essential to the process. Inpatient programs are often designed to help patients develop the skills needed to function in their homes and the community without using substances, such as family counseling, housing and financial assistance, child care, prevocational skill development, employment and job search.

Most treatment programs also incorporate a variety of behavioral and reality-oriented approaches, as well as pharmacological interventions (e.g., methadone maintenance therapy, disulfiram or naltrexone), in addition to group and individual counseling. Meridian HealthCare is more oriented toward the patient's needs than the psychiatric model of etiology, stresses individual responsibility for change and encourages patients to accept the fact that they have a chemical dependency problem.

Long-term evaluations of substance abuse and dependence programs have shown that most patients eventually stop compulsive use and have fewer and less severe relapse episodes after successful treatment. In fact, many of the most successful patients have been abstinent for 10 years or more (American Psychiatric Association, 1995; Landry, 1996).

Some specialized alcohol and drug treatment programs offer relapse prevention, which helps people recognize their triggers and develop new coping skills to interrupt or avoid cravings before they occur. These techniques involve cognitive-behavioral strategies, the improvement of self-efficacy, self-control training and cue exposure and extinction.

Several studies have shown that long-term recovery from addiction is more likely when patients are enrolled in relapse prevention rather than simply receiving psychosocial treatment (American Psychiatric Association, 1990; Gerstein and Harwood, 1990). A number of research studies have found that these groups of patients have better abstinence rates, less criminal activity, improved productivity, increased earnings, and enhanced overall well-being as compared with other types of patients.

The effectiveness of substance abuse and dependence treatment depends on many variables, including the extent of the patient's disease, his or her ability to adhere to the prescribed course of care, the presence of co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions, the availability of family and other supportive resources, and the quality of treatment (Institute of Medicine, 1990; American Psychiatric Association, 1995). Conclusion: A comprehensive system of addiction services is needed in every community. To get more knowledge about this post, visit: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_addiction.