What causes heroin addiction?
Opiates in small doses are added to some drugs which are prescribed for certain diseases and released strictly according to the prescription. Such drugs are safe in the recommended dosage. If produced by the artisanal method for preparing heroin, it can destructively affect body organs because it contains harmful impurities. The world annually produces about 470 tons of this deadly mixture.
Addicts use opium in prohibitive quantities and often use non-sterile syringes. This undermines the health of people and leads them to death at a young age. Many addicts suffer from hepatitis and HIV infection, which are progressing steadily without treatment. If drug addicts do not die from an overdose, they have to go through serious illnesses. Nowadays, heroin is very common and is easily available.
Heroin acts on the body in stages:
At first, after several doses, a person does not feel an obvious craving for heroin. He seeks to once again experience relaxation and lightness, unaware of the danger.
Soon the addict realizes that without a drug, he cannot exist. The patient suffers from withdrawal and wants to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Gradually, the heroin- dependent person loses his normal human appearance and mental stability. If he does not dare to timely treat the drug addiction, then he continues to degrade.
What are the signs of heroin addiction?
Following are the signs of heroin addiction:
- A person begins to behave unusually, shows secrecy and uses specific slang.
- He often changes his mood: from extreme joy to deep depression.
- He lies about anything.
- He sleeps all day and feels drowsy all the time.
- Eats without appetite and is mostly anorexic.
- Has strange pupils: too wide or too narrow.
- Their hands and other parts of the body are likely to have traces of injections.
All these symptoms indicate that the person started taking heroin. Treatment should be started as early as possible so that the heroin addict does not become a victim of an overdose with a fatal outcome or death for another reason. And this happens often.
Treating heroin addiction
Treatment of heroin addiction in the rehabilitation centers is necessarily focused to maintain immunity and overall strengthening of the body. After the completion of rehabilitation, patients receive psychological support so that they can overcome cravings for consumption and do not return to the deadly drug. There are several behavioural treatments that are used in heroin addiction treatment that are found effective as per the research of NIDA.
In cognitive-behavioural therapy, the drug addicts are taught motivating and stress releasing skills. Moreover, according to the research, both the therapies are found quite effective if they are combined with the pharmacological treatment. Many doctors suggest Suboxone, which is a medicine that contains naloxone and buprenorphine. It can be taken sublingually and orally. It is basically designed for preventing the attempts by the patients to get high due to the drugs injected. If an addicted is injected Suboxone, withdrawal symptoms will be produced.