Drug Abuse Intervention

We are happy to report that Drug Abuse Intervention programs are becoming more enlightened. It wasn't all that long ago that drug use was widely stigmatized as largely a character defect or moral failing. However, new attitudes are emerging that recognize more complex underpinnings, such as can be seen in a guide for a medically supervised detox.

At the point where the above guide describes the evaluation process, it indicates that it is now common to look for "co-occurring mental and physical conditions that may be at the root of the addict’s drug use." Since even street drugs can have medicinal uses, it should come as no surprise that many addicts are using drugs as a means to self medicate for some other condition. Obviously, finding out what that condition may
In some cases, people with certain conditions prefer to use such drugs to treat a known condition because the side effects of the prescription drugs they have previously tried were simply intolerable. In such cases, it may be fairly obvious that doctors need to work at finding an acceptable treatment regimen for the patient's previously established ailment.

In other cases, people do not already have a known underlying condition on record. However, not knowing what the condition is, or even not knowing that you have a condition and, thus, your drug use is actually an act of self medicating, does not change the fact that this is likely going on in most cases. In cases where no underlying condition has been previously identified, finally getting the patient a proper diagnosis can be incredibly freeing and empowering.

For people who have long been accused of being merely lazy or otherwise morally defective, having a proper name for a real condition can be life changing in the most wonderful way imaginable. It can open doors to solving the stubborn underlying problems out of which addiction so very often