1. Medication-assisted Treatment Are treatments using the pharmaceutical agents an improvement over the damage that the drugs of abuse cause to the brain? Why or why not? Addiction is a problem that aff...Read More
~Posted on
Nov 2019
1.
Medication-assisted
Treatment Are treatments using the pharmaceutical agents an improvement over
the damage that the drugs of abuse cause to the brain? Why or why not?
Addiction
is a problem that affects the functionality of the brain such that one cannot
resist the urge to indulge in the substance to which one is addicted. Substance
addiction has affected individuals in the society, and these effects trickle
down to affect the economy of a nation. As a result, various studies have been
dedicated to finding a solution to addiction where one of them is
medication-assisted treatment. The treatment uses pharmaceutical agents to
improve the damage caused by addiction helping an individual to go back to
leading a drug and alcohol dependency-free life. One of the pharmaceutical
agents used to assist an individual recover is Acamprosate. It is a helpful
anti-craving agent that is used to treat alcohol addiction. The reason as to
why the agent is valuable is because it assists an addict to abstain from
alcohol and at the same time decreasing any chances of relapse. Other than
this, Acamprosate alleviates pain, boosts the naturally occurring immune system
of the body, fight inflammation in the body and improve one’s mood and
ultimately the quality of life. After using these agents combined with
behavioral therapy, an individual’s life goes back to normal hence an
improvement and repair of the damage caused by abuse to the brain (Blackwell,
2010).
2.
Relapse often
happens in addiction treatment. Is relapse evidence of the failure of treatment
or evidence of addiction? Should the counselor change the treatment methods if
relapse happens? Why or why not?
Relapse happens
more often than not. According to Hendershot, Witkiewitz, George and Marllat
(2011), the relapse rate for twelve-month alcohol and tobacco cessation happens
between 80-95%. From this, it can be derived that relapse is not an indicator
of failed treatment. Relapse is also not evidence of addiction, the reason why
an individual is seeking treatment in the first place is that they have
recognized their addiction even before relapsing. Therefore, can be termed as
one of the challenges in the process of treatment and should not be taken as a
failure or prove but as it is, a challenge among many challenges in the
recovery process. It is for these reasons that evaluation should be done on the
individual to identify if the therapy had been working before relapse. After
evaluation, the therapist should adopt the relapse prevention treatment to
avoid another relapse from happening and ultimately recovering from addiction.
References
Hendershot, C. S., Witkiewitz, K.,
George, W. H., & Marlatt, G. A. (2011). Relapse prevention for addictive
behaviors. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 6, 17. http://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-6-17
Wiley-Blackwell. (2010, September 17). Acamprosate
prevents relapse to drinking in alcoholism, review finds. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved February 15, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100907210819.htm
