Our psychiatrists are well-experienced in substance use disorders which often lead to or co-occur with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Substance Use Disorder

Substance use disorder is a condition where the consumption of one or more substances results in clinically significant impairments or difficulties. Although the term substance can refer to any physical matter, in this context it is restricted to the consumption of psychoactive drugs. Addiction and drug addiction are components of a substance abuse disorder, the addition being the most severe form of the condition.

This condition is characterized by a pattern of pathological consumption of a drug or toxin without medical purposes, resulting in repeated adverse social consequences such as not being able to respond to work, family or school obligations, or being the cause of interpersonal conflicts or problems with the law.

Treatments Designed to Help with Addiction Recovery

There are a number of different drug recovery and alcohol recovery treatments that are typically offered by a number of different rehab treatment centres. Addiction treatment centres will generally divide patients into two main categories, the lesser intense and severe outpatient programs and the more intense and more serious inpatient programs. The way in which this is generally determined is through an intensive interview process, normally carried out by a highly trained member of the rehabilitation centre staff.

The main reason for conducting this intensive interview with the patient is to determine the severity and the depth of the addiction. This will also include a series of questions designed to unlock and uncover the drug or substance addict’s past history with various narcotics and substances. The length of the addiction also needs to be determined as well as current addictions or drug types. Once all of this important information has been collected together it is then analysed so that the drug rehab centre, alcohol rehab centre or a general substance rehab centre like Changes can then best prescribe a course of treatment for that specific patient.

If the patient's level of addiction is quite high and the nature of the addiction is severe enough at the time of the interview, the clinic or rehab centre may first want to run a drug detox or alcohol detox program, this generally entails intensive weaning off process using certain medications and therapies which are all conducted under the strictest medical supervision. This is also more of an inpatient treatment as it needs to be conducted under constant supervision and observation.

Once the drug detox or alcohol detox treatment has been concluded the patient can move on to various alcohol recovery or drug recovery therapies including addiction treatment and counselling. Highly trained and experienced staff including psychologists, psychiatrists and addiction councillors are all able to assist the patient through a number of very specifically designed therapies in dealing with their addictions, uncovering the root causes of their addictions and triggers that initiate a substance abuse binge.

Counselling can also include one on one sessions and sessions with family members, spouses or parents. Once the patient has been released from the rehab treatment centre special support group sessions are designed to help them stay on track while they are still in the earlier stages of post addiction recovery.

Treatment for addiction is not a uniform approach that works for everyone. Your specific requirements may require a different course of treatment. You have the ability to select the treatment that is most effective for you based on the substance that you are abusing, the level of care that you require, the requirements of your individual mental health, or the cost of the various health care options that are available to you. The following is a list of some of the most common treatments for addiction that have proven to put patients on the path to recovery successfully.



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