Do I Really Need Treatment for Adderall Addiction
Adderall, a prescription stimulant medication, works well as a treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder but can quickly take on addictive properties when not taken as prescribed. Most prescription medications belong to the Schedule II narcotics drug class, which places Adderall within a high addiction risk category. Under the Schedule II drug classification, Adderall is considered a controlled substance because of its addiction potential.
Adderall effects are known to produce increased energy levels as well as improved focus and concentration. For these reasons, many a college student has used Adderall to improve their academic performance. Unfortunately, the beneficial effects of Adderall only last for so long before users start to experience unexpected, unwanted effects.
Someone who’s used Adderall for a long time may well have difficulty cutting back or stopping the drug altogether. Once addiction becomes an issue, a pattern of consequences starts to take shape within a person’s life. In this case, treatment for Adderall addiction may be needed.
Lifestyle Changes
If you have become addicted to Adderall and cannot stop on your own you would benefit from treatment.
Changes in a person’s lifestyle represent the most telling indicators of an Adderall addiction. Addiction encompasses a certain belief system that dictates an addict’s daily priorities and motivations. An Adderall addict believes the effects of the drug enable him or her to cope with the pressures and strains of daily life.
In effect, getting and using Adderall becomes a top priority as a means for surviving from day to day. Consequently, other life areas, such as work, family and friends fall by the wayside at which point the addiction lifestyle is in full play.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, much of the Adderall addiction treatment process centers on behavioral therapies designed to help addicts develop healthy, productive, drug-free lifestyles in the place of addiction-based belief systems and behaviors.
Tolerance Level Increases
Tolerance level increases begin shortly after a person starts using Adderall on a regular basis. The brain cells most affected by Adderall’s effects become less and less sensitive to the drug with each successive dose. This means a person has to ingest increasingly larger doses in order to experience the desired drug effect.
For the most part, these physiological changes become a downward spiral that drives the dependency process. Without receiving needed Adderall treatment help, users place themselves at serious risk of overdose and even death with continued use.
Withdrawal Symptoms
While withdrawal symptoms are commonly associated with the detoxification stage, someone who’s used Adderall for a long time will get to a point where withdrawal symptoms become a regular part of everyday life. Withdrawal symptoms commonly take the form of:
- Fatigue
- Feeling “burned out”
- Irritability
- Constipation
- Headaches
- Angry or even violent outbursts
- Problems sleeping
As Adderall, essentially depletes essential brain neurotransmitter chemicals, an addict’s overall biochemistry remains in a state of imbalance no matter how often he or she uses.
Whether in detox or actively using, withdrawal symptoms develop out of the brain’s inability to properly regulate bodily processes. With ongoing drug use, withdrawal symptoms only grow worse in severity as brain functions continue to deteriorate.
Adderall addiction treatment offers addicts the medical attention and psychological supports needed to restore damaged brain processes back to normal.
