Types of Treatment at Crack Rehab
Long-term crack use leaves a shell of person in its wake. The damage done to the brain and body make it all but impossible for an addict to stop using on his or her own.
Addiction treatment, in general, entails going through the dreaded detox stage as a first essential step. From there, recovering addicts must work through the psychological dependency that results from long-term crack use.
For many people, crack rehab becomes the only way to break the hold of addiction on their lives. The types of treatment offered through crack rehab are designed to address the specific challenges addicts encounter throughout the recovery process.
The types of treatment available through crack rehab include:
- Detox care
- Inpatient treatment
- Outpatient treatment
These various treatment approaches provide recovering addicts with the tools and supports needed to live productive, drug-free lives.
Crack’s Effects
Like cocaine, crack speeds up the body’s central nervous system functions to the point where both brain and body processes grow progressively weaker from overuse, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Once inside the brain, crack causes brain cell receptor sites to release large amounts of dopamine, an essential neurotransmitter chemical. Over time, excess dopamine amounts start to offset other chemical processes throughout the brain.
By the time a person becomes addicted, the body can’t function without crack’s effects. Crack rehab starts with eliminating the physical dependency before addressing the psychological factors that drive addiction behaviors.
Detox Care
The overall goal of crack rehab detox treatment works to eliminate all traces of the drug from the body. Only then can a person start dealing with the underlying psychological issues that drive addiction.
Detox programs may also administer medication therapies to help relieve the uncomfortable withdrawal effects that develop once a person stops using. While breaking the body’s physical dependency is the primary goal in detox, addicts still undergo intense psychotherapy and counseling work, which gives them an idea of what it will take to maintain abstinence after detox treatment ends.
Inpatient treatment
For long-time crack users, inpatient treatment is often the next best step to take after completing a detox program. Like detox, a person resides at an inpatient facility for the duration of the program.
Inpatient crack rehab programs do a thorough assessment of a person’s condition, which may include:
- Evaluating the severity of the addiction
- A medical evaluation to identify and treat conditions that result from long-term drug use
- A psychiatric evaluation to identity and treat any co-occurring psychological disorders
- A psychosocial evaluation to gauge the level of friend and family support a person has
Outpatient Treatment
For people who’ve completed detox and/or inpatient treatment, outpatient crack rehab begins the process of working through the psychological dependency aspect of addiction. Unlike inpatient care, a person doesn’t live at the treatment facility but rather keeps scheduled treatment appointments on a daily, biweekly or weekly basis.
Outpatient treatment entails attending ongoing psychotherapy sessions, group counseling and 12-Step support groups. In effect, this part of the recovery process matters just as much as the detox stage as the risk for relapse never really goes away.