Substance Abuse Treatment Florida – Prescription Drugs

House of Freedom, a substance abuse treatment Florida, offers drug education therapy to all its patients.  In the drug program you learn that some of the available medications have mind-altering properties that can lead to their drug abuse when taken for reasons or in ways or amounts not prescribed by a doctor, or taken by someone other than the person for whom they were prescribed. In fact, prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs rank the most abused drugs after marijuana and alcohol.

The classes of prescription drugs most commonly abused are: pain relievers, stimulants,and depressants that are used for relieving anxiety. The most abused OTC drugs are cough and cold remedies that contain dextromethorphan. When abused, prescription and OTC drugs can be as addictive as illegal drugs and can put abusers at risk which includes deterioration of health effects and death due to over dosage.

Substance Abuse Treatment Florida – Abuse of Prescription Drug

Following are the ways which can lead to abuse of prescription drug:

• Taking a medication that has been prescribed for somebody else. Due to lack of awareness, people often engage in sharing of medications with their family members. This can be dangerous for others as they are not aware of the medications effect on their metabolism.
• Taking a drug in a higher quantity or in another manner than prescribed. By taking the drug in higher quantity, you can actually damage your nervous system.
• Taking a drug for another purpose than prescribed. All of the drug types produce pleasurable effects when taken in adequate quantities, therefore, taking them for the purpose of getting high is one of the main reasons people abuse them.

Substance Abuse Treatment Florida – Effects of OTC on the Brain

When taken as intended, prescription and OTC drugs safely treat specific mental or physical symptoms. But when taken in unprescribed quantities or when such symptoms aren’t present, they can prove to be harmful. For example, stimulants such as Ritalin achieve their effects by acting on the same neurotransmitter systems as cocaine. Pain relievers like OxyContin produce the same effect as produced by cocaine. Prescription depressants produce calming effects in the same manner as some of the illegal. And when taken in very high doses, they can produce similar out-of-body experiences.

When abused, all of these classes of drugs directly or indirectly cause a pleasurable increase in the amount of dopamine in the brain’s reward pathway, repeatedly seeking to experience the feeling that leads to addiction.

Substance Abuse Treatment Florida – Addiction and Treatment

The likelihood that a person will become addicted as a result of over-the-counter drug abuse depends upon several factors. For example, DXM is an addictive substance. Abusers of over-the-counter medications experience emotional or cognitive withdrawal symptoms such as depression and difficulties processing thoughts and storing or retrieving memories.

Even in the absence of addiction, the abuse of these medications can result in significant short-term and long-term problems which are the result of extended abuse of the over-the-counter medications.

Treatment for drug abuse depends upon several factors, including the type of over-the-counter medication or medications being abused, the age and gender of the patient, the length and severity of the patient’s drug problems and the presence of any co-occurring disorders.

Treatment for addiction includes any of the following therapies and techniques:

• Individual therapy
• Group therapy
• Family therapy
• 12-Step education
• Relapse-prevention instruction
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Many substance abuse treatment Florida offer specialized programs and treatments that helps the abuser overcome the addiction and live a healthy life.

House of Freedom is CARF Accredited, Christian drug rehab center in Orlando Florida, which unlike traditional addiction treatment centers, we deliver substance abuse treatment center services that deal with the physical, mental, social, and spiritual component of drug and alcohol addiction treatment.  Our alcohol and drug rehabilitation center has both inpatient drug rehab services and outpatient drug treatment in Orlando Florida.

If you or a loved one are in need of drug or alcohol addiction rehab treatment center in Orlando Florida, GET HELP NOW!!  Contact us at 1-888-796-8040.