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Drug Treatment

Drug addiction is a very serious problem throughout the United States.  It was reported that in 2004, about 22.5 million people in America said they needed to get treatment for substance abuse.  With numbers like these, it is necessary that drug treatment programs be effective and actually help people with there addictions.  There are several different approaches to drug treatment; some of the more popular treatment programs are outpatient behavioral treatment and residential treatment.  While these two form of drug treatment vary in the way that the go about seeking drug treatment, the fundamentals of their service are the same.

To be an effective drug treatment program, some key principles are usually established.  Here are a list of some key principles to keep in mind about effective drug treatment:

  1. Every person is different so no treatment program should be designed with only one “type” of person in mind
  2. Treatment should be easily assessable to patients and readily available
  3. Treatment plans should be adjusted and changed to fit the persons growth and needs
  4. Treatment should take place over a substantial amount of time in order for it to be most effective
  5. Counseling and therapy should be large parts of the treatment process, no matter what type or style of treatment is taking place
  6. For some types of drug addiction, medication is needed to be used as an element of treatment, especially for people who have drug addictions in conjunction with other behavioral disorders
  7. Treatment does not always need to be voluntary to be effective.  Sometimes people in severe cases can go through drug treatment against their own will, ans still have some sort of positive result.
  8. If someone is using drugs while in rehab, it must be monitored very closely
  9. Treatment facilities should provide testing for diseases related to drug use such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C