Heroin Addiction

Fifty million people worldwide use Heroin, cocaine, and other synthetic drugs on a usual basis. In 2020, more than 93,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, and over 4 million Americans over the age of 12 reported Heroin use at least once in their lifetime this is a 30% increase since 2019.

Heroin addiction is a complex brain condition manifested by compulsive substance use. The brain can be physically dependent (addicted) and psychologically dependent on a substance despite harmful consequences. Heroin is a chronic, dormant disease characterized by changes in the brain and unruly drug-seeking behaviors. A multidimensional approach to recovery includes Cognitive Behavior Therapy and, for some addicts and inpatients pharmaceutical approach offers the best outcome for recovery.

Heroin is a synthesized opioid painkiller that originates from the opium poppy plant. Upon use, Heroin converts to morphine in the body. Also known on the streets as a recreational drug, called brown, smack, or black tar. Addicts report that the pleasure of the drug rush feels like a sense of wellness, leaving the user wanting more, which leads to higher tolerance and a stronger association with addiction.

Many effective behavioral treatments for heroin and opiate use disorders are available in residential and outpatient settings. Approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy have effectively treated heroin use disorder, mainly when applied with medications. Cognitive-behavioral therapy assists in helping modify the patient's expectations and behaviors related to drug use while developing skills to cope with various life stressors.

One of the challenges for an addict reflects negative thinking patterns that cause many problems, including anxiety, depression, and addiction. Addressing destructive thoughts is prevalent in individuals struggling with substance abuse, and all-or-nothing reasoning contributes to their sense of powerlessness and inadequacy of control over their addiction behavior.

It is common for individuals struggling with substance use disorder to have destructive, negative thinking. Not recognizing that these thought patterns are harmful, they seek treatment for depression or other external influences. Since cognition affects our well-being, changing unhealthy thought patterns is essential. CBT addresses destructive thought patterns, which helps clients recognize their ability to practice alternative thinking and regulate distressing emotions and harmful behavior.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy exercises intervene on all three components simultaneously. For instance, when uncontrollable worry is the problem, Cognitive -behavioral therapy exercises can help the user identify more effectively, reducing the anxiety about the substance.

There are various ways to abuse Heroin; inhaled in powder form, smoked, or injected intravenously. All of these approaches of ingesting the substance crosses the blood-brain barrier. The conversion ability in the brain covers the Heroin back into morphine, binding to opioid receptors located throughout the body and brain. The Opioid receptors are involved in pain perception and reward because the drug increases the feelings of gratification while decreasing pain.

The chronic use of Heroin eventually alters the functioning and structure of the brain, leading to a higher tolerance of dependency.

 During this junction of using, the cognitive behavior therapy approach would benefit the user towards understanding dependency because both physical and psychological dependency is present. Physical heroin dependence is when the addict establishes a need to continue with the drug to avoid unpleasant, painful withdrawal symptoms than psychological dependency, where the user firmly believes that they cannot function without Heroin.

Former addicts of Heroin describe the drug's high as an intense feeling of comfort, especially those who inject Heroin, state the experience is a "rush" because the substance immediately affects the brain lasting about two minutes, but users have likened the rush to orgasm in terms of pleasure. As Heroin travels through the bloodstream warmly, the high lasts 4 to 5 hours. While the user is high, the brain quickly links Heroin to activate these chemicals in the brain's reward system. Eventually, the user becomes addicted and cannot operate without the substance making the withdrawal symptoms more of a challenge to quit on their own.

Malnutrition and unhealthy weight loss become noticeable in heroin addicts, but the symptoms of heroin addiction will alter among users based on genetic makeup and the frequency and dependency of the drug used. Signs of use include fatigue, slowed breathing, fading in and out of consciousness, flushed skin, nausea, vomiting, and "track marks" from an injection. The most common behavior and physical signs of heroin addiction include scabs or bruises resulting from picking the skin, delusions, paranoia, extreme itching, and the inability to fulfill life's responsibilities.

 There is an endless list of adverse outcomes for the use of Heroin. However, some of the most common causes of heroin addiction may include genetics. While genetics will not cause anyone to initiate using Heroin, an individual's genes may cause one to become addicted once they have started using the drug. Addicts who have a family member, especially a first-degree relative, with addiction disorders are more prone to develop an addiction themselves.

Unfortunately, repeated drug use changes brain chemistry. The substance use of Heroin feels pleasure in a way that causes physical development to nerve cells in the brain because these nerve cells use neurons to communicate, and the addiction to Heroin disrupts communication in the brain and causes an individual to use more of the drug to make up for the lack of neurotransmitters.

Substance use is a complicated condition in which a substance is uncontrolled despite harmful consequences. Addicts intensely focus on using a specific substance, such as heroin, to the point where the person's ability to function in day-to-day life becomes impaired. Drug addicts keep using the substance even when they know it is causing or will cause problems.

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When Heroin users first try to quit, they undergo withdrawal symptoms that consist of a painful experience that includes severe symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. A pharmaceutical approach with medication can assist in the detoxification stage, providing physical ease to the addictive craving and other physical symptoms like shaking and cold sweats as an invitation for relapsing.

 The FDA approved a non-opioid medicine, lofexidine, designed to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms. While not a treatment for addiction itself, detoxification is a practical first step when some form of evidence-based therapy follows it. For instance, methadone treatment targets chronic Heroin or opioid addicts who have not benefited from other treatment approaches. Such treatment includes replacing licit or illicit morphine derivatives with longer-acting, medically safe, stabilizing substitutes of known potency taken orally. When administered in adequate doses, methadone or other long-acting opioid reduces drug cravings, blocks euphoric effects from continued use of Heroin or other illegal opioids, and eliminates the rapid mood swings associated with short-acting and usually injected Heroin. The approach allows patients to function normally and does not focus on abstinence as a goal but on rehabilitation and a productive lifestyle.

Various effective treatments are available for heroin addictions, in conjunction with a pharmacology approach with medication and behavioral. Both approaches assist in restoring a degree of normalcy to brain function and behavior, resulting in increased employment rates and a decreased risk of other diseases and criminal behavior. Although behavioral and pharmacologic treatments can be beneficial when utilized alone, research shows that integrating both treatments offers a practical approach for the addict.

An evaluation factor that needs consideration is the addict's environment. Such as family and friends' beliefs that encourage drug use all play a role in an individual's choice to begin using drugs. For instance, addicts who grow up in a home environment where drug abuse is accepted to cope with negative emotions are more desensitized to drugs. Addicts may learn that drug abuse is a proper way of handling adverse life events; not only does the addict need backing, but when a family is affected by the addiction, they also require support.

Therapy can be beneficial for the whole family. As opposed to treatment specifically for the addict, some treatments are specific for families of addicts. Cognitive behavior therapy aims to meet the users' needs and can also address all family member's needs, address family relationships, and determine how certain relationships affect the identified patient and the health of other family members.

Another goal in therapy is to make a change amongst the whole family, and this is different from family-involved treatment, where the focus is to educate families about the relationship patterns that can contribute to the formation and continuation of substance abuse.

The benefits of utilizing Cognitive-behavioral therapy combine two therapeutic approaches, cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. A highjacked mind changed by addiction can create an unhealthy environment of negative thoughts, changeable emotions, and compulsions for drug use. By implementing psychotherapy, or "talk therapy," the addicted person and therapist build a therapeutic foundation that uses communication to promote healing and learning healthy behaviors.

Together, these elements can color how a person relates to their experiences, change how they view their substance abuse, and compile any pre-existing negativity or mental illness patterns, such as an imbalance with the body and mind that can fuel drug abuse and lead to a person to self-medicate.

The challenging thoughts and emotions of a sober life can become overwhelming to an addict, and this can be crippling without guidance from a trained professional because the addict fears adapting to a healthy and unknown productive lifestyle. Although this may amplify negative thoughts and the damaging behaviors resulting from this fear, it can also trigger drug or alcohol abuse.

It is essential to break this cycle through therapy to help a person succeed and build a solid foundation for recovery. While specific outpatient programs may offer cognitive behavioral therapy, treating heroin addiction is safer in a residential inpatient drug rehab program due to the intensive nature of the addictive behavior.