3 Reasons to Choose Methadone Maintenance Therapy

With opiate addiction rates rising every year, the number of available treatment programs has increased considerably. Many people struggling with chronic opiate addiction have likely tried drug treatment in the past and seen little to no progress for their efforts. For these reasons, choosing the right type of treatment program is critical to your recovery success.

Methadone maintenance therapy exists as the very first medication-based treatment for opiate addiction. While this line of treatment doesn’t work for everyone, it nonetheless remains the standard approach for treating chronic opiate addiction.

For anyone considering this treatment option, reasons to choose methadone maintenance therapy will likely take the form of ongoing issues that affect your daily life.

How Does Methadone Maintenance Therapy Work?

Methadone maintenance therapy will help restore your emotional stability.

Chronic opiate abuse essentially warps the brain’s chemical system while damaging neurotransmitter-producing cells along the way. Even after a person stops using opiates, the damage left behind makes it all but impossible to abstain from drug use for any length of time.

According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, methadone maintenance therapy works by supporting damaged brain cells and stimulating neurotransmitter production at normal levels. Within a short period of time, methadone can eliminate the uncomfortable withdrawal and drug cravings effects that make ongoing abstinence so difficult to maintain.

Call our toll-free helpline at 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) if you have any questions about available methadone treatment options.

3 Reasons to Consider Methadone Maintenance Therapy

1. Unable to Stop Using on Your Own

It’s not uncommon for people battling opiate addiction to try to stop using drugs on their own. After so many months or years of opiate abuse, a person not only contends with the brain’s “need” for opiates, but has also developed a psychological dependence on opiate effects. Once psychological dependence takes hold, a person actually believes he or she needs the drug to make it through the day.

Methadone maintenance therapy addresses both the brain’s physical dependence and the mind’s psychological dependence on the drug.

2. Failed Treatment Attempts

Traditional treatment programs focus mainly on treating the psychological aspect of addiction. People coming off chronic addiction problems contend with a physical brain deficiency as well as addiction’s psychological component.

If you’ve had little to no success with other forms of treatment, this is usually a good indicator that some form of medication therapy is needed to address the brain’s weakened condition. Methadone maintenance therapy relies heavily on methadone’s ability to support damaged brain functions.

How Long Do I Have to Stay in Methadone Maintenance Treatment to See Long-Lasting Results?

Chronic opiate abuse can have lasting negative effects on your physical and psychological health, making it imperative that you attend MMT for the appropriate amount of time.

3. Emotional Instability

After so many weeks or months of opiate abuse, the drug’s effects inevitably start to disrupt a person’s emotional well-being. According to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, ongoing instability in the form of depression or anxiety-based symptoms tend to make an addiction problem that much worse over time.

Methadone maintenance therapy incorporates behavior-based interventions as part of its overall treatment protocol. This aspect of treatment is designed to help you work through underlying emotional issues and develop healthy coping skills for managing daily life pressures.

Considerations

While methadone maintenance therapy does offer certain benefits not afforded through other types of treatment, it’s not a “quick fix” by any means. In effect, methadone’s use as a maintenance therapy works to break compulsive drug-using behavior patterns and help the brain return to normal functional levels, so it helps to keep this in mind should you choose this form of treatment.

If you need help finding a treatment program that meets your specific treatment needs, please don’t hesitate to call our toll-free helpline at 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) .