Top 6 Ways a Methadone Clinic Will Guide Your Recovery from Heroin Addiction

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) can help guide your recovery from heroin addiction in a number of ways. Call 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) now to find a rehab program that suits your needs and will help you build the safest, most effective recovery possible.

1. Stabilizing Your Body and Brain

Methadone itself works to stabilize a person’s physical and psychological response to ending heroin abuse and starting recovery. Without the use of a medication like methadone, a person can experience painful withdrawal symptoms as well as intense cravings for the drug.

However, when the individual takes a daily dose of methadone that is controlled by a maintenance center, their withdrawal symptoms will minimize, as will their cravings, and the drug will “bring about a biochemical balance in the body” (National Institute of Justice).

2. Reducing Your Chances of Relapse

Methadone treatment will help change your mindset about substance abuse.

Because heroin is such a highly addictive drug, many individuals return to substance abuse when they are not managed on some sort of maintenance medication. It took quite a while for doctors to understand that some individuals just can’t stop taking opioids, especially immediately, and this is why methadone maintenance is such a beneficial option for treatment.

However, there are other aspects of MMT that help reduce the risk of relapse, as the treatment is a well rounded program for recovery that utilizes more than just medication for care.

3. Treating Co-occurring Disorders

Mental and physical disorders are likely to occur along with heroin abuse and addiction, so many individuals require additional treatments for these issues. Some individuals need to be treated in an inpatient facility while others in outpatient care may be referred to another community-based agency for the treatment they require.

The simultaneous treatment of co-occurring disorders with addiction, though, is absolutely necessary, as any issue that goes unaddressed could potentially impede the progress of recovery (National Institute on Drug Abuse).

4. Providing Necessary Education

Most MMT programs also provide drug education as well as other types of instruction that work to prevent more serious side effects from occurring. For example, many patients do not understand the way addiction actually works when they enter treatment, but in MMT, they can learn why they should not attempt to go through recovery alone and how heroin abuse changes the way the brain works.

In addition, patients are educated on other subjects such as the dangers of contracting HIV, getting pregnant, or experiencing additional issues as a result of heroin abuse.

What is Methadone Used to Treat & When to Consider Getting Treatment Help

Whether used for pain or addiction recovery, methadone use holds a high risk for abuse and must be monitored closely.

5. Removing Dangerous Beliefs

Many individuals who enter treatment often believe that methadone maintenance is just the act of replacing one’s heroin addiction with another addiction. However, this is untrue, and patients are able to learn why as well as receive the information that allows them to correct others with the same misguided belief.

Other attitudes about addiction and substance abuse are addressed and changed over the course of MMT, including the idea that life is boring without substance abuse and that one can continue using recreationally without serious side effects. This will help guide you toward abstinence and other healthy lifestyle goals that will positively affect your recovery.

6. Creating a Routine

One of the most beneficial aspects of MMT is the way it helps a person in recovery for heroin addiction create a steady, daily routine. Patients must go to the clinic once a day to receive their methadone medication, and as such, everything in their lives must be more stable so that they can receive the benefits of their treatment.

Creating a routine is not only effective for receiving your medication. You will start to feel like you have control of your life again once you start a steady regimen that stays the same every day. This will also decrease your chances of relapse and improve your moods. In short, MMT will affect every area of your life in order to guide you down the path you most desire: the path of recovery.

Want to Find Methadone Treatment?

Call 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) today. We will match you with safe, reliable methadone clinics that can cater to your needs and ensure that you are able to recover effectively from heroin abuse and addiction.