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Over 50 percent of the
people who seek help for an addiction do not find
access.
For some, treatment
costs are too high.
For others, the
moment of choosing treatment is met with a lack of
available treatment facilities and personnel.
Waiting lists become a twilight zone and the person
is afterwards less likely to return for help.
For those who find
treatment opportunities and are able to pay the
cost, the choices of treatment options are often
limited to faith-based, 12-step programs. For some
people, this is a successful treatment option.
For others, it is
not.
For some, getting off
a drug such as heroin may only succeed if they can
use a drug like methadone. But methadone is not
readily available. In Arkansas, methadone
maintenance is only available in Little Rock and
persons involved in this treatment option may have
to drive to Little Rock weekly.
For anyone in any
kind of treatment, basic ingredients are important:
Good food is
important. Most people who have been abusing a
substance are in a debilitated state of health. An
intense period of quality health care significantly
increases a person's chance of improvement. High
quality nutrition, herbs, and dietary supplements
are important ingredients in a successful approach.
One resource for learning more about herbal and
nutritional systems to help people stop using drugs,
or to reduce or manage their drug use, is Donna
Odierna, Herbalist, Casa Segura/The Safe House,
Oakland CA; 501-437-8899.
Counseling is
important. Most people who have been abusing a
substance are emotionally exhausted and
psychologically traumatized. There may be older
trauma, some root causes for the substance abuse.
Professional counseling should involve personal
issues, family issues, and work issues.
Spiritual Support.
Other types of emotional and psychological treatment
besides counseling are more spiritual in nature.
Looking for a strong shoulder to lean on can be
important. For some, this is found in organized
worship services and other programs of the church.
Meditation is
also useful to many people with substance abuse
problems and is often taught in conjunction with
Eastern philosophy. Buddhist meditations have been
successfully used in some treatment programs. In
Arkansas, no formal treatment programs of Buddhist
Mindfulness Meditation exist of a scope that would
be necessary for treatment, but individual
instruction and group support exist and group
meditations can be attended. These groups are
supportive but not specifically therapeutic in
nature. For more information on Buddhist meditation,
contact Geoff Oelsner at 501-521-2395.
Additional
alternatives might include biofeedback, acupuncture,
massage, cleansing processes such as sweat baths,
exercise, and other drugs.
Treatment Links:
National Alliance of Methadone Advocates
National Alliance of Methadone Advocates - Library
Catalog
Byrne, Andrew J and Byrne, Andrew J.
Forward and Table of Contents. Methadone in the
Treatment of Narcotic Addiction. Australia:
Tosca Press; 1995: pp. 95.
Search for "treatment," "methadone," and "AA"
Holistic-Online includes information about
meditation and other holistic therapies
Information on acupuncture for substance abuse
Mindfulness Meditation
White Bison
Foundation - Native American
information on treatment
info@whitebison.org
Methadone Watchdog
Private
physician-run methadone maintenance clinic.
www.capqualitycare.com
A link to the new
regulations about methadone maintenance
with some government comments and views on their
hopes for reforms can be found at the
SAMHSA site:
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