Drug Abuse and De-addiction therapy
This branch of psychology deals with the treatment of people who are dependent on any psychoactive substance like alcohol, cannabis, opioids, nicotine etc. The goal of the therapy is to break the lack of willingness of the patient to leave the substance. A combined treatment of medicines and psychotherapy works best for patients with any kind of substance dependence and substance abuse. In some extreme cases, hospitalisation or staying in a rehab centre may also be suggested.
Psychotherapy is crucial before, during and after the medication. Majority of the patients who have been dependent on any kind of substance, face the problem of relapse. There are many triggers which can cause relapses like extreme stress, emotions, social obligation, exposure, or even the mere desire to have a limited quantity of the substance which slowly increases back to the same level. Psychotherapy plays a crucial role in psychoeducation of the patients about all the warning signs and how to control or deal with them. Research has proven that patients who continued with the therapy process even after getting sober were at a lower risk of relapse than people who did not continue the therapy.
The treatment can be a long process and depends on the severity and the type of disorder as given below:-