Substance addiction is when one partakes in the use of drugs, whether for recreational or medical purposes, and becomes “hooked” on them. The use of the substance increases as the person’s body adapts to the drug. This leads to a compulsive need to obtain the drug, and then the drug may start to affect the individual’s life, including social and work aspects.
Why Drugs are Addicting
Drugs work by altering your brain processes. When you intake the substance, it changes the amount of certain chemicals in your brain. The sudden and heightened amount of chemicals released in your brain gives you the euphoric feeling commonly known as getting high. However, the human body has an amazing ability to adapt. People who use on a regular basis will find that their bodies adapt to the drug and the increased chemical releases. They stop feeling that high and have to increase their usage in order to get the same sensation. This makes it more difficult for the individual to get off of drugs, because their brain ceases to release the chemicals on its own. It has come to rely on the drugs to release the chemicals for it.
How Reliance Prevents Healing
When an individual decides that it is time to go through rehabilitation, he has to confront the adjustment of switching the chemical releases back to his brain. It’s a major transition and can be very difficult. The brain, having been reliant on the drug, doesn’t go immediately back to normal. The brain releases a large amount of adrenaline when it is freed from the drugs. This unusual amount of adrenaline is what causes withdrawal symptoms.
The other problem when getting off of drugs is that the drug substances can be stored in your fatty tissues. Because the drugs stay in the system, they can be released into the bloodstream long after the individual stops using the drug. This causes the individual to get cravings for the drug, even though his brain is self-reliant again.[4]
Typical Approaches to Biophysical Rehab
Many rehabilitation programs still fail to address the physical problems and aspect of handling this. 12 step programs advocate healing yourself through faith.[5] Other programs may advocate changing your habits through decisions, taking the stance that addiction is not a disease but a choice.
How Biophysical Treatment is Unique
Biophysical rehab is different. Biophysical refers to a branch of science that refers to applying the principles of physics to biological situation (the re-releasing of the chemicals, physics, in the body).[6] Biophysical rehab addresses the physical problems as well as the broader situation that got them into the substance they are addict to in the first place.
To handle the physical aspect of substance addiction, patients in a biophysical rehabilitation program are given plenty of vitamins. The vitamins help the body act healthier and helps restore the balance of chemicals in the bloodstream. This alone can help an individual feel much better. The patients also go through an exercise program. Exercise allows the body to burn the fatty tissues that the drugs have been stored in. This addresses the problem of the drugs being released back into the system and restimulating cravings. These are two aspects of healing that are greatly ignored in other programs.
Biophysical rehab doesn’t ignore the parts of addiction that most other treatments address, though. It also targets the situation that caused the individual to turn to the substance in the first place. Being in an inpatient program (as most biophysical rehabs are) allows the person to step back from the problems that drove him to use in the first place. It also allows him to handle aspects of his life that he feels he needs to address without being in a stressful environment, achieving a better result.
Comments 0