Valium Treatment and Rehab

Valium Info

• Valium Addiction and Abuse
• Valium Symptoms and Warning Signs
• Valium Treatment and Rehab
• Valium Withdrawal and Detox

Known as ‘Mother’s little helpers’ in the 1960s, Valium was the drug of choice for stressed-out housewives who needed help relaxing. Today, an alarming number of UK residents have developed a dependence on Valium. Doctors warned that addiction numbers would increase after the drug became cheaper in 2017, leading to calls by the British Medical Association that Valium should be reclassified in the same schedule as steroids and ‘club drugs’.

By 2002, over half a million UK residents were addicted to Benzodiazepines (or ‘benzos’), a class of sedatives killing more people than methadone, cocaine and heroin combined. 17 million prescriptions are issued annually for benzos in the UK. A report in The Times newspaper revealed that over one million Brits have been prescribed benzos for most of their adult lives. This is a situation that has negatively impacted their mental and physical health.

A patient who was overprescribed won a landmark legal victory in 2002. Raymond Nimmo was prescribed Diazepam by a doctor after he reported pains following a dental procedure. He soon started taking higher doses, before the doctor changed his prescription to include a cocktail of medication to treat insomnia, depression, panic attacks and agoraphobia.

He struggled with addiction until 1998, when he received addiction help at a rehab clinic. The huge financial payout was a result of his negligent GP who fuelled Nimmo’s drug use needlessly when he could have been given medications with less addictive properties. He was weaned off the drugs when another doctor noticed he had developed medical conditions as a result of his addiction to benzos.

Valium: Abuse and Addiction Treatment

Valium is no longer viewed as a harmless pill because addiction to the medication is well documented. Doctors and psychiatrists continue to prescribe the drug, knowing the risk of addiction and pulling over a million people into the sedative trap. Many recovering addicts say that an addiction to any Benzodiazepine is worse to that of cocaine or heroin because it’s harder to withdraw from.

A former addict says she went through an extremely distressing acute withdrawal, during which she couldn’t eat or sleep. It felt like her brain and body were burning and she experienced uncontrolled eye twitches, vomiting and abdominal pains. The drug is usually prescribed as a short-term solution for patients suffering from insomnia and anxiety. It is also prescribed for Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, restless legs syndrome and muscle spasms.

The drug is either injected into a vein or taken orally by mouth. Diazepam was launched in 1963 by Hoffmann La-Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company. The effectiveness of Valium is dependent on its ability to suppress specific GABA receptors in the brain’s neural system. Hard drug users are most at risk for developing an addiction to Valium. The recommended length of use is five days to avoid developing dependence and addiction.

If you take Valium for up to one month, you risk experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you decide to stop. Treatment for addiction includes detox to wean you off Valium, medication to treat withdrawal symptoms and behavioural therapy to address the underlying reasons that led to drug use and teach you positive coping skills for long-term drug-free living.

What is Valium addiction?

Valium is a sedative-hypnotic substance that is part of the Benzodiazepine family, prescribed for its anticonvulsant, antidepressant, muscle relaxant and sedative properties. The medicine is generally referred to by its generic name, Diazepam. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that over 18% of the US adult population has one form of anxiety disorder that requires medication. Meanwhile, in the UK, the 2007 recession saw an exponential increase in the volume of Valium prescription.

The downside to Valium is that patients can build a tolerance after just a week of taking it. Addiction to Valium has longer-lasting effects than other benzos. It usually takes a period of four months to progress from tolerance to drug dependence to addiction.

Most Valium users don’t agree that they have a problem, because the drug was prescribed by their GP. Yet they exhibit signs of addiction, such as strong cravings for Valium; inability to function properly without using the drug; using Valium to relieve stress; and continued usage, even when they know the health risks.

When you’re addicted to Valium, it’s important to seek treatment at a rehabilitation centre, where medical professionals will help you detox safely.

It is these pleasurable feelings elicited by Valium that make it attractive to recreational drug users, looking for the escape and ‘high’ that most drugs offer. When you increase your intake of Valium, it over-floods the brain with GABA and dopamine chemicals, disrupting their natural functions and subsequently leading to drug dependence.

Addiction treatment considers your history of drug abuse; environmental factors; genetics; risk of relapse; the amount of drug in your system at intake; presence of physical and mental health issues; and any polydrug use problems. These factors – alongside assessment report at intake – are used to formulate a customised treatment plan for you. Addiction is mostly psychological; therefore, behavioural therapy will treat insomnia, depression, drug cravings and panic attacks.

Therapy models like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy are useful techniques to help you understand the real reason why you abused drugs and teach you to deal with stressful situations and temptations without resorting to drug abuse.

Valium Dependence: Treatment Suggestions

Treatment options for Valium dependence include:

Detox: treatment only begins when all traces of Valium have left your system and you’re physically stabilised. A detox plan is designed by your medical team, based on answers you provided during the initial assessment. The detox process takes five to fourteen days, depending on the length of substance abuse and presence of other drugs in your system. Medical detoxification reduces the risk of severe symptoms of Valium withdrawal and minimises discomfort during this period.

Medication: during detox and addiction treatment, physicians might prescribe medication to treat the physical and psychological symptoms of withdrawal. They include baclofen, anticonvulsants, melatonin and antidepressants.

Drug rehabilitation: after detox, you will transition to rehab to receive psychological treatment for substance abuse. Inpatient rehab is best to increase your chances of lifelong abstinence from drugs. You’ll attend group counselling, individual therapy sessions and engage in other alternative therapy models that prepare you to re-enter society.

Visible warning signs of Valium abuse include:

Effects: Short and Long-term

The immediate effect of taking Valium is a ‘high’, during which you feel relaxed, calm, sedated and euphoric. Many users experience the following short-term effects after the ‘high’:

Long-term effects are more dangerous, as they affect the body and brain. Some of the effects are permanent and can be life-threatening. They include:

Why You Should Seek Treatment and Rehab for Valium Abuse and addiction

Benzos like Valium are very powerful and hard to withdraw from. Detoxing at home is never a safe option, especially if you’re a long-term user, have mental health issues or are mixing Valium with other drugs. The interaction of these substances could cause an accidental overdose or you’ll experience severe seizures and convulsions during withdrawal.

These are symptoms that should only be managed by a doctor at a rehab facility. Rehab centres use a safe, tapering method to wean you off drugs and provide a therapeutic environment to help you recover from substance abuse. They also use research-backed techniques to equip you with coping strategies and skills for life-long abstinence from illicit drugs and prescription pills.

How to Help A Loved One Seek Treatment

Research has shown that mental illnesses like addiction to Valium disrupt your life more than physical sickness. Living with an addict or trying to convince them to seek help for addiction is never easy. The first step is to learn everything you can about Valium addiction. Join a support group for families of addicts to learn how to deal with and help them.

There will be individuals in your support group who’ve had success getting their loved ones into treatment, so ask them for tips. Attending meetings helps to lower stress levels, reduce feelings of isolation and provide skills for handling personal problems you might be facing due to a loved one’s addiction.

Spend time together as a family, be patient and non-judgmental when you speak with them. Manage your expectations during intervention sessions and consider hiring a professional interventionist to handle the process. It took a while for addiction to develop, so it will take some time to convince them to seek help.

What’s Valium Rehab Like?

Inpatient rehab is structured. Every hour of the day is planned to benefit your recovery journey. After evaluation, you’ll undergo detox to rid your body of drug toxins and stabilise you for rehabilitation care. Effective treatment will address all areas of your life, including mental health, financial struggles, marital woes, broken relationships and co-existing infections or mental health disorders caused or exacerbated by your drug use.

Your day starts with exercises like yoga and meditation to relax you and relieve stress. After that, you’ll have breakfast; attend meetings with therapists, counsellors and doctors; take part in team building sessions, and learn life skills lessons and alternative therapy techniques employed by the rehab centre of your choice.

Types of Valium Addiction Treatment

Options for Valium addiction treatment include detox, inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, aftercare, sober-living homes, support groups and peer counselling.

Detox: the detox process is the hardest part of treatment for most patients. It is the phase where you rid your body of Valium and other addictive substances. Medical professionals are on hand to ensure you remain safe during the process.

Sober-living homes: Many patients who want to continue living in a therapeutic community exchange residential rehab for sober-living homes. They are a halfway house for recovering addicts who want to ease into society. You can go out during the day (to work or volunteer) and return before curfew. There are house chores, random drug testing and meetings.

Behavioural Therapy: Therapy engages drug addicts in treatment; provides incentives to remain abstinent; teaches practical life skills to cope with stress and handle triggers; helps you design a relapse prevention plan. Options include CBT, DBT, Motivational Interviewing and Contingency Management.

When to choose: Inpatient vs. Outpatient

Both inpatient and outpatient treatment are effective. Inpatient treatment is a structured programme that utilises a therapeutic community, inhabited by care professionals and recovering addicts to maximise your chances of making a full recovery from Benzodiazepine addiction.

Residential treatment eliminates all distractions and temptations at a period when you’re most fragile and susceptible to relapse. It is recommended for individuals with a long-term history of substance abuse, dual diagnosis, polysubstance use disorder and medical conditions that might complicate withdrawal.

Outpatients attend the same therapy sessions, skills building classes and medication management as inpatients. It’s not structured or regimented like inpatient care. Hence, there are more distractions on the recovery journey. This method is recommended for individuals with mild addiction or substance dependency issues and for those who can’t take time off work to fully commit to inpatient care.

The cost of rehab: Rehab is expensive and if you don’t have insurance or support from loved ones, it might be harder to fund treatment. Standard rehabs are cheaper than executive programmes because the latter provides more amenities and a better staff-to-patient ratio.

Location: Rehab centres in remote beaches or far-off hidden locations cost more, just as those in big cities like London or Manchester.

The number of therapy techniques used in treatment: Therapy is an essential part of addiction treatment. The higher the number of therapies on offer, the more expensive the programme will be. In fact, some insurance companies only cover basics such as CBT, individual counselling and group sessions.

Individualised treatment: the best rehab centres always create a specialised plan for you. it considers mental health issues and other personal factors that led to addiction.

Aftercare: choose a rehab centre that offers follow-up and continuous care after rehab is over. Treatment is a lifelong journey and an aftercare plan helps you maintain abstinence.

Specialised Treatment and Therapy Options

Addiction is different for everyone; therefore, every individual receives a unique treatment plan. Addiction treatment treats you as a whole individual, not just the addiction itself. A combination of therapy techniques and mediation is provided to maximise a successful outcome. All mental health issues diagnosed during intake will be addressed during treatment. Therapy models for addiction treatment include:

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

Developed by Marsha Linehan, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy is an offshoot of CBT that emphasises group skills and training classes to help patients learn new strategies for coping with stressful situations. Skills taught include distress tolerance, emotional regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness and emotional regulation.

During therapy sessions, DBT focuses on reducing painful withdrawal symptoms; improving communication skills to establish new abstinent friendships; reduce cravings and urges for drugs; decrease drug abuse; and encourage vocational and recreational activities that help maintain abstinence. The programme is useful for individuals suffering from prescription pill addiction, depression, PTSD, anxiety and panic disorders.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is used during individual therapy sessions to help you identify negative, self-defeating thought patterns and actions that fuel drug abuse. Cognition affects thought pattern and general wellbeing. CBT helps you practice alternative, positive thoughts, emotions and actions that regulate harmful behaviour and negative emotions. It is effective for treating co-occurring disorders and substance use disorders.

You’ll work with a therapist to unlearn negative behaviour, imbibe useful skills for daily living and form coping strategies for dealing with highly stressful situations and triggers after treatment.

Withdrawal from Valium

Valium is one of the highest-selling prescription medications in the world. It is considered to have a significant risk of abuse and physical dependence, due to powerful compounds in the drug. As such, it is only prescribed for five to seven days, after which the drug stops being effective and patients start building tolerance.

Tolerance indicates that the original dose isn’t effective in treating insomnia, sleep disorders or panic attacks. You’ll need to increase every dose of Valium and take the medication at a shorter frequency to feel the original effects of the drug. Long-term abuse of Valium leads to withdrawal symptoms and rebound effects when you abruptly stop using it.

During detox, doctors use the tapering method to gradually reduce your dose of Valium until it has completely left your system. Within 24 hours after your last intake, you’ll experience the initial withdrawal symptoms. According to a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, Valium remains in the human body for up to 12 hours. When Valium is removed, symptoms include nightmares, vomiting, nausea, mood swings, fatigue, irritability and insomnia. These symptoms usually last up to four days.

The acute withdrawal follows on the third or fourth day after your last dose of Valium. This is the phase where most of the withdrawal symptoms occur and lasts until the 10^th-14^th day after your last drug use. Symptoms include chills, mild fever, lightheadedness, rebound symptoms like anxiety, continuing insomnia and panic attacks, as well as headaches and cravings.

After the general withdrawal period of 14 days, you’ll be physically stable to attend rehab. However, some patients might experience post-acute withdrawal symptoms or late withdrawal, where symptoms linger up to one month. Lingering symptoms are mostly psychological and require behavioural therapy to treat. They include no feeling of pleasure in activities you previously enjoyed; depression; general dissatisfaction; and drug cravings.

Committing to an aftercare programme reduces the risk of relapse and equips you with skills to live a healthy life, without the need to engage in addictive behaviours. Ensure you attend a rehab programme that offers aftercare as part of its treatment or connects you with another aftercare programme.

Programmes in your follow-up care include:

Attending individual therapy sessions for outpatient addiction treatment

Active participation in a 12-step programme such as Narcotics Anonymous

Receive education on coping strategies or new skills from the success stories of other recovering addicts

Attend group counselling sessions

Relapse Prevention

The statistics for recovering addicts who maintain life-long abstinence isn’t encouraging. Around 80% of recovering addicts relapse within the first month after rehab. The first thing to understand is that drug rehabilitation never ends, because like addiction, it is a state of mind encompassing every decision you make.

A relapse prevention plan that guides your daily life within the first few months after treatment helps to ensure you stay on track and make the right choices. There will be unavoidable high-risk situations you’ll have to deal with, such as interpersonal stressors, environmental stressors and mood changes. A relapse prevention plan ensures you’re fully equipped (mentally and physically) to deal with these situations without relapsing. It also incorporates what to do in the event that you do slip. Important components of a relapse prevention plan include:

Reflection and self-assessment: before rehab, what kind of drugs did you abuse alongside Valium? Why did you start abusing Valium? Was it for recreational purposes or to cope with stress? Identifying your usage patterns helps you reflect on instances of drug abuse.

Recognise triggers: a trigger makes you stray from the path of abstinence, back to substance abuse. You’ll have your own set of triggers, so be aware of them so you can avoid them every day. There are psychological warning signs before you relapse. Most of these signs include factors that led to your initial substance abuse, such as stress and financial woes.

Plan for a relapse – involve loved ones: No former drug addict wants to relapse, but given the statistics, you should plan for the worst. A comprehensive relapse prevention plan includes a step-by-step guide on what to should this happen. Involve your family and loved ones. A support circle is essential to long-lasting abstinence.

Valium Treatment: Costs and Payment Options

For many addicts, the cost of treatment prevents them from enrolling at a rehab facility. Every rehab centre has its own set of treatment options and amenities that affect costs. However, no matter how small your budget, there’s always a rehab centre you can attend.

The goal is to learn how to change negative behaviours for positive thoughts and build coping skills for dealing with triggers after treatment. In the UK, standard rehabs cost between £4,000-£5,000 a month or £1,000 a week. In the US, rehab treatment cost around $7,500 for a 30-day inpatient stay. Executive programmes are more expensive but feature more staff, fewer patients, luxurious settings and other five-star amenities that increase the price. Such treatment costs around £10,000 a week in the UK.

The first option when paying for rehab is to review your health insurance policy, as this is the most popular method of paying for rehab. Some insurance plans cover the full payment, while others cover the partial payment. If you don’t have insurance, you can look into subsidised treatment provided by your local or state government.

Most rehabs also provide financing options to help reduce the burden of payment. Other options include taking out a bank loan, funding treatment with your credit card or seeking financial support from your parents and loved ones.

Live a Drug-Free Life Again: Call Now for Treatment Options

It’s difficult for addicts to admit they have a problem. Admitting the problem makes it real. Many things can prevent you from getting treatment such as work, fear of being exposed, fear of withdrawal syndrome and lack of motivation to get clean or maintain abstinence. Drug addiction ruins lives, but yours doesn’t have to be a fatal statistic if you seek help today.

Realising you have a problem and seeking professional help to solve it is the first step towards treatment.

Long-term drug addiction leads to cancer; liver damage; severe withdrawal symptoms like psychosis, memory problems and dementia; the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease; and brain damage. You can prevent most of these problems by seeking treatment once you notice you’ve developed an addiction to Valium. You don’t have to walk this difficult road alone. Let us take the journey to recovery with you today.

Valium Addiction: Statistics and Facts

Valium is one of the easiest prescription pills for recreational users to buy on the street, with over 6,500 reports of Valium to forensic laboratories in 2011.

Prescription medications like Valium are responsible for over 36,000 fatal overdoses – more than heroin and cocaine.

U.S doctors wrote 14.7 million Valium prescriptions in 2011.

In 2013, over 1.2 million people abused Benzodiazepines like Valium for the first time.

Almost 8,000 people overdosed on Benzodiazepines in 2014.

The UK has over 1.5 million people dealing with dependence on Benzos like Valium.

In 2010, 345,000 hospital visits were related to Benzodiazepines.

Over 20 million people aged 12 and above have abused Valium at least once in their lifetime.

Over 17 million prescriptions are written for Benzos like Valium every year.

FAQs

External Links List

• https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/349599/Addicted-to-Valium
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/pregabalin-new-Valium-doctors-call-restricted-sharp-rise-abuse-misuse-prisons-addiction-bma-yasir-a7817601.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/jun/23/health.NHS
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7204693/Valium-works-like-heroin.html
• https://www.recovery.org/topics/dialectical-behavior-therapy-for-addiction-treatment/
• https://novarecoverycenter.com/recovery/5-key-components-of-a-relapse-prevention-plan/
• https://www.recovery.org/topics/aftercare-programs-for-people-in-addiction-recovery/
• https://drugabuse.com/library/the-effects-of-Valium-use/#Valium-long-term-effects
• https://americanaddictioncenters.org/Valium-treatment/withdrawal-duration/#Medications
• https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/family-friend-portal/tips-help-cope/#gref
• https://drugabuse.com/library/the-effects-of-Valium-use/
• https://www.addictioncenter.com/Benzodiazepines/Valium/symptoms-signs/
• https://americanaddictioncenters.org/Valium-treatment/#Addiction
• https://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/Valium-signs-symptoms.html
• https://prescription-drug.addictionblog.org/is-valium-addictive/
• https://www.recoveryfirst.org/prescription-abuse/Valium/
• https://www.recoveryfirst.org/detox/Valium-withdrawal/
• https://www.rehabs.com/about/the-addiction-rehabilitation-process/#intake