Amytal Treatment and Rehab

Amytal Info

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

Amytal was first used during WWII by American soldiers who developed psychiatric problems. Doctors gave them Amytal intravenously and they slept for days. When they awoke, they were well enough to continue fighting.

Unofficially, Amytal made the news in the 1990’s as a truth serum, used to bring up repressed memories of abuse or incest. Patients went into a trance-like state, where they spoke openly about their experiences.

Barbiturates were some of the most abused drugs in the US between 1930 to the late 1990s. Many became addicts within a few weeks and quickly died from overdose not long after. Celebrities include Robert Walker, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix and Judy Garland.

Today, Amytal is used as a sedative/hypnotic prescribed to treat anxiety, insomnia and used as an anaesthetic for surgery.

Amytal addiction treatment: What is it?

In high doses, Amytal is an anaesthetic taken intravenously, but in small doses it works as an anticonvulsant and antianxiety medication, often prescribed for sleeping disorders. When prescribed by a doctor, it is taken orally to relax sore muscles, reduce stress, control seizures and relieve pain. It’s easy to go from legal prescription to addiction in just a few weeks. If you have seizures regularly, Amytal is not a permanent fix, but a short-term solution. However, you might illegally obtain the drug to self-medicate symptoms.

Barbiturates have mostly been replaced with benzodiazepines – a class of drugs considered safer, with a lower risk of addiction. If you’re suffering from Amytal addiction, you might ‘doctor shop’ in order to source multiple prescriptions, buy drugs from street dealers, steal prescription medication from friends and hide your drug use.

Addiction treatment is required to properly address all aspects of addiction. Treatment consists of medical detox to rid your body of drugs, substance rehabilitation to help you understand factors that led to drug use and teach you coping skills to avoid drug use and aftercare to ensure you stay on the right track to recovery.

Why treatment for Amytal addiction is a necessity

According to research, addiction treatment has succeeded in helping people improve their psychological, occupational and social functioning, as well as reducing negative activities that led to drug use and maintaining abstinence goals. Treatment helps you overcome the powerful effect of addiction on the brain. You regain control over your life and work towards reversing damage caused by addiction. As a relapsing disease, it’s highly likely you’ll return to old patterns, which is where aftercare and relapse prevention planning come to the fore.

By following a relapse prevention plan developed in treatment, you’ll identify all possible triggers and develop a plan of action for recognising warning signs and dealing with triggers when they occur. A good aftercare programme ensures there is continuity with treatment. Medication management helps with cravings and reduces the urge for drug taking. You’ll also work through issues in therapy and attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings or other alternatives for support.

Without treatment, the risk of relapse and falling deeper into addiction worsens. If you didn’t work through issues or learn coping skills, you’ll likely relapse within a week or two after you quit using drugs.

Effective treatment for Amytal addiction

Effective treatment for Amytal addiction must be holistic, considering all facets of addiction, including medical conditions, risk factors of addiction, past history with drug abuse, co-occurring disorders and other issues you might be facing. Treatment is developed with the application of several key principles of effective treatment, which include:

Addiction is a complex disease, affecting behaviour and brain function. Yet, it is treatable.

Every individual must have a specialised plan.

Treatment should be available round-the-clock.

Effective treatment considers all personal needs, not just the problem of addiction.

The longer you stay in treatment, the more positive the likely outcome.

Therapy and specialised treatment options

For instance, members of the LGBT community benefit from LGBT-friendly treatment that addresses risk factors specific to that community.

The same applies if you’re a dual-diagnosis patient, senior citizen or teenager. Specialised programmes ensure treatment is holistic and caters to your personal needs. Specialised treatment includes a detox plan to ensure you withdraw safely from drugs.

Inpatient and outpatient rehab for Amytal addiction

Outpatient treatment programmes are best suited for mild addiction to Amytal. This type of programme is ideal if you’re motivated by a strong support network to stop substance abuse, but require flexibility to work or attend school whilst receiving treatment. This can be scheduled at various times of the week, allowing you to check-in at your allotted times, whilst going to work without anyone else knowing you’re receiving treatment. Types of outpatient programmes include:

Day programmes: The most intense outpatient option. You commit to five to seven days a week and return home at the end of each day.

Intensive outpatient programmes (IOP): This features defined, measurable milestones for progress made during treatment.

Inpatient rehab is more comprehensive, but also more expensive. You have to make a commitment to live in a residential treatment centre that ensures you receive the highest level of care. There are medical professionals on hand 24/7 to ensure you have access to support when you need it. This type of programme is suitable if you have a mental health diagnosis, have abused alcohol or other substances with Amytal, have used drugs for a long time, or have medical conditions that require care alongside addiction treatment.

Finding an exclusive Amytal rehab facility

If you’re a high-end business executive who is finding it difficult to seek treatment because of work commitments, an executive rehab programme might be what you need. This type of programme is specifically designed for individuals who want to receive addiction treatment whilst working at the same time. You’ll have access to a work area, conference room, computer, Wi-Fi, printer, mobile phone and other accessories.

Amenities are luxurious and ensure you enjoy the quality of life you’re used to on the outside. Luxurious rehab facilities often include fine dining, animal therapy, horse riding, massage therapy, music and art therapy, acupuncture, swimming pool, in-house gym, saunas, tastefully furnished private rooms and other amenities that you’ll only find at a four or five-star hotel.

What to know about Amytal clinics

The next stage is detox, where you’ll expel your body of toxins and complete the withdrawal process.

After detox, you’ll transition to rehab, where a combination of medication management and therapy approaches are used to determine the cause of your addiction and help you cope with it in a healthy manner.

Private Amytal rehabs and confidentiality

Confidentiality and privacy is an important factor of the drug rehabilitation process for the majority of patients. Addiction can make you vulnerable and exposed. To avoid the societal stigma that is sometimes pinned on drug addicts, you may not want other people to know that you’re undergoing treatment.

When you enter a rehab programme, you’ll usually be provided with a copy of their confidentiality agreement, stating that no information can be released without your consent, not even to your family. The only people allowed to see your file are medical professionals who are directly involved with your treatment.

Individual and Group Therapy

Individual therapy

These are one-on-one therapy sessions, where you work with a trained addiction therapist to set treatment goals, identify triggers, learn to manage emotions without drugs, improve communication and learn coping skills for dealing with triggers and stressors in the outside world.

Sessions take place during detox to address psychological symptoms such as depression, mood swings, suicidal ideation and anxiety. You’ll normally meet with your therapist twice a week and sessions last around 50 minutes.

Group therapy

Unlike individual therapy, group therapy sessions involve a licensed drug therapist and two or more recovering addicts in treatment. Each person has time to speak about their difficulties with addiction and experiences with recovery. It’s a great platform to learn more about addiction from others and discover practical coping skills that could aid your relapse prevention plan.

When used alongside medication management, group therapy is very effective in treating substance abuse. You’ll practice communication skills from individual therapy,while building a sense of self-worth, confidence, belief and optimism necessary to conquer addiction.

Treatment programmes and their duration

Detox: Medically supervised detox is the first stage of treatment, whereby doctors will help to rid your body of Amytal and other toxic substances. Detox lasts seven to fourteen days, depending on the severity of addiction.

Inpatient rehab: There are two types of inpatient programmes: short-term inpatient stays and long-term inpatient rehab. Short-term programmes last between 28-30 days, with long-term ones lasting between 60-90 days (which might extend to up to six months for long-term addicts).

Outpatient rehab: Treatment last between 10 and 16 weeks. You’ll detox at a medical facility before entering rehab for addiction treatment.

Aftercare: Depending on your addiction recovery needs, aftercare takes up to a year for most patients.

Detoxing from Amytal: All you need to know

Patients with a legitimate drug prescription (who follow doctor’s orders) and recreational users can each develop tolerance for Amytal. When you’ve built tolerance, the original doses are not effective and you’ll need a higher dosage at shorter intervals to feel the desired effects of the drug. At this stage, you should consult your doctor to work out a tapering schedule. However, if you continue abusing Amytal, you’ll experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit.

The best way to get through withdrawal is to detox at a medical facility, where professionals help you manage the process safely and provide medication for any unpleasant symptoms. The tapering process is successful in weaning you off Amytal, whilst avoiding most withdrawal symptoms. Your dose is gradually lowered, until all drugs have left your system.

Common withdrawal symptoms you’ll experience during the process include:

The detox and withdrawal timeline vary across patients, depending on the severity of addiction, but generally last between one and two weeks. Seizures might manifest between three to eight days, but will be managed by doctors. Medications used for treatment can include anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, antidepressants and SSRIs.

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Psychological therapy

Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)

This is an evidence-based therapy approach that is integrated in family treatment for adolescent and youth substance use disorder. The focus is on key areas of your life that led to drug abuse, such as aggressive behaviours, substance abuse, stress from school, problems at home, delinquency and emotional difficulties.

MDFT changes your mind and heart and the way your parents relate and parent you, helping families solve problems without triggering drug-taking urges. It also provides an avenue for family members to talk about how your drug use has affected them, without being judgmental.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is founded on the belief that you can change addictive patterns by becoming more aware of behaviours, thoughts and emotions that fuel drug use and actions. Working with your therapist, you’ll identify all flawed perceptions and cognitive distortions of self and work hard to change them for positive thoughts, feelings and emotions that encourage drug-free living.

Negative thoughts lead to negative behaviour. Therefore, CBT explores the connection between emotion, thought and action. The programme duration is 12 weeks, with 16 therapy sessions (lasting one to two hours per session).

Risks of treatment

Most of the risks associated with treatment relate to the withdrawal symptoms you experience during detox, such as liver failure, gastrointestinal pain, seizures, heart palpitations and slow breathing. Medical professionals have the required expertise and experience to deal with these situations. Detoxing at home is dangerous, because you’re not equipped to handle such situations when they arise.

You also have to be careful with maintenance medication and tapering. Doctors know the right amount to apply that won’t send your body into shock or lead to an overdose. Be careful not to switch addiction for Amytal with addiction for withdrawal medication.

If you don’t have private medical insurance, you could get a government grant from the NHS, attend a government-funded rehab programme, seek support from family and friends, take out a home equity loan, pay with your credit card or use your own personal funds. Whatever you decide, getting professional help for addiction is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.

When and why to end your Amytal treatment

Addiction specialists always advise patients to stay in treatment until they’re discharged by medical professionals after they’re deemed ready to re-enter society. Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) is a situation where you leave treatment before your physician discharges you. About 2% of treatment ends with DAMA. There are several reasons why you might end treatment early. They include:

If you end treatment early, the risks could prove fatal and it’s highly likely you could relapse within a week. DAMA discharges reduce the quality of detail in discharge planning and worsen the treatment outcome. Therefore, you should stay in treatment for the recommended timeframe provided by your team of medical professionals, to improve the outcome and increase your chances of lifelong abstinence from Amytal.

What to expect from treatment

Your first time in rehab can be scary. You’re leaving the comfort of home and the familiarity of drugs to receive treatment in a strange place from people you don’t know. Expect to feel uncomfortable on your first day. Recovery terminology might be strange during the first few days, but as time passes, it becomes normal and the discomfort lessens.

Don’t compare your journey with anyone else’s, as you might be having a harder time than others. However, if you stay in treatment, all withdrawal symptoms will dissipate and you can then fully focus on therapy. Most facilities include in-house detox programmes. You’ll need to get clean before you can enter any rehab programme.

Education remains a core component of treatment. You’ll work through all your issues with your therapist or drug counsellor and slowly come to realise that denial about your addiction, as well as a negative attitude and ambivalence towards rehab were things that held you back. Psychotherapists teach you more about your addiction and the effects of Barbiturates on your body, as well as the consequences of continued use and strategies to avoid triggers.

Post-rehabilitation support: Live a drug-free life again

Addiction is a chronic mental health condition, while recovery is a lifelong process that doesn’t end with drug rehabilitation. Aftercare is the most essential part of treatment. It lasts longer than inpatient rehab and helps you stay on track to reach your abstinence goals and implement all the coping strategies you’ve learnt. Depending on your treatment needs, clinicians prescribe varying lengths of support, ranging from three months up to a year after completing rehab treatment.

You must follow your aftercare plan, as relapse rates are highest within the first month after treatment. Aftercare planning includes:

• Relapse prevention planning
• Prescription of regular participation in support groups
• Attending scheduled appointments with your therapist for continued therapy
• Arrangements for living in halfway houses and sober homes where necessary

The risk of relapse for Amytal addicts

There are certain dangers that increase the risk of relapse. They include: physical pain, boredom, celebrating an achievement, dwelling on getting ‘high’, suddenly having cash to spend, using prescription medication with addictive properties, visiting previous trigger spots (parties or nightclubs where drugs and alcohol are sold) and believing that you’re no longer stimulated by Amytal and other addictive substances.

To avoid falling into old habits, you’ll need a relapse prevention plan (RPP) that helps you plan ahead, ensuring you have the right tools to identify trigger-loaded situations and pull back before you relapse. You’ll learn more about relapse prevention in rehab and aftercare programmes. This information will guide your RPP.

Peer Counselling

Similar to 12-step programmes, peer counselling is an avenue for long-term recovering addicts to provide peer support for those new to recovery. You’ll learn from stories and experiences of your peer counsellor. They will teach you coping skills and strategies that have worked for them, so you can apply these to your relapse prevention plan.

In the first meeting, your peer counsellor sets a schedule that includes weekly visits, phone calls (to check on you) and coaching. Types of peer counsellors include:

Informational peer counsellor: Provides information about your addiction and coping strategies for dealing with triggers.

Emotional peer counsellors: Offers a listening ear when you need to talk and empathises with you about your difficulties.

Instrumental peer counsellor: Provides support to help you settle in after treatment. This includes money, accommodation, job, health care and other resources you might require.

Community-based programmes

For Amytal addicts, Narcotic Anonymous is recommended, as are SMART Recovery and other alternative 12-step programmes that promote abstinence.

Family Therapy

The effects of addiction go beyond you to those in your immediate environment – your family. Addiction is referred to as a family disease, because successful treatment must incorporate the family as a unit into your addiction recovery. All types of family therapy are based on the notion that the family unit shares a connection and by modifying one aspect of this system, it affects other components in turn. Benefits of family therapy include:

• Improved communication and quality of relationship amongst family members
• Prevents substance use from spreading – especially to impressionable younger, family members
• Helps you gain awareness of behaviour and needs
• Improves the physical and mental health of the family
• Addresses co-dependent behaviours that impedes the recovery effort

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FAQs

Sources

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