Methamphetamine Drug Rehab Programs  

Methamphetamine, or Meth addiction and abuse has three patterns: low intensity, binge, and high intensity. Low-intensity abuse describes a user who is not psychologically addicted to the drug but uses methamphetamine on a casual basis by swallowing or snorting it. Binge and high-intensity abusers are psychologically addicted and prefer to smoke or inject methamphetamine to achieve a faster and stronger high. Binge abusers use methamphetamine more than low-intensity abusers but less than high-intensity abusers.

Low-intensity abusers swallow or snort methamphetamine, using it the same way many people use caffeine or nicotine. Low-intensity abusers want the extra stimulation the methamphetamine provides so that they can stay awake long enough to finish a task or a job, or they want the appetite suppressant effect to lose weight. These people frequently hold jobs, raise families, and otherwise function normally.

Even though a law enforcement officer is not likely to encounter low-intensity abusers, these individuals are one step away from becoming binge abusers. They already know the stimulating effect that methamphetamine provides them by swallowing or snorting the drug, but they have not experienced the euphoric rush associated with smoking or injecting it and have not encountered clearly defined stages of abuse. However, simple switching to smoking or injecting methamphetamine offers the abusers a quick transition to a binge pattern of abuse.

Binge abusers smoke or inject methamphetamine and experience euphoric rushes that are psychologically addictive.

The rush is the initial response the abuser feels when smoking or injecting methamphetamine and is the aspect of the drug that low-intensity abusers do not experience when snorting or swallowing the drug. During the rush, the abuser's heartbeat aces and metabolism, blood pressure, and pulse soar. Meanwhile, the abuser can experience feelings equivalent to ten orgasms. Unlike the rush associated with crack cocaine, which lasts for approximately 2 - 5 minutes, the methamphetamine rush can continue for 5-30 minutes.

The reason for the methamphetamine rush is that the drug, when smoked or injected, triggers the adrenal gland to release a hormone called epinephrine (adrenaline), which puts the body in a battle mode, fight or flight. In addition, the physical sensation that the rush gives the abuser most likely results from the explosive release of dopamine in the pleasure center of the brain.

Methamphetamine rehab programs are most successful with the treatment component that detoxes the body thoroughly. This is only done in those methamphetamine drug rehabilitation centers that employ the bio-physical component of treatment. Without this component the user will feel depressed and lethargic for months upon months and his likelihood of using the drug again, at higher does, which leads to continued addiction. If one chooses to attend a program that does not have a bio-physical component, they are likely to be in a program that subscribes to the disease model of addiction which promotes the idea that they have a chronic and progressive disease that will be with them the rest of their lives and they will need to attend support-group meetings (like the 12-steps of N/A) to help them from succumbing to the urges of continued use.

In investigating the successful outcomes of drug rehab with programs that subscribe to the disease model versus those that use the bio-physical approach, one finds that disease model program are fortunate if they get 10% of their graduates living free of drug use for a sustained period of months and years, compared to nearly 80% success rate for bio-physical model programs. One should do whatever possible to seek out those programs with the highest success rate since living under the idea that one has a disease is limiting in more ways then just relapsing. This model of treatment does not enforce self-determinism and strength, but fosters a weaker position that will lead one to being reasonable with their continued use.