This is a free service that will help you find a drug rehab for any alcohol or drug addiction problem you or a loved one may be having. It is easy to confuse the different terms used in this field, describing the different types of drug rehab centers, drug rehabilitation centers, and substance abuse treatment programs. For your specific addiction or drug problem, you maybe looking for an Outpatient, In-patient, Residential Treatment Center, Long term or Short term treatment and, secondly, what modality of treatment is the most effective and what are the cost related to these forms of treatment or rehab? Depending on your level of addiction to Heroin, you may neeed a specific type of treatment. There are many terms that are used to describe clinical actions related to Heroin. Some terms you may have come across are: Heroin Detox Center, a Heroin Rehab, Heroin Treatment, Heroin Addiction Treatment, Heroin Addiction Counseling, Heroin In-Patient Treatment and Heroin Out-Patient Treatment.

Heroin Drug Rehab Programs

Heroin addiction falls under the heading of opiate addiction, which is the second leading addiction in our society; following alcohol addiction. Heroin is noted for having the highest euphoria potential of all opiates and is, therefore, prone to cause psychological addiction even if the user were to not become physically addicted. Addiction is defined as a state of physiological or psychological dependence on a drug liable to have a damaging effect.

The withdrawal symptoms associated with heroin addiction are usually experienced shortly before the time of the next scheduled dose, meaning at the time that the last dose has been metabolized and is no longer binding to the pleasure receptor sites in the brain. Early symptoms include watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, and sweating. Restlessness, irritability, loss of appetite, nausea, tremors, and the craving for heroin appear as the syndrome progresses and soon occupies the entire attention of the withdrawing person. Severe depression and vomiting are common. The heart rate and blood pressure are elevated. Chills alternating with flushing and excessive sweating are also characteristic symptoms. Pains in the bones and muscles of the back and extremities occur, as do muscle spasms. At any point during this process, a suitable narcotic can be administered that will dramatically reverse the withdrawal symptoms. Without some type of intervention, the syndrome will run its course, and most of the overt physical symptoms will disappear within 7 to 10 days. If you picture being very sick at your stomach and experience the symptoms of the most severe flu you could imagine, and knowing that if you have one dose of heroin, all of these symptoms will disappear and you will feel absolutely normal again, then you can understand how people that suffer from heroin addiction can do many things that would violate their values in order to secure that next fix.

The psychological dependence associated with narcotic addiction is complex and protracted. Long after the physical need for the drug has passed, the addict may continue to think and talk about the use of drugs and feel strange or overwhelmed coping with daily activities without being under the influence of drugs. This does not necessary have to be the case if someone that has been suffering from heroin addiction were to find a reliable treatment setting where the entire addiction is confronted and handled. These heroin drug rehabilitation programs employ the bio-physical model of treatment which takes into account the drugs that are stored in the fat tissues of the body and cause the user to crave the drug for months and years after use has been stopped. Without using this approach there is a high probability that relapse will occur after narcotic withdrawal when neither the physical environment nor the behavioral motivators that contributed to the abuse have been altered.

Heroin abuse and addiction is not a new problem. In fact, opiate use dates far back in history. With the purity of today's heroin, its low price, and the recent tendency to mix heroin with other substances such as fentanyl (often without the user's knowledge), heroin is more deadly and addictive than ever. As heroin is now cheaper and purer than ever, it is now more accessible to young people. Purer heroin can be smoked or snorted while less pure heroin must be injected intravenously. With no need for needles, some drug users are more willing to try heroin and may feel they will be able to avoid addiction with these methods of use.

Heroin is a highly addictive drug and is the most widely abused and most rapidly acting of the opiates. Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants.

Pure heroin, which is a white powder with a bitter taste, is rarely sold on the streets. Most illicit heroin is a powder varying in color from white to dark brown. The differences in color are due to impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. Another form of heroin, "black tar" heroin, is primarily available in the western and southwestern U.S. This heroin, which is produced in Mexico, may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, with its color varying from dark brown to black.

Heroin can be injected, smoked, or sniffed/snorted. Injection is the most efficient way to administer low-purity heroin. The availability of high-purity heroin, however, and the fear of infection by sharing needles has made snorting and smoking the drug more common. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) researchers have confirmed that all forms of heroin administration are addictive.

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 3.8 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying heroin at least once during their lifetimes, representing 1.5% of the population aged 12 or older. Approximately 560,000 (0.2%) reported past year heroin use and 338,000 (0.1%) reported past month heroin use.4

The 2006 NSDUH results also indicate that there were 91,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used heroin for the first time within the past 12 months. The average age at first use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 20.7 years in 2006. There were no significant changes in the number of initiates or in the average age at first use from 2005 to 2006.

Among students surveyed as part of the 2007 Monitoring the Future study, 1.3% of eighth graders and 1.5% of tenth and twelfth graders reported lifetime use of heroin. Information supplied by the ONDCP: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/heroin/index.html