Residential treatment
Most of our residential programs follow a traditional 180 day program length. The length is based upon Third Eye Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center’s experience that clients needed about 2 month to get over the physical changes, another two month to understand the program, and another month or two to become stable.
Treatment can be a long process and the duration is dependent upon the patient’s needs and history of abuse. Research has shown that most patients need at least 6 months of treatment and longer durations are associated with better outcomes.
Our key steps are
- Detoxification followed by both medication (where applicable) and
- Behavioral therapy, followed by
- Relapse prevention.
The treatment addresses medical and mental health services as well as follow-up options, such as community or family based recovery support systems. Whatever the methodology, at Third Eye Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center, patient motivation is an important factor in treatment success.
For individuals addicted to prescription drugs, treatments tend to be similar to those who are addicted to drugs affecting the same brain systems. Medication like methadone and buprenorphine can be used to treat addiction to prescription opiates, and behavioral therapies can be used to treat addiction to prescription stimulants, benzodiazepines, and other drugs.
Psychological dependency
Psychological dependency is addressed in Third Eye Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center by attempting to teach the patient new methods of interacting in a drug-free environment. In particular, patients are generally encouraged, or possibly even required, to not associate with friends who still use the addictive substance. Twelve-step programs encourage People Who USed Drugs (PWUD) not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but to examine and change habits related to their addictions. Third Eye Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center emphasize that for those who choose to continue to stop using , recovery is an ongoing permanent lifelong process. For legal drugs such as alcohol, complete abstention—rather than attempts at moderation, which may lead to relapse—is also emphasized (“One is too many, and a thousand is never enough.”) Whether moderation is achievable by those with a history of abuse remains a controversial point, but we generally considered it unsustainable although there are few exceptions.
Types of treatment- Medications
For Opioid Dependence- Our experience, as well as many available studies for Opioid Dependence, suggests that maintenance treatment is preferable for some. In line with the international philosophy of harm reduction and based on the principle of self will, Third Eye Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center also provides certain opioid medications such as methadone and more recently buprenorphine , which in Nepal are widely used to treat addiction and dependence on other opioids such as heroin, morphine or oxycodone. Methadone and buprenorphine are maintenance therapies intended to reduce cravings for opiates and may be used as maintenance medications, taken for an indefinite period of time, thereby reducing illegal drug use, and the risks associated with it, such as disease, arrest, incarceration, and death. Patients stabilized on adequate, sustained doses of methadone or buprenorphine can keep their jobs, avoid crime and violence, and reduce their exposure to HIV and Hepatitis C by stopping or reducing injection drug use and drug-related high risk sexual behavior.
Naltrexone is a long-acting opioid antagonist with few side effects. It is usually prescribed in outpatient medical conditions. Naltrexone blocks the euphoric effects of alcohol and opiates. Naltrexone cuts relapse risk during the first 3 months by about 36%. However, it is far less effective in helping patients maintain abstinence or retaining them in the drug-treatment system. .
For alcohol addiction– Acamprosate, disulfiram and topiramate (a novel anticonvulsant sulphonated sugar) are also sometimes used to treat alcohol addiction. Acamprosate has shown effectiveness for patients with severe dependence, helping them to maintain abstinence for several weeks or months. Disulfiram (also called Antabuse) produces a very unpleasant reaction when drinking alcohol that includes flushing, nausea and palpitations. It is more effective for patients with high motivation and some People Who USed Drugs (PWUD) use it only for high risk situations. Patients who wish to continue drinking or may be likely to relapse, should not take disulfiram as it can result in the disulfiram-alcohol reaction mentioned previously, which is very serious and can even be fatal.