If your substance use has become a problem, you're not alone. Nearly 1 in 10 adults and children in the U.S. is addicted to alcohol or other drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamines.1 Although substance dependence is often portrayed in the news and in movies as a problem of the underprivileged, it affects people from every walk of life.
When you first realize that your substance use has become a problem, it is natural to ask "why me?" and "how could this happen?" The more urgent question is: what can you do to get the treatment you deserve?
Use, Abuse, and Dependence
Almost everyone tries alcohol or other drugs at least once. For an unlucky few with strong genetic or environmental risk factors, the first exposure is enough to create an addiction. But for most people who develop a substance dependence problem, there is at least a short period of recreational use in which the pleasurable effects seem to outweigh the negatives. The difference between substance use, abuse, and dependence is a matter of degree and time.
Substance use is the use of alcohol or other drugs that is relatively free of negative consequences.
Abuse is the use of alcohol or other drugs despite adverse personal, legal, or health consequences.
Dependence is the physical and psychological changes to your brain, body, and social life that take place as a result of sustained abuse. Substance dependence causes you to crave drugs, need more to achieve the same effects, and have withdrawal symptoms when you stop. Substance dependence and addiction are similar, except the term "addiction" also describes compulsive habits that may not include drug use.
Once you develop a substance dependence problem, it never completely goes away. You may be able to control the problem, but there is no known cure.
Regaining Control
There are many routes to recovery, but the first step is always the recognition that your substance abuse is causing more problems than it is solving.
The PROMETA Treatment Program is an integrated, physician-based treatment that is designed to help reduce your drug cravings and allow your brain to function more normally, so you can think clearly.
The PROMETA Treatment Program is available to treat several types of dependence: alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamines.
The PROMETA Treatment Program can be an adjunct to other types of recovery programs.
* Clinical studies are under way to evaluate the PROMETA® Treatment Program and to confirm reports from physicians using the PROMETA Treatment Program in their practices. Only a physician licensed to treat with the PROMETA Treatment Program can determine if they are appropriate for any individual patient. The medications used in the PROMETA Treatment Program are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for uses other than treating dependence on alcohol, cocaine or methamphetamine. Therefore, the risks and benefits of using these medications to treat dependence on these substances have not been evaluated by the FDA.
The information provided herein is for general education purposes only and is not medical advice. Hythiam does not provide treatment or make treatment recommendations. Hythiam does not practice medicine or provide medical care to patients.
