Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction makes families suffer. It makes good people do terrible things and turns them into heartless demons. Each year thousands of people die because of heroin addiction in the United States alone. This widespread addiction is only getting worse as more and more people turn to heroin as their last alternative from prescription painkiller addictiveness.

80% of addicts have attributed their addiction to opioid prescription as painkillers in recent years. This reveals that it is perilous to prescribe opioids to patients. Addicts must seek help immediately and go now to rehab centers for recovery. Recovery from heroin addiction gives life to someone who has been sentenced to death already.

What is Heroin?

Heroin, a part of the opiate family, is derived from the opium poppy plant and made from Morphine. There are many ways addicts consume it, including smoking, injecting, or snorting. It can come in the form of a black sticky substance or white powder. Although its addiction potential is high, it is curable through detoxification, rehabilitation, and therapy.

The heroine has many names, including smack, dope, junk, horse, etc. The drug elicits pleasure and feelings of joy in addicts. Its side effects are severe and adverse. The chief reason for its harm is that it changes back into Morphine after entering the brain and triggers the receptors responsible for pleasure and mood. It affects quickly, and addicts get into a high immediately after use.

The wave of heroin addiction has hit the United States due to its ease of availability. People from all walks of life become addicts, especially those prescribed narcotic medications. As a result, many people die from brain damage or overdose.

Heroin is highly addictive, and its recovery is challenging but not impossible. Due to difficult recovery, many people relapse into heroin addiction several times, even after extended periods of sobriety.

Why is Heroin Recovery difficult?

Overcoming heroin addiction is a real challenge. Heroin clutches your brain, hijacking and rewiring it to think that consuming this drug is the most crucial thing in life. The addict then focuses on getting high on heroin all the time, at every cost. It makes people take extreme measures and go to unimaginable lengths to get what they want. Like other opioids, heroin enhances dopamine release to the limbic reward system and takes over it, which is the hormone responsible for pleasurable feelings. This limbic reward system overcomes all other known pleasures and produces a dopamine flush which induces a sense of euphoria.

This experience makes people revert to heroin consumption repeatedly. This induces heroin addiction and drives heroin dependence fast. Even recovery can be harmful to an addict's body if not done under proper guidance and supervision. Detoxification is done through withdrawal, which is the most challenging part of the recovery process.

Recovery Methods: Detoxification and Rehabilitation

There is a common misconception that heroin detoxification and rehabilitation are the same. This is not the case. Detoxification is one of the toughest phases of recovery, which is also a part of rehab. However, addicts who only detoxified and did not take rehab are more prone to jump back into an addiction relapse.

The difficulty in detoxifying a patient is due to the abuse of drugs, as it starts controlling the judgment, planning, and organizing power of the brain. Also, the memory systems and the brain's motivational systems are hijacked by the drug, causing the addict to dismiss all bodily damage to get the drug. Addicts are no longer interested in creating a future for themselves and are ready to die even for just another dose. They pursue their next high relentlessly at any cost.

The treatment for go now addiction includes the following phases of recovery

• Detoxification
• Medication
• Talk therapy
• Teletherapy
• Job Support

If all the above are followed, addicts can fight their addiction and start a new life. It is essential that a person going through detoxification also undergoes rehabilitation to recover from their addiction fully. A sound support system and treatment plan can reverse the effects of the drug on the brain, and many people have led successful sober lives after struggling to be free from the drug.

Demographics of Heroin Addiction

The addiction to heroin affects people from all races of life regardless of their wealth, status, gender, age, etc. Many celebrities have died due to heroin addiction, including oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour, 31-year-old Cory Monteith, comedian John Belushi at 33 years of age, etc.

These deaths occur primarily due to overdoses. The rate of heroin addiction is very high in women, and more than half of the addicts are female, and most of them are young. In urban areas, heroin is a street drug. In the last ten years, the number of addicts in the United States has doubled. This shows how fast this addiction is prevailing.

As responsible citizens, we should spread awareness about addiction recovery so that people can help their loved ones come back to life. There are many cases of full recovery with people living happy, healthy, and prosperous lives. All thanks to the fantastic healing properties of the human body.