There will never be a "Silver Bullet" pill to cure addiction. But our understanding of addiction has led to new treatments.

by John Carcerano
Addiction treatment is vastly improving, but there will never be one complete answer.
The "silver bullet" for addiction "cure" is not out there, but our understanding of the causes and effects of addiction is getting very fine tuned. There needs to be no biased in the treatment of addiction by professionals who treat it. An experienced mental health and addiction counselor who is well educated should be all you need to learn how to get well. The answers are there, they are complex but once understood can lead a person to recovery and mental well being. The drugs you hear about for addiction treatment are aids to help addicts recovery with less stress and discomfort. These drugs help make addiction recovery easier. They need to be complimented with proper counseling and recognition of any underlying psychological disorder.



Naltrexone and Buprenorphine is one of several treatments to help with recovery from alcohol and opiate addiction




Naltrexone/Buprenorphine helps assist the addict entering into recovery by blocking the areas of the brain that feels pleasure when they are engaging in alcohol or drug use. When these areas of the brain are blocked, the addict will have a reduced compulsion to want or need to use alcohol or drugs. buprenorphine makes the recovery process a smoother experience. When patients were administered Naltrexone/Buprenorphine they were found to have a much easier and quicker recovery time their first few weeks in rehab. The success of this medication to cut down withdrawal was very dramatic in most cases studied.
Methadone:
Methadone eliminates the withdrawal symptoms associated with heroin and other opioid drugs. Methadone has the same effects on the brain as heroin and opioids except there is no high effects from it. This enables the addict to slowly taper off of the drugs without getting sick and makes the experience more tolerant and much safer because there is no large shock to the body from severe withdrawal. I have spoken with addicts who were "tapered" off of heroin through the use of Methadone and it seems to work very well. Methadone is taken on average once every day to day and a half. Some addicts have complained about the length of time in which they were allowed to taper off of their addiction through the use of Methadone. Some doctors do not always get the proper amounts to their patients which in turn brings about a less smoother addiction withdrawal. This can commonly be the case in poor inner city hospitals where the care is less than good and where doctors usually do not take the time to get to properly know the addicts needs. There are also some opioid addicts who seem to be on Methadone for long periods of months. Every case is different and the important thing for the caring physician to do is to make sure there is proper follow up care and counseling for the newly recovering addict to address the issues associated with why they became addicted in the first place. Many Methadone patients can be on the drug for a period of several years, all depending on their particular issues associated with their recovery from Heroin or opioids.

Disulfiram or Antabuse

Another drug used in the treatment of addiction is Antabuse. When Antabuse is taken orally it has a simple purpose, and that is to make the alcoholic violently sick if they drink any alcohol. The problem with Antabuse is that the alcoholic has to choose to take their medication once a day. They may choose to go off the Antabuse in preperation for a planned drinking binge. Antabuse is a choice the drinker makes. The part that works the best with Antabuse is that the problem drinker knows they will get very sick with headaches and vomitting for several hours if they do in fact drink. It is a detterrent to drinking. Antabuse was discovered in the 1950's when an industrial plant that used Disulfiram in it's manufacturing process dicovered that when their workers went home and drank they became violently ill. It was then that the medical community decided to use the drug as a treatment for alcoholics. Medications are often discovered by accident. Disulfiram was one of them.