The drugs or addictive substances capable of causing brain damage are diverse, for example, alcohol, methamphetamine, among others.

Some of these drugs, as in the case of cocaine, may be responsible for causing micro-strokes. This translates into significant and sometimes irreversible brain damage that will gradually diminish your abilities.

However, cessation of use and detoxification of the offending drug may result in better cognitive health.

Drugs interfere in the way in which neurons send, receive and process all those signals emitted by neurotransmitters.

Basically, drugs can alter the chemical functioning of the brain and cause a series of reactions associated with the specific effect of the substance.

However, once detoxification of the substance takes place, the brain can resume normal function in most cases.

Of course, in the long term, it is possible that the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease is greater compared to people who have never used drugs.

The sooner you manage to stop using, the better the prognosis for your brain health.

Why do I need medical intervention Services ?

Asking for medical support to stop using substances is essential to be able to receive tools and strategies to facilitate the process of change.

Rehabilitating from an addiction can be a long process that involves physical and psychological consequences that can increase the risk of abandonment and relapse into consumption.

Addiction therapies allow you to approach detoxification in a personalized way and adjusted to your own concerns, but with professional support at all times.

The treatment will not be the same for all people and it will be adapted according to the level of severity of the addiction.

The treatment will not always require hospitalization in special residences , but it could consist of outpatient treatment, in which you can carry out your usual occupations.

In any case, the trained medical professional will indicate the most appropriate treatment. This will ease your detoxification process and help ease your withdrawal symptoms.

Appropriate treatment can range from psychological and behavioral therapy, group therapy and, in some cases, may include medication to treat some addictions.

Medical intervention to treat addictions to substances is a tool that will help you overcome the objective of quitting consumption more quickly and with a clear path.

The 4 phases of the recovery process of Substance Abuse Intervention.

In the process of recovering from addictions to substances, important changes occur both at the cerebral and psychological level. As for the first, neurochemical changes occur at the level of the central nervous system, these changes translate into a biological readjustment that in turn will imply changes that will manifest themselves through signs and symptoms of a physical and psychological nature.

The application of an early recovery therapy is important, in which the patient and his family or immediate environment are explained what each of the four phases that he will face throughout his recovery process consist of and what they are. These phases are the following:

The first phase of recovery, is that of withdrawal or withdrawal syndrome, begins with the first abandonment of the use of the substance or substances, lasts between 1 and 2 weeks. The withdrawal syndrome is, without a doubt, the protagonist of this stage, this implies for the patient the physical detoxification of the substance, which usually causes intense desires to consume, depression, anxiety, low energy, irritability, insomnia, paranoia, memory problems… and a long etcetera. All these signs and symptoms will obey, as we have commented, the cerebral neurochemical readjustment. It is necessary that both the person and their family understand what these emotional states are due to and that they will end up subsiding.

The second phase of recovery is that of early withdrawal or honeymoon, this phase is usually characterized by the presence in the patient of a state of well-being and even euphoria when feeling or thinking that their problems with the substance/s are practically resolved.

It lasts from 4 to 6 weeks and is characterized by the patient’s increased energy, increased optimism, mild paranoia… these feelings can lead the person to be overconfident that can cause problems since the patient may think that it is not necessary to prolong the treatment, they can increase their exposure, especially to external triggers, consume another type of substance different from the one that caused their addiction… For all this it is very important that patients know about the existence of this phase and what its main characteristics are, so they can know the risks and prepare how to face them using all the strategies available to them so far (structured calendar, knowledge of their triggers, maintaining their attendance to the group,doing physical exercise to release endorphins, stop thinking…).

Once again, it is crucial that the patient’s relatives know the characteristics of this stage.

On many occasions, both family members and the patient himself benefit greatly from psychological support, either by requesting a face-to-face consultation or through an online consultation with an expert in psychology.

The third phase of recovery is the prolonged abstinence or wall phase. It is undoubtedly one of the most feared by patients since it is assumed or experienced as a setback because the energy level drops, emotionally the person feels apathetic, sad and in some cases states of anhedonia manifest. It can last between 3 and 4 months; the person may face almost continuous changes in his lifestyle, feelings of sadness and anger, loneliness, family conflicts, his sexual life may be affected, desires for consumption may reappear…

All this can lead the person to believe that they will never recover, thus increasing their hopelessness in the face of the situation and the chances of relapse that they usually justify through their state of mind. It is necessary to emphasize the importance that knowledge of this phase has for their relatives and to emphasize that all these changes follow the adequate stabilization of brain neurochemistry and that the symptoms will pass over time.

The fourth and last phase is adaptation and resolution, it lasts between 4 and 6 months, the person has already overcome the symptoms of physical withdrawal, improving almost all its effects, but this does not mean that their recovery process has finished. In this phase, the patient feels that having overcome the wall phase, his life can return to normal, this being a false belief.

The main objective of this phase is to maintain the lifestyle that has been implanted little by little throughout each stage of recovery and accepting that this stage or process is for life. Because in this phase emotional stability is increased, the decision-making process and emotional state of the patient are clearly improved. This fact can lead you to become interested in doing activities you like and incorporating them into your new lifestyle. It is very important that the person through the different supports of him (family, friends…) and himself, develop and maintain a balanced lifestyle.

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