Meth Addiction Artwork

Methamphetamine Symptoms and Treatment

Methamphetamine, or meth, is one of the most devastating drugs someone can take.  Meth works by forcing the brain to pump dopamine – a neurotransmitter that induces and elevates the mood and creates a high in the person taking the drug.  While there are many different activities that can increase dopamine in a person’s brain, drugs can hijack the brain and force the brain to secrete more dopamine than is healthy and typical.

Meth is a powerful drug and is habit-forming, which opens the door to the potential for addiction and long-term consumption.  When used over a long period of time, meth destroys dopamine receptors in the brain.

Symptoms of a Meth Addiction

There are certain telltale signs and symptoms to look for if you believe you or someone you love has a meth addiction.  These symptoms include weight loss (because meth stops your brain’s hunger centers from becoming activated), dehydration, decreased libido, osteoporosis (because bones and teeth become more easily breakable as a result of meth use, skin abscesses (due to injecting the drug into the skin rather than a vein), elevated body temperature, and sleep deprivation (due to constant stimulation impacting the need for sleep).

Treatment for Meth Addiction

Treating an addiction to meth can be difficult, as it requires comprehensive detoxification courses.  The first step in treatment includes purging the presence of meth from an addicted individual’s body and helping them reacclimate to functioning without the use of the drug.  Since there can be significant psychological damage to a person’s mind over time due to use of the drug, treatment should also address rehabilitation of the mind.  Treatment for meth should include showing former users of the drug how they can regain the ability to function in everyday life without going back to old behaviors of seeking out the drug.

Treatment After Rehab

At Tharros House in the Boston area of Massachusetts, we work with people who have already completed some form of treatment.  We believe that learning how to live life without picking up a drink or a drug is critically important, but only half of the process.  At Tharros, we focus on skills to maintain sobriety, but also on helping each client build a life that they want to live in sobriety. To learn more about our approach and get answers to common questions, please visit https://tharroshouse.com/faq/.

Meth Addiction Artwork

Meth Addiction – Symptoms & Treatment

Meth is one of the most destructive and addictive substances in the world today and those who fall privy to meth addiction will usually have an extremely hard time getting clean without the proper help. In fact, meth has the highest rate of relapse compared to any other type of drug.  But don’t let these statistics haunt you if you or a loved one is trying to get clean; with the proper treatment getting sober can be achieved safely and effectively.

Why is Meth Addiction so Hard to Shake?

Much like cocaine addiction, meth addicts are faced with a ton of obstacles to overcome. Meth becomes a way of life for many meth users. Oftentimes they will alter their lives around the drug – from the friends they hang out with to the daily obligations they may have. Therefore when a person wants to get clean, they’re usually not only giving up a drug but a way of life.

Once an addict gets clean there is the added difficulty of overcoming the acute withdrawal effects that can last from six months to two years, depending on how long the person has been addicted to meth.

Other difficulties to overcome may include:

  • Depression
  • Weight Gain
  • Fatigue
  • Psychosis
  • Memory Loss

Staying clean in the early stages of sobriety can be incredibly difficult which is why it’s recommended to find treatment instead of going at it alone.

Meth Treatment

Getting clean is just the first step to meth recovery. Once people finally put down the meth amphetamines and try a sober life they may feel ‘stuck’ and start connecting to various feelings that they haven’t had in a while. Feelings of not being good enough or not measuring up can creep up. This, along with the various symptoms listed above, is a huge reason why people relapse and start doing drugs again.

The trick is to challenge those beliefs and ultimately change them. According to drugabuse.gov, the most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction are behavioral therapies. Although everyone will have a different path on the road to recovery the treatment option that you ultimately choose can have a massive impact on getting and staying sober from meth use.

Getting sober alone usually doesn’t work – it helps to have the support of the people around you. Recovery is best achieved with others, and that may be a scary thought for many that are getting help with their meth problem.

Tharros Sober House

At Tharros House Structured Living in Massachusetts, people have the most success battling meth addiction when exposed to various ideas and are given the power to choose their own path to recovery. It’s important to identify what’s meaningful for you in order to direct your own recovery. Visit www.tharroshouse.com to learn more about this approach.