Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment:

Approximately 35% of NTS clients are being treated for Methamphetamine Addiction. Treating Methamphetamine addiction is one of our specialties at NTS. We understand the progression of amphetamine induced psychosis and the triggers associated with this highly addictive drug.

Even though methamphetamine is one of the most addictive drugs in the world today, with a high occurrence of relapse, we see many methamphetamine and crystal meth addicts fully recover after treatment at NTS.

Sample NTS Meth Addiction Treatment Plan:

Biological Education on the effects Methamphetamine has on the brain.
Trigger Chart Group to address methamphetamine triggers.
Medication Assessment to address cravings.
Anhedonia Treatment*
Guided Spiritual Meditation
Daily Exercise Plan to increase natural neurotransmitter levels in the brain.
Creative Arts Group

Activities in drug and alcohol treatment are an important part of drug rehab. Learning how to have fun in sobriety is one of the most important aspects of long-term recovery from addiction. If a person cannot learn how to have fun in their new sober life, then their motivation to remain sober will eventually deteriorate. Some people who have a long history of substance abuse, particularly methamphetamine abuse, will suffer from something called Anhedonia. Anhedonia is an inability to experience pleasure from normally pleasurable life events such as social interaction and sexual activity.

According to the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition) anhedonia is a key symptom in depression. Many people who enter drug and alcohol rehab suffer from anhedonia and it often takes a long period of abstinence for a person to regain pleasure from life. Methamphetamine depletes the brain's dopamine and can cause damage to the Pleasure Pathway in the brain. Often times medication is used to help boost the dopamine system in the brain and restore it to normal levels. Still, people in sobriety will have to learn how to have fun again. For years the alcoholic and addict has used subtances to help them lower inhibitions and subsequently have fun. When the alcoholics or addict enters their sober life, they often have forgotten how to have fun without drugs or alcohol. At NTS we encourage our clients to have fun. We take them to sober social events during the Holidays, take them on fun activities on Saturdays, and our College Program pays special attention to creating fun, meaningful activities for the college students. Past activities have included snowboarding, go-cart racing, fishing, and more.

History Of Methamphetamine Addiction:

Methamphetamine has become a huge problem in the United States. In the 80's, during the Miami Vice era, there were the Cocaine Wars, or the Cocaine Cowboys, when millions of pounds of cocaine were entering the country by way of South America. Cocaine was cheaper and more readily available than it is now. In the 90's and thereafter, Methamphetamine (Speed, Crank, Ice, Glass, etc.) has become the drug epidemic that has swept the country. The switch from cocaine to methamphetamine was brought about by several factors. One of the largest contributing factors to the methamphetamine epidemic in this country has been the ease to which it is manufactured and distributed. The Mexican Mafia has been largely responsible for the distribution of methamphetamine across this country. When I was in treatment in the early 90's one of the leaders of the Mexican Mafia was in treatment with me for heroin addiction. He described to me in great detail the extent to which they were organized to distribute and manufacture methamphetamine across the country. Since Speed was my drug of choice, I found the information enlightening, but I never once blamed the Mexican Mafia for my own drug addiction. If "it" had not been speed that eventually brought me to my knees, it would have been cocaine, or alcohol, or something else. The specific drug a person eventually gravitates to is inconsequential to the underlying addiction dilemma and the subsequent treatment of the addiction.

One of the other contributing factors to the speed epidemic in this country was its appeal to the underlying fear young people have been facing for years. Methamphetamine helps give a person the confidence to face any problem and complete any task, at least at first. A person on methamphetamine (speed, glass, crystal meth, crank) is able to focus on a task for hours, the problem is that eventually a person overfocuses on a task and the task become repetitive and nothing gets done. Finally, in the end, methamphetamine will cause a unique form of inertia as I like to call it. The person addicted to speed will spend hours doing something like fixing a car or a radio, cleaning and organizing a garage, or something else and get nothing accomplished. What is more, the person will ignore all other responsibilities because he or she will be hyperfocused on whatever he or she thinks is important at the time.

Finally, one of the things that has most contributed to the Methamphetamine addiction, or epidemic, in America has been the ease to which it is manufactured. Methamphetamine, or speed, can be made anywhere and by anyone. It is a fairly easy process that does not require a chemical engineering degree to accomplish. It is made using a common nasal decongestant ephidrine, or pseudoephedrine, that can be easily purchased and turned into methamphetamine.