Heroin is highly illegal and a very addictive substance. If you suspect a loved one of heroin addiction or you know that they are addicted to heroin, helping them break this addiction is very difficult. Since heroin is commonly used with other illegal substances, your loved one can decline rapidly and without long-term use. Therefore, understanding the psychological and physical dependency and how it holds on to them can help you create an effective intervention plan along with the assistance of a LifeLine Intervention expert.
Heroin Addiction
Heroin is one of the hardest addictions for anyone to break. Since heroin attacks the pleasure centers of the brain and programs them to rely on heroin to receive these pleasurable feelings, your loved one will have a severe physical and emotional dependency on the drug, especially after long-term use. Heroin is typically injected, but some individuals will smoke it for a faster, but shorter-living high. As the addiction grows, your loved one may start to experiment with other drugs including cocaine or alcohol.
Heroin Abuse
The initial addiction is not as bad as when the user becomes an abuser of heroin. Heroin abuse is severe and as your loved one creates a tolerance to the drug, he or she will start using more to compensate. The body will then become physically dependent and often this is when you will first notice that there is something wrong with your loved one. Unfortunately, since the symptoms of heroin use are not noticed until the individual is in the abuse stage, it is that much more difficult to break. Some common symptoms of heroin abuse can include excessive mood swings, weight loss, lack of financial security, restlessness, possession of paraphernalia, and excessive lying.
Heroin Intervention
Intervention is key in helping your loved one break their addiction. Most heroin addicts want to stop; only they cannot. With the extreme physical and emotional dependences brought on by long-term heroin use, most individuals will not stop until someone helps them. By performing a LifeLine intervention you can help your loved one recognize their addiction and not only admit it, but be willing to stop it with proper treatment.
Heroin Addiction Treatment
Heroin addiction requires a more extensive treatment than other types of drug addictions. This is because the individual will have to undergo a rehabilitation treatment that first allows them to go through the very painful withdrawal symptoms before starting the actual addiction treatment. After the withdrawal has passed, your loved one will go through therapy, be given prescription medications, and be enrolled in a support group. Severe heroin addicts often reside in halfway homes or rehab care facilities for several months until they are no longer dependent on the drug and can leave the facility with the confidence to stay drug-free in the future.
Heroin is one of the most powerful substances on the streets today. By helping your loved one break their heroin addiction before it enters abuse you can improve their chances of staying drug-free in the future. Give Lifeline Intervention a call today to get started with a free consultation and get answers to your questions about your loved one’s heroin addiction.
