Smarmore Castle Drug & Alcohol Rehab
Crystal Meth Addiction: Withdrawal, Treatment & Therapy
While many substances can lead to addiction, one of the most powerful and notorious is crystal meth a powerful psychoactive substance. Also referred to as methamphetamine.
On the street, it’s most commonly called meth. Smoking, snorting, or injecting meth is one of the most dangerous drugs to experiment with. Binges can last days.
It gives the user an immense feeling of happiness and contentment that is hard to resist. Like cocaine or amphetamines like speed, meth is a stimulant that can provide you with energy and a real ‘party going’ feel-good factor. It does this by stimulating reward pathways in the user’s brain.
Being addicted to crystal meth can cause long term health dangers, including heart and liver damage. In addition, mental health problems from crystal meth use include severe psychosis.
The second and third of the four stages of drug addiction’ experimentation, regular use, abuse, and then drug addiction’ are often missed leading straight to dependency.
It is estimated that there are over 25,000 regular users in the UK alone.
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Crystal Meth Overview
- What is it? Chemically similar to methamphetamine, crystal meth is a synthetic (never organic) central nervous system stimulant that poses a high potential for drug abuse. There are no medical needs or uses for crystal meth. Its appearance can often vary from illicit manufacturer to illicit manufacturer.
- Street names: Crank, tina, ice, chalk, meth, rocket fuel.
- Signs of use: Symptoms of crystal meth use include a sustained euphoric or extremely happy mood, insomnia, persistent itching, rotten and decaying teeth and delusional behaviour that’s often in the form of hallucinations. Other physical signs of use include sweating, rapid breathing and dilated pupils.
- Poly-use (common substance combinations): It’s reported that marijuana is one of the most commonly used drugs in conjunction with methamphetamine. However, cocaine, heroin and alcohol are also other examples of poly-drug use. “Poly-drug users who used meth + marijuana but not heroin or cocaine (19%), and poly-drug users who used heroin and/or cocaine (20%).” Source.
- Side effects: Short-term effects include increased blood pressure, raised body temperature, loss of appetite, panic, hallucinations, nausea, erratic behaviour, seizures, trouble sleeping and rapid heartbeat.
- Psychological effects: Delusions of grandeur, a sensation of power and invincibility, psychomotor agitation, repetitive and obsessive behaviours, psychosomatic disorders and hyperactivity. Source.
- Long-term effects: Crystal meth is a mood-altering substance that affects how the brain functions. The part of the brain responsible for memory and emotion can be deeply affected due to the massive release of unnatural feel-good chemicals like dopamine and adrenaline. Severe and regular use can include severe weight loss due to malnutrition, sleeping problems, aggression, violence, irritation and agitation.
- Medical effects: Increased risk of strokes, liver and kidney damage, memory loss, lung disease, extreme mood swings or mood disorders, psychosis, depression, epilepsy, severe tooth decay (meth mouth), and cardiovascular disease.
- Withdrawal: Remission of the most severe withdrawal symptoms is seen within several days to three weeks, but more subtle symptoms have been observed for several months. “Heavy and daily MA use over a long duration can result in neurobiological deficits that do not resolve until many months following cessation.” Source.
Addiction to crystal meth will not get better on its own if you ignore it. If you believe that you are dependent on crystal meth, and are worried about your substance abuse, getting help is your best option right now.
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How Crystal Meth Works
The first time you use crystal meth is a conscious decision. But after prolonged use, crystal meth affects the brain in such a way that it makes it believe that the use of the drug is for survival.
Therefore, users have little conscious choice. Addicts continue using and are often powerless in the fight against the compulsion to use, even if that means there will be severe, negative impacts on their life.
As a crystal meth addiction progresses, the need to use intensifies and any semblance of choice is removed. Every thought, every penny and every effort will go to sourcing the drug. This leads to poor choices and desperate situations when all these resources are eventually exhausted.
As a Class A drug, crystal meth carries up to a 7-year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine in Ireland. Supplying someone else can lead to a sentence of life imprisonment. Source.
Recover, Be better – 12 step crystal meth rehabilitation
A crystal meth addiction is notoriously challenging to overcome – but not impossible. The effects of the drug as so powerful that it’s easy for users to get hooked and quickly find themselves in the grip of a crystal meth addiction. If this is you, it’s recommended to seek professional help to get you through this.
Smarmore Castle is a crystal meth rehab and safe place for recovery.
Your treatment at Smarmore is divided into detox and therapeutic intervention. Addicts detoxing from crystal meth often experience depression and intense cravings.
Addiction therapy includes techniques such as cognitive-behaviour therapy, which teaches you how to cope with triggers and provides motivational incentives that sustain and encourage abstinence.
Our therapy programmes will work with you to overcome your physical addiction to methamphetamine and then address the reasons for your drug use.
To achieve long term sobriety, we have found it essential to identify the underlying causes of your addiction. This process is effective in helping you avoid relapse, moving forward into early recovery.
“The most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction at this point are behavioural therapies, such as cognitive-behavioural and contingency management interventions. For example, the Matrix Model—a 16-week comprehensive behavioural treatment approach that combines behavioural therapy, family education, individual counselling, 12-step support, drug testing, and encouragement for nondrug-related activities – has been shown to be effective in reducing methamphetamine misuse.” – Source.
Features of a Crystal Meth Addiction Recovery Programme
The nature of crystal meth addiction makes an inpatient treatment will make it difficult to break free from. That’s why our programme is delivered by a high-grade medical team of consultant psychiatrists, doctors, nurses and therapists.
Our programme is carried out in an inpatient facility in Ireland that aims to give you the best chance of permanent sobriety in the most appropriate amount of time.
Free & Confidential Addiction Assessment
Taking the first step in seeking help can be very difficult, our team is here to help you.
What to expect:
- Recommended minimum stay of 28 days
- Medically managed and supervised detoxes lasting up to 2 weeks to cope with an intense withdrawal process
- Dual diagnosis assessments and mental health support
- Intensive, personalised individual therapy (CBT, DBT, EMDR)
- Daily group therapies, relationship management & family therapy
- Workshops, learning and 12-step facilitation
- Food, diet and physical exercise management
Why a managed and supervised detox is necessary
Around 24 hours after your last drug usage, we will begin to see the first signs of withdrawal, which will present as unhappiness and depression. You might start to feel agitated and experience intense cravings for meth. This can cause you to become exhausted, but it does not necessarily mean you will be able to sleep.
It’s common during this time for crystal meth dependents to feel suspicious and paranoid, with some users experiencing suicidal thoughts – this is why around-the-clock medical care and support are vital during a methamphetamine detox.
You don’t have to do this on your own; reduce the risk of relapse with us. Reach out.
We’re Thinking of You
Even though we haven’t met, we know your potential to change your life because we have helped so many people struggling with crystal meth addictions do the same. And we know, just like them, you can find the strength with some help to take back control.
Your first step to getting clean is reaching out. Either call on ++353 41 214 5111. Or contact us more privately here.
One of our admission care team will be able to inform you about the whole rehab process. In addition, they will undertake a quick pre-addiction assessment to determine the level of addiction support you need.
Doing nothing runs the risk of causing irreversible damage, with your physical and mental health deteriorating at an alarming rate.
- How to Access Rehab With Health Insurance
For those experiencing existing mental health conditions in Ireland, there are private medical insurers who can help you cover treatment. As addiction experts, we know that receiving the appropriate care and support when you have a mental health disorder is pivotal to attaining long-lasting recovery. Below, we will go through the various health insurance options to help you understand your options when it comes to seeking private residential care for substance abuse. Please note that there is no guarantee that you can be covered for all addiction problems as policies are always assessed on a case-by-case basis. Find Out More
- My Loved One Doesn’t Want Help, What Do I Do?
You can’t force someone to go to rehab. At the end of the day, it needs to be their decision because they are the ones that need to be open to turning their lives around. There are ways in which you can encourage someone to enter treatment, one of these ways is via an intervention with a trained interventionist, who facilitates an honest discussion between family members and the addict. This is something Smarmore Castle can arrange – contact us today.
- Which Drugs Does Smarmore Castle Detox From?
We can detox people from any drugs whether they are illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, ketamine; or prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines or zopiclone, oxycodone, zolpidem, klonopin, methadone, cannabis; and legal drugs such as alcohol.
- How Long Is the Treatment Programme?
Our treatment programme starts at 4 weeks and is flexible in length, giving you the opportunity to extend for a longer period if you need it.
- Do You Treat Dual Diagnosis?
All patients are reviewed by a consultant psychiatrist in the first week and we can diagnose and provide treatment for a number of co-occurring mental health conditions.
- Do I Need to Be Abstinent Before Admission?
Our medically managed detoxification with 24/7 medical cover means that we can perform complete and complex detoxes at Smarmore Castle. You don’t need to be abstinent before arrival.
- How Do I Get To Rehab Safely?
Smarmore Castle is one hour north of Dublin international airport and we can arrange a driver to collect you and bring you straight to us for free.
We can also arrange a ‘sober transport’ service with a trusted driver, from anywhere in Ireland or Northern Ireland, at an additional cost.