Healthy coping strategies replace maladaptive responses to stress, guiding individuals in responding positively to life’s challenges instead of turning to substances. By developing these skills, individuals enhance their emotional resilience and reduce the likelihood of relapse. This leads to compulsive use of the drug despite the negative impact that that compulsive drug use has on a person’s life. Scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse answer common questions teens ask about drug use and addiction. NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation.
Understanding Drug Use and Addiction DrugFacts
For people with addictions to drugs like stimulants or cannabis, no medications are currently available to assist in treatment, so treatment consists of behavioral therapies. Additionally, medications are used to help people detoxify from drugs, although detoxification is not the same as treatment and is not sufficient to help a person recover. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives. Introduces viewers to the brain’s reward pathway, brain development and how addiction science continues to advance treatment and prevention of substance use disorder. Many people who are taking medications for opioid use disorder have acute pain—for example, after surgery—or live with chronic pain.38 Pain management for these people requires special consideration. Treatment with methadone or buprenorphine is recommended for pregnant women with opioid use disorder.
When they first use a drug, people may perceive what seem to be positive effects. Therefore, education and outreach are key in helping people understand the possible risks of drug use. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective for preventing or reducing drug use and addiction. More good news is that drug use and addiction are preventable.
To effectively implement these changes, work on establishing routines that include relaxation techniques and coping methods designed to foster resilience. This can be complemented by keeping a journal, where individuals can articulate their thoughts and feelings, further assisting in stress management. Incorporating mindfulness practices, such as meditation and deep breathing exercises, allows individuals to cultivate calmness and clarity in their daily routines. Regular physical activity is equally crucial as it releases endorphins, natural stress relievers that boost mood and enhance emotional resilience. Nutritious meals can improve mood and energy levels, helping individuals feel more equipped to handle challenges. Effective strategies for managing stress in recovery encompass several practical methods that promote mental and physical well-being.
Other NIDA Sites
- Effective coping strategies include techniques like mindfulness meditation, exercise, and engaging in creative pursuits such as arts and crafts.
- An official website of the United States government
- Coping skills play a critical role in addiction recovery, serving as tools that help individuals manage stress, cravings, and negative emotions.
- Naltrexone is another medication approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder; it is also approved for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
This makes methadone and buprenorphine less addictive. So, some people may think they are just substituting one drug for another. Buprenorphine treatment can also be started in the emergency department to ease withdrawal and cravings after an overdose.13 This can help motivate people to begin long-term treatment. Unlike methadone, buprenorphine can be prescribed by many doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Methadone may help some people stay in treatment longer.11
Are medications for opioid use disorder addictive?
Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again. Sharing experiences within these supportive circles can enhance emotional resilience and motivate individuals to pursue healthier choices. These techniques foster self-awareness, allowing individuals to recognize and navigate the emotional challenges that can addiction as a coping mechanism and healthy alternatives arise during recovery. Differentiating between healthy and unhealthy coping strategies is crucial for effective stress management and personal well-being. Coping skills play a critical role in addiction recovery, serving as tools that help individuals manage stress, cravings, and negative emotions. At the core of successful recovery lies the development of healthy coping mechanisms.
Mindfulness, Support Networks, and Self-Care: Creating a Supportive Environment
Telehealth appointments can facilitate access to medications for opioid use disorder. Both methadone and buprenorphine can be misused to achieve rewarding effects if injected instead of taken by mouth as prescribed.2 People without an opioid use disorder could experience a high when taking them orally. Naltrexone treatment is typically started after the person has completely stopped taking other opioid drugs; otherwise, the medication may cause withdrawal symptoms.16 Unlike methadone and buprenorphine, naltrexone works solely by blocking opioid receptors so that opioid drugs can no longer cause feelings of pleasure.14 Evidence also suggests that naltrexone reduces opioid cravings.15 Methadone and buprenorphine can be equally effective in helping people reduce opioid use.10 Both medications help people stay in treatment. Several buprenorphine products are approved for treatment of opioid use disorder, including tablets that are placed under the tongue, extended-release injections, and implants.
How to transition to healthy coping strategies
The crucial role of emotional control in sustaining sobriety Conflicting feelings surface—cravings become stronger, and individuals may begin fantasizing about past substance use. These elements ensure that individuals are equipped with the necessary resources to handle stressors effectively. Self-care routines, which include adequate nutrition, regular exercise, and engaged therapeutic practices, reinforce both physical and mental health. These connections create a sense of belonging, helping individuals feel understood and less isolated in their struggles.
As with most other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, treatment for drug addiction generally isn’t a cure. No one factor can predict if a person will become addicted to drugs. Most drugs affect the brain’s “reward circuit,” causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. Many people don’t understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. Our trained professionals will work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan that meets your unique needs. Leora Behavioral Health offers a comprehensive addiction treatment programs to help you get your life back on track.
Mental Relapse
Detoxification alone without subsequent treatment generally leads to resumption of drug use. An overdose happens when the person uses enough of a drug to produce uncomfortable feelings, life-threatening symptoms, or death. If a person uses as much of the drug as they did before quitting, they can easily overdose because their bodies are no longer adapted to their previous level of drug exposure. If people stop following their medical treatment plan, they are likely to relapse. Like treatment for other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, addiction treatment is not a cure, but a way of managing the condition.
Treatment and Recovery
But with continued use, a person’s ability to exert self-control can become seriously impaired. Even relatively moderate drug use poses dangers. Both disrupt the normal, healthy functioning of an organ in the body, both have serious harmful effects, and both are, in many cases, preventable and treatable. People who are recovering from an addiction will be at risk for relapse for years and possibly for their whole lives. However, addiction is treatable and can be successfully managed.
Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic medical illnesses. Protective factors, on the other hand, reduce a person’s risk. This impairment in self-control is the hallmark of addiction.
Treatment approaches tailored to each patient’s drug use patterns and any co-occurring medical, mental, and social problems can lead to continued recovery. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medicines with behavioral therapy ensures the best chance of success for most patients. These brain adaptations often lead to the person becoming less and less able to derive pleasure from other things they once enjoyed, like food, sex, or social activities. This reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. As with other chronic health conditions, treatment should be ongoing and should be adjusted based on how the patient responds. It’s common for a person to relapse, but relapse doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work.
- Techniques like the HALT system, which stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired, allow individuals to identify and address emotional states that might trigger cravings.
- Any health care provider can prescribe naltrexone.
- Scientists use this knowledge to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches that reduce the toll drug use takes on individuals, families, and communities.
- These connections create a sense of belonging, helping individuals feel understood and less isolated in their struggles.
- Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective for preventing or reducing drug use and addiction.
Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
However, when taken as prescribed by people with opioid use disorder, methadone and buprenorphine prevent drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms without causing the intense feelings of pleasure (or “high”) that other opioid drugs produce. Research on the science of addiction and the treatment of substance use disorders has led to the development of research-based methods that help people to stop using drugs and resume productive lives, also known as being in recovery. However, starting naltrexone treatment may be harder for people using opioid drugs than starting buprenorphine or methadone treatment. Both methadone and buprenorphine bind to and activate the same mu-opioid receptors in the brain as do other opioid drugs. Like methadone, buprenorphine can reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms without producing intense feelings of pleasure and intoxication in people who have opioid use disorder. As a result, methadone produces less intense feelings of pleasure in people with opioid use disorder while reducing their withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings.5
How Science Has Revolutionized the Understanding of Drug Addiction
A combination of factors influences risk for addiction. They might take more of the drug to try and achieve the same high. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. An official website of the United States government
In addition, some drugs, such as inhalants, may damage or destroy nerve cells, either in the brain or the peripheral nervous system (the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord). Because addiction can affect so many aspects of a person’s life, treatment should address the needs of the whole person to be successful. Behavioral therapies can also enhance the effectiveness of medications and help people remain in treatment longer. While relapse is a normal part of recovery, for some drugs, it can be very dangerous—even deadly. When a person recovering from an addiction relapses, it indicates that the person needs to speak with their doctor to resume treatment, modify it, or try another treatment.52