Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Stroke rehabilitation: What to expect as you recover

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Stroke rehabilitation: What to expect as you recover


Stroke rehabilitation (stroke rehab) is an important part of recovery after stroke. Find out what's involved in stroke rehabilitation.
The goal of a stroke rehabilitation program is to help you relearn skills you lost when stroke affected part of your brain. Stroke rehabilitation can help you regain independence and improve yourquality of life.
The severity of stroke complications and each person's ability to recover lost abilities varies widely. Researchers have found that the central nervous system is adaptive and can recover some functions. They also have found that it's necessary to keep practicing regained skills.

What's involved in stroke rehabilitation?


There are numerous approaches to stroke rehabilitation, some of which are still in the early stages of development. Behavioral performance in any area, such as sensory-motor and cognitive function, is most likely to improve when motor activity is willful, repetitive and task specific.
Stroke rehabilitation may include some or all of the following activities, depending on the part of the body or type of ability affected.
Physical activities:
  • Strengthening motor skills involves using exercises to help improve your muscle strength and coordination, including therapy to help with swallowing.
  • Mobility training may include learning to use walking aids, such as a walker or canes, or a plastic brace (orthosis) to stabilize and assist ankle strength to help support your body's weight while you relearn how to walk.
  • Constraint-induced therapy, also known as forced-use therapy, involves restricting use of an unaffected limb while you practice moving the affected limb to help improve its function.
  • Range-of-motion therapy uses exercises and other treatments to help lessen muscle tension (spasticity) and regain range of motion. Sometimes medication can help as well.
Technology-assisted physical activities:
  • Functional electrical stimulation involves using electricity to stimulate weakened muscles, causing them to contract. This may help with muscle re-education.
  • Robotic technology uses robotic devices to assist impaired limbs with performing repetitive motions, helping them regain strength and function. A recent large study showed no clear advantage to using robotic technology to improve motorrecovery after stroke.
  • Wireless technology, such as a simple activity monitor, is being evaluated for its benefit in increasing post-stroke activity.
  • Virtual reality, such as the use of video games, is an emerging, computer-based therapy that involves interacting with a simulated, real-time environment.
  • Noninvasive brain stimulation. Techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have been used with some success to help improve a variety of motor skills.
Cognitive and emotional activities:
  • Therapy for communication disorders can help you regain lost abilities in speaking, listening, writing and comprehension.
  • Psychological evaluation and treatment may involve testing your cognitive skills and emotional adjustment, counseling with amental health professional, or participating in support groups.
  • Medications are sometimes used to treat depression in people who have had a stroke. Drugs that affect movement are also used.
Experimental therapies:
  • Biological therapies, such as stem cells, are being investigated, but should only be used as part of a clinical trial.
  • Alternative medicine treatments, such as massage, herbal therapy and acupuncture, are being evaluated.

When should stroke rehabilitation begin?


The sooner you begin stroke rehabilitation, the more likely you are to regain lost abilities and skills. However, your doctors' first priority is to stabilize your medical condition and control life-threatening conditions. They also take measures to prevent another stroke and limit any stroke-related complications.
It's common for stroke rehabilitation to start as soon 24 to 48 hours after your stroke, during your acute hospital stay. If your medical problems continue for longer, your doctors may wait to begin your rehabilitation.

How long does stroke rehabilitation last?

The duration of your stroke rehabilitation depends on the severity of your stroke and related complications. Although some stroke survivors recover quickly, most need some form of stroke rehabilitation long term, possibly months or years after their stroke.
Your stroke rehabilitation plan will change during your recovery as you relearn skills and your needs change. With ongoing practice, you can continue to make gains over time.
The length of each stroke rehabilitation therapy session varies depending on your recovery, severity of your symptoms and responsiveness to therapy.
Rehabilitation Therapy after Stroke

Recovery & Rehabilitation

Current statistics indicate that there are more than 7 million people in the United States who have survived a stroke or brain attack and are living with the after-effects. These numbers do not reflect the scope of the problem and do not count the millions of husbands, wives and children who live with and care for stroke survivors and who are, because of their own altered lifestyle, greatly affected by stroke.
The very word "stroke" indicates that no one is ever prepared for this sudden, often catastrophic event. Stroke survivors and their families can find workable solutions to most difficult situations by approaching every problem with patience, ingenuity, perseverance and creativity.

Early Recovery

There's still so much we don't know about how the brain compensates for the damage caused by stroke or brain attack. Some brain cells may be only temporarily damaged, not killed, and may resumefunctioning. In some cases, the brain can reorganize its own functioning. Sometimes, a region of the brain "takes over" for a region damaged by the stroke. Stroke survivors sometimes experience remarkable and unanticipated recoveries that can't be explained. General recovery guidelines show:
  • 10 percent of stroke survivors recover almost completely
  • 25 percent recover with minor impairments
  • 40 percent experience moderate to severe impairments requiring special care
  • 10 percent require care in a nursing home or other long-term care facility
  • 15 percent die shortly after the stroke

Rehabilitation


Rehabilitation actually starts in the hospital as soon as possible after the stroke. In patients who are stable, rehabilitation may begin within two days after the stroke has occurred, and should be continued as necessary after release from the hospital.
Depending on the severity of the stroke, rehabilitation options include:


  • A rehabilitation unit in the hospital
  • A subacute care unit
  • A rehabilitation hospital
  • Home therapy
  • Home with outpatient therapy
  • A long-term care facility that provides therapy and skilled nursing care


The goal in rehabilitation is to improve function so that the stroke survivor can become as independent as possible. This must be accomplished in a way that preserves dignity and motivates the survivor to relearn basic skills that the stroke may have taken away - skills like eating, dressing and walking.

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The meniscus tear rehab: state of the art of rehabilitation protocols related to surgical procedures

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The meniscus tear: state of the art of rehabilitation protocols related to surgical procedures



Anatomical background

Knee joint is composed of incongruent articular surfaces, therefore it relies on other structures to provide both static and dynamic stability: anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, the medial and lateral collateral ligaments, the menisci, the capsule and the muscles crossing the joint. The menisci are two wedge shaped (in cross-section), semilunar fibrocartilage structures and are attached to the tibia, to the femur and to the patella. Medial meniscus appears ‘C’ shaped while the lateral meniscus appears more ‘O’ shaped.
Fibrochondrocytes are situated in menisci’s inner portion and produce extracellular matrix. Fibroblasts are situated in menisci’s outer portion and synthesize collagen and proteoglycans. This microstructure determines the physical-chemical properties of the meniscus: strength and stretch-, compression- and load- resistance.
The menisci are supplied by popliteal artery: a plexus of capillaries penetrates 10–30% of medial meniscus and 10–25% of the lateral meniscus widths. Meniscus can be divided into 3 zones: the “red zone”, located in the peripheral third of the meniscal body and densely vascularized, the “red-white zone”, located in the central third of the meniscal body, and “white zone”, located in the inner third of the meniscus and with no vascularization

Meniscus improves load distribution on knee joint and prevents the onset of early joint damages. Medial and lateral menisci transmit respectively 50% and 70% of supporting load,. Meniscus transmits between 30 and 70% of the applied load through the knee, 50% of the joint compressive force (axial forces) in full extension and approximately 85% of the weight at 90° of flexion.
The knee has two degrees of freedom: flexion-extension and rotation. The movement of flexion-extension is allowed by the simultaneous rotation and translation of the tibia on femur, together with the translation of the patella on the femur. Menisci shift forward during the extension movement, while they are moving back during flexion movement. During rotation the menisci move in opposite directions.

Epidemiology of knee lesions

As reported by Majewski, injuries to the menisci are the second most common injury to the knee, with an incidence of 12% to 14% and a prevalence of 61 cases per 100,000 persons. In his epidemiological study conducted on 17,397 patients in Germany and Switzerland, soccer, followed by skiing, are the sport with an increased risk of meniscal injuries. Among the injuries affecting the knee, he shows that most involve anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) (20.34%), medial meniscus (10.76%) and lateral meniscus (3.66%). He also observes that 85% of patients with meniscal and ACL injuries require arthroscopic treatment.
For Nielsen, the rate of anterior cruciate ligament injuries and meniscus tears was, respectively, 0.3 and 0.7 (injuries per 1,000 inhabitants per year). Only 27% of the injuries were associated with sports activities, but they were found twice as often among athletes than people injured in nonathletic accidents. Ruptures of the collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament were four and seven times more common among athletes, respectively, while athletes sustained fewer meniscus tears than people involved in nonathletic activities.
Lohmander reported that the highest incidence of ACL tears is seen in adolescents playing sports that involve pivoting, such as football, soccer, basketball, and team handball. Based on an in-hospital clinical diagnosis of ACL rupture, the annual incidence was reported to be 30 per 100 000 in Denmark, but the annual incidence was 81 per 100 000 for the ages between 10 and 64 years in the general population in Sweden. For Lohmander the incidence of symptomatic isolated meniscus tears is difficult to ascertain. The previously quoted in-hospital study reported the annual population incidence to be 70 per 100 000 in Denmark. The majority of patients with an acute ACL injury are younger than 30 years, the age distribution of those diagnosed with an isolated symptomatic meniscus lesion is different, being very broad and with a group mean age around 35 years.

Types of meniscal tear

Sharp twist performed by unbalanced load (torsional loading) or a high compressive force between femoral and tibial articular heads (axial loading) cause often meniscus damage. The typical movement is a sudden transition from knee’s hyperflexionto full extension, with meniscus stuck between the femur and tibia.
As reported in numerous studies, lateral meniscus has a greater articular surface and is therefore more interested in absorption and load transmission. It is also more mobile and is less susceptible to fracture than medial meniscus. Jackson and Dandy’s classification is the most commonly used for meniscal lesions (Tab. 1). Lesions may be incomplete, usually superficial and asymptomatic, complete, stable or unstable.
Table 1
Type of meniscal tears.
Meniscal tears are called stable when they involve less than 50% of total thickness. Longitudinal lesions smaller than 1 cm or radial tears localized in 1/3 of the internal meniscus are belonging to this group as well. Usually they do not require specific treatment.
As described by Arnoczy and Warren, lateral region is well vascularized and therefore heals better after fracture. Longitudinal tears have greater healing potential than radial tears, as well as simple than complex lacerations and traumatic ruptures than degenerative tears.
Forriol reported in his study as the mechanism of meniscal repair follow two patterns: the extrinsic pathway in the vascular area, where there is a net of capillaries which supplied undifferentiated mesenchymal cells with nutrients to induce healing, and the intrinsic pathway, based on the self-repair capacity of the meniscal fibrocartilage and the synovial fluid. He described each healing’s mechanical factors: immobilization and unloading are not relevant factors for meniscal healing in the vascular area, despite other authors found better results with meniscal immobilization. However a good fixation seems to be more important than joint immobilization.

Conservative treatment

Ice, application moist heat, compression, bandages and anti-inflammatory drugs are the conservative treatment, indicated for asymptomatic tears, for stable vertical longitudinal tears and horizontal cleavage (degenerative), while is not indicated for radial lesions. Rehabilitation treatment provides knee mobilization, muscle strengthening and no load restrictions. Resumption of sporting activities should be gradual and guided by symptoms.

Surgical treatment

Surgery is usually indicated in <50 years old- or in good health- and physically active-patients. Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most frequent complication after surgery.

Partial-total meniscectomy

After total meniscectomy the tibiofemoral contact area decreased by approximately 50%, knee stress absorption capacity is reduced by 20% and therefore leading to an overall increase in contact forces by 2 e 3 times. Partial (16–34%) meniscectomy has been shown to lead to a >350% increase in contact forces on the articular cartilage,. Partial meniscectomy varies knee biomechanics: the peak local contact pressure is increased by 65%, while after total meniscectomy peak contact pressure is 235% of normal. A medial meniscectomy decreases contact area by 50% to 70% and contact stress increases by 100%, while lateral meniscectomy decreases contact area by 40% to 50% but contact stress increases by 200% to 300% secondary to the convex surface of the related lateral tibial plateau. As reported by Metcalf, however, this surgery also bears heavily on degenerative joint disorders. Partial meniscectomy is indicated for flap tears, radial tears in the inner or a vascular area, and horizontal cleavage tears.
Positive prognostic factors are: age < 40 years, one simple lesion (bucket handle, flap, radial), short time elapsed between trauma and surgery, minimal chondromalacia. Risk factors for developing knee OA are: patients older than 40 years, abnormal bones alignment and lateral in respect to medial meniscectomy.

Surgical suture

High risk of OA degeneration after meniscectomy allowed the development of a less “invasive” surgical technique: surgical suture.
Meniscal sutures are indicated in longitudinal lesions, preferably acute, associated with ACL injury, between 5 mm and 3.4 cm length, in the red-red or red-white zone. Suture in white-white zone has little chance of healing.

Collagen meniscus implantation (CMI)

CMI (ReGen Biologics, Inc., Hackensack, NJ, USA) is made from purified type I collagen isolated from bovine Achilles tendons, which are minced, washed, purified, filtered, freeze-dried, molded, and cross linked by glutaraldehyde, producing a flexible C-shaped disk. The CMI provides a 3-dimensional scaffold that is suitable for colonization by precursor cells and vessels and leads to the formation of fully functional tissue. Histologic studies showed that the lacunae of the implant are filled with connective tissue that contains newly formed vessels and fibroblast-like cells,. Rodkey has recently highlighted that CMI may be used to replace irreparable or lost meniscal tissue in patients with a chronic meniscal injury. The implant was not found to have any benefits for patients with an acute injury.

Meniscal allograft transplantation

Meniscal transplantation is indicated especially in patients who underwent subtotal or total meniscectomy and with compartmental pain or early OA evolution, while is contraindicated in advanced OA or knee excessive varus-valgus,. This treatment carries considerably difficulties: graft processing, donor cells preservation in the transplanted tissue, sterilization, graft’s immunogenicity,.

Recent developments

Recently, new strategies have developed to improve meniscal lesions treatment: non-vascularized meniscus lesions can be treated with free synovium or synovial pedicle flap too. It has been experimentally observed that fibrin clot alone or together with endothelial cell growth factor or autogenous precultivated stem cells and even implantation of porous polymers leads to a better healing in the vascular region of meniscus. However, the strength of the generated scar tissue is weak and reaches only 40% of normality 4 months after implantation.
Synovial cells treated with hyaluronic acid and Hylan® increased the expression of TGF-b1 and VEGF, however the Hylan® decreased the connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and the VEGF comparated with the hyaluronic acid.
One animal study showed that is possible to transplant the meniscus, partially or totally, by a porous composite Polycaprolactone and Hyaff® tissue, a class of polymers hyaluronan derivative obtained by a coupling reaction (Fidia Advanced Biopolymers, Abano Terme, Italy, Europe) with a pore size Between 200 and 3003 m.
Zhang shows that the injection of bone marrow stromal cells goats with the hIGF-1 Gene Transfection of calcium alginate gel mixed with a meniscal lesion in the region localized White-white, facilitates the healing process to 16 weeks apart.

Rehabilitation protocol

Type of lesion, type of surgery, timing of biological healing and the patient’s symptoms determine the various types of rehabilitation protocol available for a full recovery.

Rehabilitation after partial meniscectomy

After partial meniscectomy rehabilitation protocol can be aggressive, because in the knee joint anatomical structure should not be protected during the healing phase. Early objectives after surgery are: control of pain and swelling, maximum knee range of motion (ROM) and a full load walking. There is no load limitation, compatibly with the tolerance of the patient.
The rehabilitative treatment consists of ice-ultrasound therapy, friction massage, joint mobilization, calf raises, steps-ups, extensor exercise, bicycle ergometry. Moffet et al. reported in a study of 31 subjects the importance of extensor muscles knee reinforcement. Isokinetic testing data have shown significant strength deficits of the knee extensor muscles: Mattheus and St Pierre assessed muscle strength with isokinetic test before and after surgery. They found that muscle strength returns equal to preoperative state only 4–6 weeks after surgery and it is still reduced compared to non-injured limb up to 12 weeks. Therefore, in a sportsman, rehabilitation plays a key role in restoring as soon as possible quadriceps’ normal strength in both legs before returning to competitions.
Goodwin et al. showed as patients who receive overseen rehabilitation treatment get the same results in terms of quality of life (SF-36) and knee function than those who do not receive this treatment (going up and down stairs, joint ROM) up to 6 weeks after surgery. In contrast, in a randomized, controlled study, Moffet showed that patients who received supervised rehabilitation had more rapid recovery of the quadriceps femoris muscle than patients in an unsupervised control group.
Prolonged immobilization has lost favor secondary to the well-documented deleterious effects associated with it. If Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) have repeatedly failed to demonstrate favorable outcome measures in evidence-based research studies, treatment under water cannot begin until wounds have properly closed in order to prevent increased risk of infection. Kelln instead showed haw the bicycle ergometer’s usefulness in the postoperative phase: exercise on a bicycle ergometer equipped with an adjustable pedal arm demonstrated promising results in patients after partial meniscectomy
Intensive muscle strengthening, proprioceptive and balance exercises are carried out by the third week. The resumption of sport training is allowed when quadriceps’ muscle strength is at least 80% in the operated limb compared to the contralateral limb, while the patient may return to competitions when the quadriceps muscle strength in the operated limb is at least 90% than healthy limb. Generally, patients return to work after 1 or 2 weeks, to sporting activities after 3 to 6 weeks and to competitions after 5 or 8 weeks.

Rehabilitation after meniscal repair

After meniscal sutures, there are two different rehabilitation approaches with regard to load granting, ROM recovery and sporting activities resumption timing.
Some authors in their studies allow a partial incremental loading for 4 weeks after surgery. Furthermore, knee joint is immobilizedin flexed position for 6 weeks after surgery and patient return to sports competitions is only after 5 or 6 months.

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Drug rehabilitation and drug abuse rehab


Drug rehabilitation (often drug rehab or just rehab) is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcoholprescription drugs, and street drugs such as cocaineheroin oramphetamines. The general intent is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse, in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse. Treatment includes medication for depression or other disorders, counseling by experts and sharing of experience with other addicts. Some rehab centers include meditation and spiritual wisdom in the treatment process.

Psychological dependency


Psychological dependency is addressed in many drug rehabilitation programs by attempting to teach the patient new methods of interacting in a drug-free environment. In particular, patients are generally encouraged, or possibly even required, to not associate with friends who still use the addictive substance. Twelve-step programs encourage addicts not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but to examine and change habits related to their addictions. Many programs emphasize that recovery is a permanent process without culmination. For legal drugs such as alcohol, complete abstention—rather than attempts at moderation, which may lead to relapse—is also emphasized ("One is too many, and a thousand is never enough.") Whether moderation is achievable by those with a history of abuse remains a controversial point, but is generally considered unsustainable.[citation needed]

Types of treatment


Various types of programs offer help in drug rehabilitation, including: residential treatment (in-patient), out-patient, local support groups, extended care centers, recovery or sober houses, addiction counselling, mental health, orthomolecular medicine and medical care. Some rehab centers offer age- and gender-specific programs.
In a survey of treatment providers from three separate institutions (the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, Rational Recovery Systems and the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors)[where?] measuring the treatment provider's responses on the Spiritual Belief Scale (a scale measuring belief in the four spiritual characteristics AA identified by Ernest Kurtz); the scores were found to explain 41% of the variance in the treatment provider's responses on the Addiction Belief Scale (a scale measuring adherence to the disease model or the free-will model addiction)

Scientific research since 1970 shows that effective treatment addresses the multiple needs of the patient rather than treating addiction alone.[citation needed] In addition, medically assisted drug detoxification or alcohol detoxification alone is ineffective as a treatment for addiction.[citation needed] The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recommends detoxification followed by both medication (where applicable) and behavioral therapy, followed by relapse prevention. According to NIDA, effective treatment must address medical and mental health services as well as follow-up options, such as community or family based recovery support systems.[2] Whatever the methodology, patient motivation is an important factor in treatment success.
For individuals addicted to prescription drugs, treatments tend to be similar to those who are addicted to drugs affecting the same brain systems. Medication like methadone andbuprenorphine can be used to treat addiction to prescription opiates, and behavioral therapies can be used to treat addiction to prescription stimulants, benzodiazepines, and other drugs.[3]
Types of behavioral therapy include:


  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which seeks to help patients to recognize, avoid and cope with situations in which they are most likely to relapse.
  • Multidimensional family therapy, which is designed to support recovery of the patient by improving family functioning.
  • Motivational incentives, which uses positive reinforcement to encourage abstinence from the addictive substance.[5]

Pharmacotherapies[edit]

Certain opioid medications such as methadone and more recently buprenorphine (In America, "Subutex" and "Suboxone") are widely used to treat addiction and dependence on other opioids such as heroinmorphine or oxycodoneMethadone and buprenorphine are maintenance therapies intended to reduce cravings for opiates, thereby reducing illegal drug use, and the risks associated with it, such as diseasearrestincarceration, and death, in line with the philosophy of harm reduction. Both drugs may be used as maintenance medications (taken for an indefinite period of time), or used as detoxification aids.[6] All available studies collected in the 2005 Australian National Evaluation of Pharmacotherapies for Opioid Dependence suggest that maintenance treatment is preferable,[6] with very high rates (79–100%)[6] of relapse within three months of detoxification from LAAM, buprenorphine, and methadone.[6][7]
Ibogaine is a hallucinogenic drug promoted by certain fringe groups to interrupt both physical dependence and psychological craving to a broad range or drugs including narcotics, stimulants, alcohol and nicotine. To date, there have never been any controlled studies showing it to be effective, and it is accepted as a treatment by no association of physicians, pharmacists, or addictionologists. There have been several deaths related to ibogaine use, which causes tachycardia and long QT syndrome. The drug is an illegal Schedule I controlled substance in the United States, and the foreign facilities in which it is administered tend to have little oversight, and range from motel rooms to one moderately-sized rehabilitation center.[8] Some antidepressants also show usefulness in moderating drug use, particularly to nicotine, and it has become common for researchers to re-examine already approved drugs for new uses in drug rehabilitation.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), patients stabilized on adequate, sustained doses of methadone or buprenorphine can keep their jobs, avoid crime andviolence, and reduce their exposure to HIV and Hepatitis C by stopping or reducing injection drug use and drug-related high risk sexual behaviorNaltrexone is a long-acting opioid antagonist with few side effects,[dubious ][citation needed] and it's usually prescribed in outpatient medical conditions; even though initiation of the treatment begins after medical detoxification in a residential setting. Naltrexone blocks the euphoric and all other effects of self-administered (and physician-administered) pills or injections (leaving the patient at a loss if he requires unplanned surgery or another painful procedure or condition requiring pain control or even general anaesthesia, as the chemicals, fentanil andsufentanil, most commonly used to induce anaesthesia are also opioids which are blocked).[citation needed] It has also been used as treatment for alcohol addiction.[citation needed]Specialists[who?] claim that Naltrexone cuts relapse risk during the first 3 months by about 36%.[dubious ][citation needed] However, it is far less effective in helping patients maintain abstinence or retaining them in the drug-treatment system (retention rates average 12% at 90 days for naltrexone, average 57% at 90 days for buprenorphine, average 61% at 90 days for methadone).[6]
Acamprosatedisulfiram and topiramate (a novel anticonvulsant sulphonated sugar) are also used to treat alcohol addiction. Acamprosate has shown effectiveness for patients with severe dependence, helping them to maintain abstinence for several weeks or months.[citation needed] Disulfiram (also called Antabuse) produces a very unpleasant reaction when drinking alcohol that includes flushing, nausea and palpitations. It is more effective for patients with high motivation and some addicts use it only for high risk situations.[9]
Nitrous oxide has been shown to be an effective treatment for a number of addictions.[10][11][12]

Experimental treatment[edit]

The Nature of Things, a CBC Television program by David Suzuki, explored an experimental drug treatment by Dr. Gabor Maté who works with addicts in Vancouver which uses the substance Ayawaska.[13]

Criminal justice[edit]

Drug rehabilitation is sometimes part of the criminal justice system. People convicted of minor drug offenses may be sentenced to rehabilitation instead of prison, and those convicted of driving while intoxicated are sometimes required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. There are a number of ways to address an alternative sentence in a drug possession or DUI case; increasingly, American courts are willing to explore outside-the-box methods for delivering this service. There have been lawsuits filed, and won, regarding the requirement of attending Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step meetings as being inconsistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, mandating separation of church and state.[14][15]

Counseling


Traditional addiction treatment is based primarily on counseling. However, recent discoveries have shown those suffering from addiction often have chemical imbalances that make the recovery process more difficult.
Counselors help individuals identifying behaviors and problems related to their addiction. It can be done on an individual basis, but it's more common to find it in a group setting and can include crisis counseling, weekly or daily counseling, and drop-in counseling supports. They are trained to develop recovery programs that help to reestablish healthy behaviors and provide coping strategies whenever a situation of risk happens. It's very common to see them work also with family members who are affected by the addictions of the individual, or in a community in order to prevent addiction and educate the public. Counselors should be able to recognize how addiction affects the whole person and those around him or her.[16] Counseling is also related to "Intervention"; a process in which the addict's family requests help from a professional in order to get this person into drug treatment. This process begins with one of this professionals' first goals: breaking down denial of the person with the addiction. Denial implies lack of willingness from the patients or fear to confront the true nature of the addiction and to take any action to improve their lives, besides of continuing the destructive behavior. Once this has been achieved, professional coordinates with the addict's family to support them on getting this family member to alcohol drug rehabilitation immediately, with concern and care for this person. Otherwise, this person will be asked to leave and expect no support of any kind until going into drug rehabilitation or alcoholism treatment. An intervention can also be conducted in the workplace environment with colleagues instead of family.
One approach with limited applicability is the Sober Coach. In this approach, the client is serviced by provider(s) in his or her home and workplace — for any efficacy, around-the-clock — who functions much like a nanny to guide or control the patient's behavior.

Historical approaches to substance abuse treatment[edit]

Disease model and twelve-step programs[edit]

The disease model of addiction has long contended the maladaptive patterns of alcohol and substance use displayed by addicted individuals are the result of a lifelong disease that is biological in origin and exacerbated by environmental contingencies. This conceptualization renders the individual essentially powerless over his or her problematic behaviors and unable to remain sober by himself or herself, much as individuals with a terminal illness are unable to fight the disease by themselves without medication. Behavioral treatment, therefore, necessarily requires individuals to admit their addiction, renounce their former lifestyle, and seek a supportive social network who can help them remain sober. Such approaches are the quintessential features of Twelve-step programs, originally published in the book Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939.[17] These approaches have met considerable amounts of criticism, coming from opponents who disapprove of the spiritual-religious orientation on both psychological [18] and legal [19] grounds. Nonetheless, despite this criticism, outcome studies have revealed that affiliation with twelve-step programs predicts abstinence success at 1-year follow-up for alcoholism. Different results have been reached for other drugs, with the twelve steps being less beneficial for addicts to illicit substances, and least beneficial to those addicted to the physiologically and psychologically addicting opioids, for which maintenance therapies are the gold standard of care.[20]

Client-centered approaches


In his influential book, Client-Centered Therapy, in which he presented the client-centered approach to therapeutic change, psychologist Carl Rogers proposed there are three necessary and sufficient conditions for personal change: unconditional positive regard, accurate empathy, and genuineness. Rogers believed the presence of these three items in the therapeutic relationship could help an individual overcome any troublesome issue, including alcohol abuse. To this end, a 1957 study[21] compared the relative effectiveness of three different psychotherapies in treating alcoholics who had been committed to a state hospital for sixty days: a therapy based on two-factor learning theoryclient-centered therapy, and psychoanalytic therapy. Though the authors expected the two-factor theory to be the most effective, it actually proved to be deleterious in outcome. Surprisingly, client-centered therapy proved most effective. It has been argued, however, these findings may be attributable to the profound difference in therapist outlook between the two-factor and client-centered approaches, rather than to client-centered techniques per se.[22] The authors note two-factor theory involves stark disapproval of the clients’ “irrational behavior” (p. 350); this notably negative outlook could explain the results.
A variation of Rogers' approach has been developed in which clients are directly responsible for determining the goals and objectives of the treatment. Known as Client-Directed Outcome-Informed therapy (CDOI), this approach has been utilized by several drug treatment programs, such as Arizona's Department of Health Services.[23]

Psychoanalytic approaches[edit]

Psychoanalysis, a psychotherapeutic approach to behavior change developed by Sigmund Freud and modified by his followers, has also offered an explanation of substance abuse. This orientation suggests the main cause of the addiction syndrome is the unconscious need to entertain and to enact various kinds of homosexual and perverse fantasies, and at the same time to avoid taking responsibility for this. It is hypothesised specific drugs facilitate specific fantasies and using drugs is considered to be a displacement from, and a concomitant of, the compulsion to masturbate while entertaining homosexual and perverse fantasies. The addiction syndrome is also hypothesised to be associated with life trajectories that have occurred within the context of traumatogenic processes, the phases of which include social, cultural and political factors, encapsulation, traumatophilia, and masturbation as a form of self-soothing.[24] Such an approach lies in stark contrast to the approaches of social cognitive theory to addiction—and indeed, to behavior in general—which holds human beings regulate and control their own environmental and cognitive environments, and are not merely driven by internal, driving impulses. Additionally, homosexual content is not implicated as a necessary feature in addiction.

Cognitive models of addiction recovery

Relapse prevention


An influential cognitive-behavioral approach to addiction recovery and therapy has been Alan Marlatt’s (1985) Relapse Prevention approach.[25] Marlatt describes four psychosocial processes relevant to the addiction and relapse processes: self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, attributions of causality, and decision-making processes. Self-efficacy refers to one’s ability to deal competently and effectively with high-risk, relapse-provoking situations. Outcome expectancies refer to an individual’s expectations about thepsychoactive effects of an addictive substance. Attributions of causality refer to an individual’s pattern of beliefs that relapse to drug use is a result of internal, or rather external, transient causes (e.g., allowing oneself to make exceptions when faced with what are judged to be unusual circumstances). Finally, decision-making processes are implicated in the relapse process as well. Substance use is the result of multiple decisions whose collective effects result in consumption of the intoxicant. Furthermore, Marlatt stresses some decisions—referred to as apparently irrelevant decisions—may seem inconsequential to relapse, but may actually have downstream implications that place the user in a high-risk situation.
For example: As a result of heavy traffic, a recovering alcoholic may decide one afternoon to exit the highway and travel on side roads. This will result in the creation of a high-risk situation when he realizes he is inadvertently driving by his old favorite bar. If this individual is able to employ successful coping strategies, such as distracting himself from his cravings by turning on his favorite music, then he will avoid the relapse risk (PATH 1) and heighten his efficacy for future abstinence. If, however, he lacks coping mechanisms—for instance, he may begin ruminating on his cravings (PATH 2)—then his efficacy for abstinence will decrease, his expectations of positive outcomes will increase, and he may experience a lapse—an isolated return to substance intoxication. So doing results in what Marlatt refers to as the Abstinence Violation Effect, characterized by guilt for having gotten intoxicated and low efficacy for future abstinence in similar tempting situations. This is a dangerous pathway, Marlatt proposes, to full-blown relapse.

Cognitive therapy of substance abuse[edit]

An additional cognitively-based model of substance abuse recovery has been offered by Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive therapy and championed in his 1993 book, Cognitive Therapy of Substance Abuse.[26] This therapy rests upon the assumption addicted individuals possess core beliefs, often not accessible to immediate consciousness (unless the patient is also depressed). These core beliefs, such as “I am undesirable,” activate a system of addictive beliefs that result in imagined anticipatory benefits of substance use and, consequentially, craving. Once craving has been activated, permissive beliefs (“I can handle getting high just this one more time”) are facilitated. Once a permissive set of beliefs have been activated, then the individual will activate drug-seeking and drug-ingesting behaviors. The cognitive therapist’s job is to uncover this underlying system of beliefs, analyze it with the patient, and thereby demonstrate its dysfunctionality. As with any cognitive-behavioral therapy, homework assignments and behavioral exercises serve to solidify what is learned and discussed during treatment.

Emotion regulation, mindfulness and substance abuse[edit]

A growing literature is demonstrating the importance of emotion regulation in the treatment of substance abuse. For the sake of conceptual uniformity, this section uses the tobacco cessation as the chief example; however, since nicotine and other psychoactive substances such as cocaine activate similar psychopharmacological pathways,[27] an emotion regulation approach may be similarly applicable to a wider array of substances of abuse. Proposed models of affect-driven tobacco use have focused on negative reinforcement as the primary driving force for addiction; according to such theories, tobacco is used because it helps one escape from the undesirable effects of nicotine withdrawal or other negative moods.[28] Currently, research is being conducted to determine the efficacy of mindfulness based approaches to smoking cessation, in which patients are encouraged to identify and recognize their negative emotional states and prevent the maladaptive, impulsive/compulsive responses they have developed to deal with them (such as cigarette smoking or other substance use).[28] Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT, a mindfulness based third generation form of CBT, is showing evidence that it is effective in treating substance abuse, including the treatment of poly-substance abuse and cigarette smoking.

The Addiction Rehabilitation Process

Steps of the Addiction Rehabilitation Process

The journey to a healthy, sober life is not a quick and easy one. It is a lifelong commitment of dedication and hard work that is well worth the effort. Like any journey, the road to sobriety begins with simple steps forward. The specific steps of one's addiction rehabilitation process will vary according to the addiction, the treatment plan used, and the individual; however, all recoveryprocesses share certain similarities.

Drug Abuse Rehab


When you or someone close to you needsdrug abuse rehab, it can be hard to know where exactly to find help. Without the proper help, substance abuse can lead to potential life-threatening situations. Drug abuse affects not only the life of the individual user but also the lives of his or her family. Fortunately, there are effective treatment methods to help individuals overcome their drug addictions.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that illicit drug use has continued at an elevated rate for the second year in a row. Rates of illicit drug use have continued to rise since 2009. Approximately 9 percent of Americans have reported using illegal drugs. Choosing drug abuse rehabilitation can help you or your loved one overcome an addiction and lead a new, healthy life.
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