Heroin Addiction in Vineland, NJ

Heroin is a highly addictive illegal opioid drug that's derived from the morphine that occurs naturally in some poppy plants. Sold as a white or brown powder or a tar-like substance, heroin is snorted, smoked, or injected. Heroin addiction in Vineland and greater Cumberland County is a major public health problem, with heroin and other opioids accounting for 42 percent of treatment admissions in 2011, according to the state's Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The problem is growing worse here and across the country, and numerous organizations and government institutions are working hard to find ways to solve this devastating opioid epidemic.

What is Heroin Addiction?

Addiction is characterized by the inability to stop using a drug even though it's causing problems in your life, such as financial, relationship, health, legal, or social problems. Signs and symptoms of heroin addiction include:

Finding that you can't stop using heroin even though you want to or have tried to.
Intense cravings.
Spending a lot of time seeking, using, and recovering from using heroin.
A loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed.
Withdrawing from family and friends.
Neglecting duties at work, home, or school.

Heroin addiction is difficult to beat without professional help. The National Institute on Drug Abuse stresses that willpower and good intentions are rarely enough to overcome an addiction for the long term. That's because addiction has underlying causes that must be addressed for successful recovery.

These may include mental illness, a history of trauma, chronic stress, and self-destructive thought and behavior patterns. A high quality heroin addiction rehab center helps you get to the bottom of your issues to improve your quality of life and sense of well-being and help you end the addiction.

Why is Heroin So Addictive?

Because Heroin addiction usually stems from prior prescription drug abuse in Vineland to an opioid prescription that runs out, Heroin is usually the next place addicts look to. Heroin produces a massive dopamine rush that causes feelings of intense euphoria and a keen sense of well-being.

As you abuse it, your brain makes ironclad connections between the drug use and the pleasant feelings it produces. Because of the intensity of the high, it doesn't take long for brain functions and structures in the memory, reward, and learning centers of the brain to change, leading to intense cravings that are very difficult to overcome. Addiction affects thought and behavior patterns and leads to compulsive heroin use despite the problems it causes.

Because heroin in the state of New Jersey, or better known in the drug world as "Herointown" is so easily accessible, it's no wonder why heroin addiction in Vineland has skyrocketed in the past 2 years alone.

Dependence is Not the Same as Addiction

Dependence is different from addiction, which is a complex disease. Dependence is a physical reliance on heroin characterized by withdrawal symptoms that set in when you stop using it.

Heroin produces a high level of tolerance very quickly, which means that it takes increasingly higher doses to get the same effects. When abusing heroin, your brain compensates by changing the way it operates chemically. Eventually, with chronic use, the brain may reach a tipping point, and it will begin to function more comfortably when heroin is present than when it's not. Then, when heroin is withheld from the body, brain function rebounds, causing unpleasant symptoms comparable to alcohol withdrawal in Vineland.

Although heroin withdrawal isn't typically dangerous, it can be intensely uncomfortable. Most people who try to quit heroin on their own once dependence has developed will go right back to using it just to make the symptoms stop. Symptoms of withdrawal include:

Intense cravings.
Body aches and muscle cramps.
Nausea and vomiting.
Abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
Cold sweats and a runny nose.
Anxiety, depression, and agitation.

Treating heroin addiction in Vineland will start with medical detox if you are dependent on the drug. During this highly supportive, medically supervised detox process, medications are used to reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms and shorten the duration of detox.

While medical detox ends the dependence on heroin, it doesn't address the intense cravings that continue long after detox is complete. An alternative to medical detox is medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, which involves administering medication like buprenorphine or methadone to prevent the onset of withdrawal symptoms, including cravings, giving you time to address the complex issues behind the addiction and learn skills and strategies for coping with triggers.

How Heroin Addiction Affects Your Health

Heroin addiction causes serious health problems. These include:

Blood infections.
Organ failure.
Long-term imbalances in brain chemicals that lead to problems making decisions and controlling your emotions.
An increased risk of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Collapsed veins.
Overdose and death.

Heroin addiction rehab can help you restore your health and prevent these and other devastating medical conditions down the road.

Getting Help for Heroin Addiction in Vineland

High quality heroin addiction treatment programs help you recover from a heroin addiction through a variety of therapies that delve into the issues underlying the addiction.

Through therapy, you learn to replace harmful ways of thinking and behaving with healthier ways, and you develop a toolkit of skills and strategies for reducing stress, cravings, and other potent triggers for relapse. In the course of treatment, you'll find purpose and meaning in your life and improve your relationships for a higher level of happiness and well-being.

Heroin addiction recovery is possible. Heroin addiction rehab can help you find peace of mind in a life free of addiction. Call us now (877) 804-1531.