Patients who are experiencing difficulties coping with the mental components of opioid addiction may find that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which may be administered at methadone clinics or indicated by them, is beneficial. Patients may get CBT at methadone clinics. After the initial stage of physical withdrawal symptoms, the patient may feel cravings, anxiety, irritability, and tension in subsequent stages of the withdrawal process. Patients benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) because it helps them prepare for any challenges that may arise after they have completed the stage of physically withdrawing from the substance. In addition to this, it assists patients in maintaining their sobriety and avoiding future episodes.
During the time when patients are going through the process of opioid detoxification, medical professionals such as physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff members are continuously monitoring them around the clock. This is done to make sure that they are safe, comfortable, and in good health in general while they are going through the difficult withdrawal process. The initial phase of the physical symptoms associated with opiate withdrawal might last anywhere from one week to one month.
People seeking opioid addiction treatment can go to a methadone clinic to acquire medicine that will aid them in starting their road to addiction recovery. Since methadone clinics are also prepared to dispense naltrexone and Suboxone®, they are more appropriately referred to as drug use disorder services clinics (SUDS). However, as methadone is the most often prescribed drug, most people now understand the two names to mean the same thing.
An opioid agonist, methadone functions by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain. It's a synthetic opioid that activates opioid receptors more slowly than other opioids do, lessening withdrawal symptoms in persons with opioid use disorders without making them feel euphoric. Additionally, it modifies how the brain and neurological system respond to pain, so lessening the discomfort associated with opiate withdrawal. Additionally, methadone prevents the effects of other opioids, deterring users from abusing them to get a "high."
By creating rules controlling its use in treating heroin addiction, the federal government formally recognised methadone as an efficient recovery aid in 1971. Those rules remained basically unchanged until 2001, when they were changed to allow doctors and a few other medical professionals to give patients methadone more often. The most effective form of therapy for opioid addiction today is methadone maintenance.