Medication-Assisted Treatment Needs Community Support

Communities like Portsmouth, Ohio, regularly make national news for waves of overdoses. On any given day, nearly 100 people across the country die due to opioid overdose. The problem always feels like an uphill battle, and often a losing one for social workers and drug counselors who hope to get clients on the path to sobriety. Evidence shows that one method, medication assisted treatment (MAT), works; however, for MAT to be truly effective, it takes an entire community. What Is Medication Assisted Treatment? Medication assisted treatment is an evidence-based recovery process that combines traditional therapies and detox programs with the use of medication. Medication helps patients manage cravings and provides relief from detoxification symptoms. MAT is useful for people who are addicted to opioids or alcohol. These are some of the most common medications used to treat in MAT. Buprenorphine: A partial opioid agonist, buprenorphine is used for the treatment of patients who are addicted to prescription painkillers. This medication is the first opioid treatment not required to be administered in a clinic. Probuphine: Approved by the FDA in 2016, the probuphine implant requires four rods to be inserted into the upper arm. The rods provide a continuous dose of buprenorphine for six months to alleviate cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Methadone: Methadone is known as a full opioid agonist, which means that it provides many of the same effects of other opioids. The effects are u...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Medications Stigma Substance Abuse Addiction Treatment buprenorphine probuphine methadone naloxone naltrexone acamprosate evidence-based treatment medication-assisted treatment recovery Source Type: news