Drug Treatment By: Deandra Stanfield, Ashley Sims, Kayla Pass, Whitney Walker, Ashley Amberson, and Lupita Pedro

Detoxification: Detoxification- for detox short is the removal of toxic substances from the body. Drug detoxification is used to reduce or relieve withdrawal symptoms while helping the addicted individual adjust to living without drug use; drug detoxification is not meant to treat addiction but rather an early step in long-term treatment. There are three steps in the process: 1. Evaluation 2.Stabilization 3. Guiding Patient into Treatment. Detoxification programs do not necessarily treat the other implications of drug addiction: namely, psychological aspects of addiction, social factors, and the often complex behavioral issues that are intermingled with addiction.

Maintenance Programs: The United States is currently operating on a Criminal Justice Drug Policy that prohibits the use of illegal control substances. AS a result the US policy frowns upon the use of maintenance programs as a viable strategy in combating drug use insisting instead that all narcotics addicts become abstinent or suffer imprisonment as a consequence.

Counseling: 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. Often, these imbalances may be corrected through improved diet, nutritional supplements and leading a healthy lifestyle. Some of the more innovative centers are now offering a "Biochemical Restoration" process to supplement the counselings portion of treatment.

Support Groups: In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. Types of support groups: In the case of a disease, an identity or a pre- disposition, for example, a support group will provide information, act as a clearing-house for experiences, and may serve as a public relations voice for sufferers, other members, and their families. Compare Mental Health Stigma, Mensa International and gay pride, for example. For more temporary conditions, such as bereavement or the problems of ex-cult members, a support group may veer more towards helping those involved to overcome or move "beyond" their condition/experience. Some supports groups and conditions for which such groups may be formed are: Addiction AIDS Anxiety disorders Asperger's syndrome Breastfeeding Cancer Debtors Anonymous Divorce Eating disorders Gamblers Anonymous Grief Infertility Irritable Bowel Syndrome Miscarriage Mood Disorders Parents of suicide victims Sexual abuse survivors Sleep disorders Suicide prevention Ulcerative Colitis