What is addiction?

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease affecting the brain’s reward, motivation, and related systems. People struggling with addiction are unable to control their actions or make rational decisions about their behaviour, even in the face of negative consequences.

What are the kinds of addiction?

Drugs
Many people are addicted to substances that are considered drugs. Drugs include things like opiates (heroin, painkillers), benzodiazepines (Clonazepam), alcohol, nicotine (cigarettes), and caffeine (yes, you can even be addicted to your morning coffee).

Gambling
People enjoy the thrill they get from gambling and the risk that comes with it. Like shopping, gambling is a type of impulse control disorder. Those who are addicted to gambling often become obsessed with the thought of winning back the money they’ve lost, and so they continue to gamble.

Sex
People who are addicted to sex are addicted to the feelings they get from physical intimacy, including the high that they feel during and after orgasm. Sex addiction can lead to STDs, unwanted pregnancy, relationship problems, and low self-esteem.

Food
People who are addicted to food tend to overeat or eat in binges, and they’re unable to control their eating. People who are addicted to food are often overweight or obese, or they suffer from addictive eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, or extreme calorie counting.

Love
Some people are addicted to emotional intimacy, which is a love addiction. They seek the high that comes from being in love. They immediately jump into relationships and fall into what they think is love very quickly.

Other Impulse Control Disorders and Addictions
As mentioned, there are many types of addictions, and almost anything can become an addiction. Here’s a list of some of the other more common types of addictions.
-The Internet
-Exercise
-Pornography
-Lying
-Stealing (kleptomania)
-Shopping
-Video games
-Adrenaline
-Money
-Work
-Books
-Fame -Power
-Rage (intermittent explosive disorder)
-Body Image

What is substance addiction?

Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive substance seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain; they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting and can lead to much harmful, often self-destructive, behaviour.

How do drugs work in the brain to produce pleasure?

Nearly all addictive substances directly or indirectly target the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The overstimulation of this system, which rewards our natural behaviours, produces the euphoric effects sought by people who use substances and teaches them to repeat the behaviour.

Can addiction be treated successfully?

Yes. Addiction is a treatable, chronic disease that can be managed successfully. Research shows that combining behavioural therapy with medications, where available, is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches must be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and substance-related medical, psychiatric, and social problems.

What is substance use prevention?

Prevention is evidence-based socialisation where the primary focus is individual decision making with respect to socially appropriate behaviours. Its aim is not solely to prevent substance use, but also to delay initiation, reduce its intensification or prevent escalation into problem use. Socialisation is a process of transferring culturally acceptable attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviours and of responding to such cues in an appropriate manner with adequate impulse control.

What is detoxification?

The addicted person may have physical withdrawal symptoms in the first several hours such as restlessness, insomnia, cravings, nausea, vomiting, depression, irritability and aggression and these symptoms can be moderate to severe depending on the level and length of time of alcohol or drug addiction, range of drugs used and the health of the client. These symptoms happen because an addict’s brain has failed to remember how to work without the stimulus from alcohol and drugs thus making the addict’s brain and body become unwell as their body goes back to its normal state. After the severe and harmful symptoms have passed, the recovering patient will begin to feel normal, stronger and healthier. Detoxification is a crucial part of treatment process and it is not to be used as a solution or treatment to stop drug abuse and addiction.

Why Is Detoxification Necessary?

Before addicts enter a recovery stage, they must learn how to live in the absence of drugs and alcohol in their system. The early stages are crucial and will be a physical and emotional journey for the addict as it can take many weeks to complete. It is vital for our clients to undergo a detoxification treatment to be drug free in order to understand the effects and consequences of drugs and alcohol have had on their lives when they go to treatment at Solace Sabah.

What Happens In Detoxification?

Mukti’s treatment program involves an administered drug alcohol detoxification program in a calm setting with exceptional accommodations. Mukti helps clients to detoxify quickly with as little discomfort as possible to obtain the advantage of counseling and therapy at the earliest. The average duration for detox at Mukti is 2 weeks. We provide highly trained staffs to assist you 24 hours around the clock care and also conduct personal consultations and guidance from our diverse world class team of specialists in the field of addiction to ensure our clients a conducive transition into residential treatment. Every client is treated individually and assessed according to their medical history and provided with drug alcohol detox requirements. 10. How long is the treatment program? The treatment program for an average patient is usually completed within 8 to 12 weeks.