Common Challenges Faced in Xanax Rehab
Benzodiazepine drugs top the list as one of the most highly abused prescription drugs on the market. Xanax, a fairly well known treatment medication for anxiety disorders, is one of many highly addictive benzodiazepine drugs. Xanax rehab program, while quite adept at helping people overcome addiction to the drug, deal with certain challenge specific to Xanax’s effects, both during and after a person receives treatment.
The people most in need of the drug’s anti-anxiety effects are also the ones most likely to suffer from other conditions in addition to anxiety. A co-occurring condition can greatly affect treatment outcomes throughout the Xanax rehab treatment process. The high potential for relapse associated with Xanax addictions also poses its own set of risks for people in Xanax rehab recovery.
Xanax Effects
The high potential for dependency and addiction to Xanax results from the drug’s overpowering effects on brain chemical processes. Xanax specifically targets key brain neurotransmitter chemicals, chemicals that play a vital role in regulating chemical processes throughout the body. Any drug capable of altering neurotransmitter chemical processes has the potential to cause considerable damage to a person’s mental and physical health.
Quitting Xanax will come with some challenges. You can overcome them!
Ongoing use of the drug sets a vicious cycle in motion where brain functions grow increasing dependent on Xanax effects to operate normally, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In addition, brain cell receptor sites quickly develop a tolerance for Xanax effects, meaning a person must take increasingly larger doses of the drug to achieve the same desired effects. In effect, stopping the drug, or even reducing the dosage amount “short-circuits” brain chemical functions.
This dependency-addiction process can take place whether a person uses Xanax on a short-term or long-term basis. While the overall goal of Xanax rehab treatment works to break the addiction cycle, alterations in a person’s overall brain structure and functions require ongoing treatment even after a person stops using.
Co-Occurring Conditions
More oftentimes than not, people struggling with addiction issues have co-occurring psychological conditions or disorders. Co-occurring conditions, such as depression and bipolar disorder have their own sets of symptoms; symptoms that further aggravate an addiction problem. In effect, psychological disorders become worse with ongoing drug use and vice versa.
Xanax rehab treatment programs that follow traditional drug treatment approaches may fail to address the treatment needs a co-occurring condition requires. Effective treatment help must come from Xanax rehab programs equipped to handle dual-diagnosis addictions or else the likelihood a person will relapse is inevitable.
Relapse Potential
While Xanax rehab treatment does provide recovering addicts with the needed tools for breaking an addiction habit, many people still suffer from ongoing anxiety symptoms after completing treatment. This leaves recovering Xanax addicts at a high risk for relapse in general.
Relapse triggers can take any number of forms, some of which include:
- Everyday life stressors
- Money problems
- Traumatic events
- Other medical conditions
- Nutritional deficiencies
These risks require Xanax rehab programs to place extra emphasis on helping recovering addicts develop effective coping skills for managing everyday life events. Treatment programs must also ensure people in recovery have a solid support system in place, especially when a person completes treatment and reenters daily life.
