What is Addiction and What Does it Look Like?
Addiction is a disease and chronic condition that can harm many aspects of your life, including your physical and mental health, your relationships, and your career. Although the exact biopsychosocial profile of addiction is not precisely known, we do know that it often involves a harmful mix of genetic predisposition, brain chemical changes, and self-destructive/destructive compulsiveness. Substance addictions can range from mild to severe/deadly in their harmfulness, and include chemical addictions to caffeine, alcohol, hypnotics, sedatives, inhalants, opioids, and more.
Addiction is also a coping strategy, and at least may serve the function of providing temporary escape, relief, or stimulation. It is, in fact, the classic example of “maladaptive” coping. Because substance use is often the best coping strategy available to those suffering with addiction, they deserve our compassion, understanding and respect, even as they are doing harm to themselves and potentially others through their addictive behavior, and as much as their behavior needs to evolve with support toward better coping techniques.
Symptoms of addiction vary from person to person and based on the substance, but generally include the following:
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Inability to stop
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Increased tolerance
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Intense focus on the substance
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Lack of control
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Personal problems and health issues
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Withdrawal
How are Addictions Treated?
One common treatment method you’ve probably heard of is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation, also called “sober living” provides structured counseling, education, support and encouragement during rehab. You may live at a rehab facility (inpatient rehab) or visit one for scheduled sessions (outpatient rehab). Other methods of treatment include support group, therapy, hospital management, and medications. Certain medications can reduce urges, cravings and ongoing withdrawal symptoms. To learn more about these treatment options, visit HERE.
Ketamine for the Treatment of Addiction
Two clinical trials, one looking at cocaine addiction and the other at alcohol dependency, showed that people who were prescribed ketamine, alongside therapy, had a better outcome than those who had therapy without ketamine treatment. Researchers concluded that in both studies ketamine lowered the chances of restarting or relapsing into addiction. Ketamine administered in a clinical setting to treat addiction in carefully selected patients may be beneficial for a few reasons: ketamine interacts with glutamate receptors in the brain, particularly N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and enhances the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF promotes neural plasticity and can help rewire dysfunctional neural circuits associated with addiction. Ketamine may also reduce cravings for drugs of abuse by modulating the reward circuitry in the brain. It has been suggested that ketamine acts on the opioid receptors, particularly the mu-opioid receptor, which plays a role in addiction. By interfering with the reward pathway, ketamine may help diminish the intensity of cravings. Lastly, ketamine-assisted therapy has been studied for its anti-depressant effects. As you can read HERE, ketamine can offer more immediate relief for depression. Many individuals struggling with addiction also have co-occurring depression or other mood or anxiety disorders. By alleviating depressive or anxiety symptoms, ketamine may indirectly contribute to a reduction in addictive behaviors. It’s important to emphasize that for ketamine to be helpful in addiction treatment, it must be used under the close care of properly trained medical professionals.
Ketamine Therapy with Acheron Psychiatry in New York
Acheron Psychiatry in NYC offers Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, leveraging the clinical advantage of the only legally-prescribed psychedelic medicine. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, and interested in our depth-oriented approach to treatment, our Ketamine-Assisted Therapy might be able to help.. You can learn more about Ketamine-Assisted Therapy HERE and schedule a free consultation HERE. Other evidence-based treatments for addiction, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and medication-assisted treatments, are commonly used in conjunction with ketamine therapy to provide comprehensive support.
