1. No single treatment is appropriate for all individuals. Matching treatment
settings, interventions, and services to each patient’s problems and needs is critical.
2. Treatment needs to be readily available. Treatment applicants can be lost if
treatment is not immediately available or readily accessible.
3. Effective treatment attends to multiple needs of the individual, not just
his or her drug use. Treatment must address the individual’s drug use and
associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems.
4. At different times during treatment, a patient may develop a need for
medical services, family therapy, vocational rehabilitation, and social
and legal services.
5. Remaining in treatment for an adequate period of time is critical for
treatment effectiveness. The time depends on an individual’s needs. For most
patients, the threshold of significant improvement is reached at about 3 months
in treatment. Additional treatment can produce further progress. Programs should
include strategies to prevent patients from leaving treatment prematurely.
6. Individual and/or group counseling and other behavioral therapies are
critical components of effective treatment for addiction. In therapy, patients
address motivation, build skills to resist drug use, replace drug-using activities with
constructive and rewarding nondrug-using activities, and improve problem-solving
abilities. Behavioral therapy also facilitates interpersonal relationships.
7. Medications are an important element of treatment for many patients,
especially when combined with counseling and other behavioral
therapies. Buprenorphine, methadone, and levo-alpha-acetylmethodol (LAAM)
help persons addicted to opiates stabilize their lives and reduce their drug use.
Naltrexone is effective for some opiate addicts and some patients with co-occurring
alcohol dependence. Nicotine patches or gum, or an oral medication, such as
buproprion, can help persons addicted to nicotine.
8. Addicted or drug-abusing individuals with coexisting mental disorders
should have both disorders treated in an integrated way.
9. Medical detoxification is only the first stage of addiction treatment and
by itself does little to change long-term drug use. Medical detoxification
manages the acute physical symptoms of withdrawal. For some individuals it is a
precursor to effective drug addiction treatment.
10. Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective. Sanctions or
enticements in the family, employment setting, or criminal justice system can
significantly increase treatment entry, retention, and success.
11. Possible drug use during treatment must be monitored continuously.
Monitoring a patient’s drug and alcohol use during treatment, such as through
urinalysis, can help the patient withstand urges to use drugs. Such monitoring
also can provide early evidence of drug use so that treatment can be adjusted.
12. Treatment programs should provide assessment for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis
B and C, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, and counseling to
help patients modify or change behaviors that place them or others at
risk of infection. Counseling can help patients avoid high-risk behavior and help
people who are already infected manage their illness.
13. Recovery from drug addiction can be a long-term process and frequently
requires multiple episodes of treatment. As with other chronic illnesses,
relapses to drug use can occur during or after successful treatment episodes.
Participation in self-help support programs during and following treatment often
helps maintain abstinence.