Methamphetamine addiction is a condition that affects a large number of Americans each year. Meth addiction causes many long-term harmful mental and physical problems, and can lead to overdose deaths.
Fortunately, this condition is treatable. Learn more about how we help people battling meth abuse at Harmony Treatment and Wellness in Stuart, FL.
What Is Considered a Meth Addiction?
Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug. Initially, you may use meth to feel better, or to fit into social settings. If you become addicted to methamphetamine, you may feel a strong urge to use it again. That desire occurs in spite of the negative effects of the drug.
You may lose control of your behavior when using meth. You may feel like you can’t stop using it. You may eventually feel like you need to use more methamphetamine to feel the same high. These factors signal addiction.
You can also tell if you are addicted to crystal meth if you experience withdrawal symptoms when not using the drug. Meth withdrawal includes depression, anxiety, fatigue, and an intense craving for the drug.
Meth addiction interrupts the regular workings of your mind and body. Using the drug increases the amount of dopamine in your brain. This makes you want to use it more. Meth addiction can also cause an increase in blood pressure and breathing rates.
At Harmony Treatment and Wellness, we work to help you quit use of meth, heal from the effects of it, and address any mental health issues or trauma that led to your addiction.
What Are the Causes of Meth Addiction?
Many biological and environmental factors can cause meth addiction. The more you use the drug, the more dopamine gets released into your brain, causing you to feel pleasure.
With meth addiction, your brain motivates you to seek more and more pleasure from the drug. This problem with the brain’s reward system leads your brain to become reliant on meth, and leads you to crave the crystal meth’s dopamine release.
Meth addiction is also caused by biological factors. Substance abuse and addiction have a genetic cause. Studies show that 40-60% of substance abuse is contributed by genetics. Researchers have linked human genes to the occurrence of meth addiction.
Mental health and mental illness disorders increase the odds that you will become addicted to meth.
Health conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can affect the way your brain processes feel-good chemicals like dopamine.
If you have these mental health disorders, you may seek methamphetamine to produce those chemicals that your brain lacks.
Who Is at Risk for Meth Addiction?
It is impossible to tell for certain whether you will become addicted to meth. However, the more risk factors you have, the greater the risk of methamphetamine addiction. The above contributing factors can make you more likely to develop addiction if you use meth.
You may also have experienced risks while growing up that make you more likely to abuse meth and later become addicted to it.
Childhood risk factors for meth abuse include:
- Aggressive childhood behavior
- Lack of parental supervision
- Drug availability in schools
- Peer pressure
- Drug experimentation
- Socioeconomic status
Rates of Meth Addiction in the U.S.
Meth use affects over two million Americans aged 12 or over each year, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Of those, 60%, or 1.5 million people, experience meth addiction.
Less than 1% of 8th, 10th and 12th graders have used methamphetamine, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), more than 32,000 people died from an overdose involving psychostimulants other than cocaine (primarily methamphetamine) in 2021.
What Are the Warning Signs of Meth Addiction?
There are many warning signs of substance use disorder that are easily recognizable. They cover various areas of your life.
Physical signs:
- Needing more meth to get the same effects
- Withdrawal symptoms, like cravings
- Tremors
- Nausea
- Sweats
- Headaches
- Lack of appetite
- Change in body temperature
- Bloodshot eyes
- Frequent bloody noses
- Weight gain or loss
Behavioral signs:
- You can’t stop yourself from using meth.
- You spend a lot of your time thinking about meth.
- You use meth more/more often than you meant to.
- You’ve lost interest in things you once liked to do.
- You’re having trouble doing normal daily things, like cooking or working.
- You drive or do other dangerous things when you are on meth.
- You have frequent mood swings.
- You borrow or steal money to pay for meth.
- Your eating and/or sleeping patterns have changed.
- You look in other people’s medicine cabinets for drugs.
Social signs:
- You have a new set of friends and locations for doing meth.
- You’re having trouble getting along with co-workers, teachers, friends, or family members.
- You hide the drug use or the effect it has on you from others.
Complications of Untreated Meth Addiction
Untreated meth addiction has serious long-term effects on your cardiovascular and central nervous system, and to your overall well-being.
In the short term, the effects of meth are increased/irregular heart rate, increased respiration and increased or irregular body temperature.
Over time, methamphetamine use and abuse can have a more serious and long-term impact on your mind and body.
The long-term effects of methamphetamine include:
- Anxiety
- Confusion
- Insomnia
- Weight loss
- Tooth decay
- Skin sores
- Mood disturbances
- Violent behavior
- Psychosis
- Paranoia
- Visual/auditory hallucinations
- Delusions
You may still have these symptoms even after you stop using methamphetamine.
Meth abuse also causes permanent changes in the structure of your brain. The increase in dopamine caused by meth addiction can cause issues with physical movement and learning. Meth addiction can also cause emotional problems and difficulty with processing thoughts and memories.
Methamphetamine abuse can also increase your risk for HIV/AIDS, and make you perform more risky behaviors, like sharing needles and having risky sex.
Meth Addiction Treatment Options in Stuart, Florida
Harmony Treatment and Wellness in Stuart, Florida offers many treatment programs for methamphetamine addiction.
Here, we focus on treating the physical effects of withdrawal and any side effects, as well as addressing the trauma and any underlying mental health concerns that contribute to substance use.
Harmony Treatment and Wellness in Stuart, FL offers a medically supervised outpatient detox program. This treatment program will help lessen cravings and the side effects of withdrawal.
Trained medical staff will monitor you throughout the process to ensure your physical and mental health.
There is no FDA-approved medication to treat withdrawal symptoms for meth, but our staff will help you remain safe and as comfortable as possible throughout your detox.
Our PHP program in Stuart, FL is an alternative to full-time inpatient rehab programs. It gives you or your loved one more intensive care than an outpatient program in a pleasant, controlled setting. Clinical and support staff provide 24-hour supervision and a structured daily routine.
Harmony Treatment and Wellness offers outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment programs. Our intensive outpatient treatment is used after you or a loved one have completed PHP care with us. It provides a transition to living on your own.
Our outpatient treatment program will support you or a loved one in long-term sobriety. We provide support for you to return to your regular life. We help you deal with problems without using drugs. It is a less structured program for those who have gone through the other levels of care.
Harmony Treatment and Wellness offers many therapies that have been proven to treat drug and alcohol addiction. Our treatment center offers talk therapy and counseling for individuals, groups, and families.
We offer cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR/trauma recovery therapy, and 12 step-based programs. Research has proven that these therapeutic programs are effective in treating behavioral health and addiction issues.
We also have non-traditional programs like yoga, mindfulness meditation, music therapy, and adventure therapy. These programs help reduce stress, increase self-esteem, and improve your mood without using drugs.
Finally, we offer mental health care to address mental health and meth addiction at the same time. Most people battling substance abuse are also dealing with mental health issues. Treating both conditions together means you stand a better chance of sustaining lasting recovery.
While many of the therapies and workshops used to treat mental health are similar to those used in addiction treatment, goals will be separate and tailored to your unique needs.
Now is the perfect time to begin to heal!
Find Meth Treatment at Harmony Treatment and Wellness
Meth addiction is a serious health condition. It can do severe harm to people who use meth and their families.
But intensive, focused treatment can help. Harmony Treatment and Wellness offers tried-and-true treatment methods proven to aid in meth recovery.
If you or a loved one is battling methamphetamine addiction, please contact Harmony Treatment and Wellness in Stuart, Fl. Our treatment facilities and programs are ready for you when you want to get help.
Most Insurance Accepted
We work with most major insurance carriers and offer a range of options to fit your lifestyle and financial means
Meth Addiction FAQs
Meth addiction can lead to psychosis, a serious health condition marked by a loss of touch with reality. Psychosis causes symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and speaking very fast and having scattered thoughts.
Left untreated, psychosis can lead to dangerous consequences, including harm to yourself or others.
Addiction isn’t considered curable, as it’s a chronic health condition. But, recovery is possible and means you can be considered in remission from meth abuse.
When you first quit meth, you will likely experience withdrawal symptoms which can range from uncomfortable to potentially severe.
With time and the right care, you will start to see improved physical health, such as dental health and better skin quality and weight gain. Finally, with the right work in recovery, you can see improvements to your mental health, memory, and overall well-being.
Sources
- Cleveland Clinic. “Addiction.” https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6407-addiction Accessed on October 16, 2024.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Drug Misuse and Addiction.” Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drug-misuse-addiction Accessed on October 16, 2024.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. “What are the long-term effects of methamphetamine use?” Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/ Accessed on October 16, 2024.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Know the Risks of Meth.” Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/meth Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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