What Happens in Methamphetamine Rehabilitation

Clinically Reviewed by Matt Hawk ICAADC, CACII, Written by Karen Hadley

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It is possible to recover from meth addiction. When someone is addicted to methamphetamine, it can seem like they may never come back. In many cases, methamphetamine changes a person so drastically that there is little resemblance to the person you once knew and still love.

But they can come back. Meth has a cyclic pattern of abuse that can takes weeks to a month, starting with an initial euphoria, to binging for days to weeks, followed by crashes of deep depression and sleep. Due to this and other factors, a long-term, inpatient treatment is crucial to give them the time, resources, and tools to assist them in addressing the exact factors that trapped them in addiction so they are set up to rebuild their lives. Without this assistance, a person’s cravings and lack of life skills are all too likely to drive them back into drug abuse.

Entering a Drug Rehab

The very first step in helping a person start on the road to recovery is getting them out of their usual environment, away from drug dealers and drug users, and into a sober setting. If they are in the midst of drug use and in danger of being arrested for drugs or other crimes, it is difficult or maybe even impossible to focus on recovery.

Once they are through the doors of an effective residential drug rehab, they have around-the-clock support and supervision. For most people, this is the support they need to persist through rehab until they are ready to stay sober on their own.

Drug-Free Withdrawal

A person coming off methamphetamine without support may encounter a very hard crash consisting of deep exhaustion and depression. As soon as they enter a Narconon drug rehab center, they receive nutritional supplements known to replenish deficiencies in the body. Calcium and magnesium supplementation calm both the muscles and the mind. Innovative techniques known as assists further calm anxiety and physical discomfort. Unique exercises performed with staff help the person begin to perceive the safe environment they are now in. This is a healthy, positive start to their sober future.

Addressing Cravings

Every addicted person understands the power of cravings. As soon as the drugs consumed hours ago start to wear off, cravings take over a person’s thoughts and actions. Many addicted people say they feel like getting more drugs is more important than anything else in life, even more important than food or breathing. If cravings can be alleviated, there is a greater hope of lasting sobriety. This relief is provided by the New Life Detoxification step.

This step combines time in a low-heat sauna with moderate exercise and a precisely planned regimen of nutritional supplements. This combination draws old drug residues out of the tissues so they can be flushed out. As the residues leave, cravings finally begin to leave the person alone. Tortured dreams of using drugs finally end. The future gets brighter.

Getting in Touch with Reality

Anyone who has been around an addicted person can see what they can’t see—their perceptions of the present are dim and vague. The brightness of life is buried under the toxicity of drugs and the harm the person has suffered and caused. The next phase of the Narconon program provides relief from this fog. The Objectives are composed of a series of exercises that gradually release a person from the past and direct their attention to the present. This shift is essential for a person to begin living in the present world and recover from the trauma of the past.

Life Skills Training

There are two reasons why an addicted person lacks the life skills to make sober decisions and choices. The first is that they started using drugs so early that they never developed these skills. Maybe they started smoking pot at 14 and migrated to heroin at 17. They never had a chance to mature and make sober choices.

The other reason is that addiction is brutally destructive of one’s self-respect, integrity, and—yes—their life skills. For months, years, or decades, this person has made devastatingly bad decisions to buy drugs, sell drugs, perhaps steal from family members, and much more. Over time, life skills deteriorate. Bad choices are dominant.

In both cases, the Narconon life skills training provides the exact abilities needed to recover self-respect and make sober choices.

Get Help Now for Someone You Care About

The entire Narconon program is an inpatient, long-term, drug-free and holistic program with over 60 years of experience, which means that it addresses the entire person—both the causes and effects of addiction and the life skills the person needs to stay sober. It’s not an overnight process. This program typically takes ten to twelve weeks to complete. But that is how long it takes to rebuild a life that was destroyed by addiction.

When you love someone who has become trapped in methamphetamine addiction, don’t wait a single day. Call a Narconon drug rehab counselor today to find out how you can save your loved one’s life.