Treatment of Addictive Disorders

Overcoming addiction involves making major lifestyle changes that are only possible if the person concerned decides to undergo this process. Current treatments mean that this process of personal change can be undertaken more safely and in a better way.

There are three main treatment goals:

• to improve the physical, psychological, and social complications generated by the addiction;
• to learn, or relearn, how to live a normal life without using the drug; and
• to acquire useful strategies to prevent relapse.

To achieve these goals both pharmacological and psychological treatments are available.

• Agonist drugs are used to replace the consumed drugs. This method can be employed for a short period of time to facilitate so-called detoxification (for example, with tranquilisers for alcohol detoxification). They may also be used for a longer period of time, through what are known as maintenance programmes (the best known are methadone maintenance programmes).
• Antagonist drugs. These, on the other hand, block the effects of the drugs and prevent their effects manifesting, as is the case of naltrexone, which blocks opioid action.
• Anticraving and antipriming drugs. In the field of alcohol, drugs have been developed that reduce the desire to consume (the 'anticraving' effect), like acamprosate; and there are also molecules that reduce the tendency to consume a substance without control (the 'antipriming' effect), such as nalmefene.
• Psychopharmaceuticals. It is important to note that drug use is very often associated with psychological disorders and, therefore, it is very common that the patient has to take psychopharmaceuticals during the recovery process, especially antidepressants.

In any case, it should be borne in mind that the treatment basis is psychological and that the drugs comprise an effective complement.