Therapy Models of Addiction Treatment in Psychiatric Populations - Essay Example

This is a continuation of the previous papers that mentioned how a character from movie Devdas could be diagnosed with drug abuse (Devdas is a movie character who gets addicted to alcohol after a bad breakup in love), and after that the imaginary patient by the name of Cynthia who had chronic depression. In the case of drug (substance) abuse the treatment requires severe measures that involve not only abstinence of drugs, alcohol (in this case its alcohol) but also any association with friends or people that use such things. The purpose is to dissociate the patient completely from an environment that encourages drug use or related activities. In order to achieve success, in this case, is to break the habits and thought patterns that the patient is constantly trapped in. The urge to consumer an addictive substance is so strong that the patient cannot fight it alone. It’s like controlling an elephant that a person rides on. If the elephant starts taking decisions on its own, start moving wherever it wishes, the driver will have no control on it no matter how much he yells and shouts. But when the elephant and the rider are in such an area that doesn’t have anything that would lure the elephant towards it (alcohol, depressed thoughts), than the elephant can in fact roam freely around. The elephant example is just for understanding how strong the urge is of an addict to get his ‘fix’. Clinical treatment models that are normally used to treat such patients include; inpatient and outpatient treatment, extended care centers, recovery houses (more commonly known as the rehab centers), counseling, support groups and orthomolecular medicine. There is a huge emphasis on the reasons why a patient chooses drugs and alcohol and why does he keep taking it? If the patient consciously wants to get rid of the addiction than help is almost everywhere however if there is a belief system tied to the use of the substance then it gets hard for the health providers to treat the patient. For instance in the case of Devdas, he simply chose to use alcohol because it helped him forget the thought of his love for a while. If asked, he would definitely say that ‘let him be’ he likes the pain and misery he is in. Treating such patients can be more difficult than normal addicts, quite contrary to Cynthia (our imaginary patient who came to the clinic herself). She is seeking help and desperately wants to get rid of her chronic depression. She is asked to observe and document her feelings before, during and after the attack of depression. Patient’s motivation is the number one factor that actually does the therapy. Medication, and sessions with psychologists are nothing but tools that help the patient, it is the will of the addict that is the real cure. That is why there is so much emphasis on relapse prevention. So coming back to the Devdas character, the perfect therapy model to cure him would be, to detox him, then start him on medication and then give him an environment which does not include alcohol or related stuff. Moreover, the patient will be encouraged to start over and not look back. Once the patient ‘loses it’ all the hard work done by the therapists and doctors will go to waste. The patient needs to replace his old activities with new ones that are more productive and friendlier than his old patterns that led him to the path of destruction last time. Drug abuse is a complex sickness and the patient suffers uncontrollable urges to get the drug. ("National institute on," 2009). As discussed in the previous paper, it is also a matter of choosing the therapeutic approach that helps the patient, not every approach works for every patient. Approach has its own place, there are certain models that have been developed to take care of such matters. Acute settings (Kenneth, 1994) are prepared for the patient that helps him recover in a somewhat controlled environment so that the rehab process can take its course. Other therapy models that can be used on both the Devdas character and hypothetical patient are; Pharmacotherapy This therapeutic model is mostly medical drug based where different drugs are given to the patient. These drugs usually involve buprenorphine and methadone, and are mostly used to treat addictions such as heroin, oxycodone and morphine. In our case, Devdas was addicted to alcohol, however if he was consuming other substance (as he dies in the movie) then this model can be applied to such a case. In our example of Cynthia (the chronic depression patient) if she is seeking release of fix in drugs to ‘cure’ depression then this model can also be applied to her. Feedback informed Treatment This model for treating addicts is probably the most effective as it is individual based. It generally works on the principle of ‘use it if it’s working, lose it if it’s not’. So whatever is working for the patient is continued and the rest is ditched. This is done after the patient’s response to the treatment. The patient is taken into confidence and is asked his opinion on the treatment (“Models of therapy”, 2011). He can openly tell the therapist if something is making him/her uncomfortable or if something’s working exceptionally well. So based on patient’s response the therapy is modified. Solution Focused Therapy This approach is based on emotional strength of an individual. Not every person is the same; each has their own strengths and weaknesses (“Models of therapy”, 2011). Keeping this in mind, the therapist asks the patient about his life struggles and challenges and in particular those moments where the patient faced a similar situation but had more desired results. So the patient recognizes his/her own patterns of thought. Devdas would relate some event out of his childhood memories where he felt heartbroken but overcame it. Therapist would be eagerly interested in knowing what that was and how Devdas overcame his troubles when he was a child. The therapist will then modify the strategy used by the patient back then and make more desirable for the scenario at hand. The patient will be utilizing his own strategies but in more organized form that is more effective than dealing with emotions by one’s self alone. Reality Therapy This model of therapy is more suited to Cynthia than Devdas. In reality based therapy, the patient is subjected to the consequences in a more responsible way (“Models of therapy”, 2011). The sense of being aware of the results of one’s actions can be very helpful. Even though this is very helpful therapy model but there is a drawback, it is short term. Which is why it is more suited to Cynthia. She can immediately put it to use to start getting the benefits, whereas Devdas’s alcoholism would take much more than just the reality based therapy. Positive Psychology Positive psychology doesn’t mean that a patient has to put on a fake smile and be happy all the time when in fact he is crying on the inside. Positive psychology model is about identifying patterns and strategies that help improve the mood (“Models of therapy”, 2011). Moreover, they help deal with difficult (in Cynthia’s case, depressed situations) situations and they don’t need any medication. But it is obvious that such models can’t be applied to severe cases like Devdas, where the patient normally doesn’t want to ‘wake up’ and got to rehab. They are suicidal in some ways. Narrative Therapy There is a common terms used in the self-improvement community, called the Neurolinguistic Programming or NLP. This is a very powerful technique of creating your own reality. This becomes clear to a person when he gets different result out of the same experience. Narrative therapy is also built on similar pattern. Narrative therapy lets the patient narrate his/her difficult situations in life and the therapist helps the patient interpret the story in more helpful format (“Models of therapy”, 2011). This way the patient is able to flush out negative energy building up inside of him due to disturbing past experiences. Sources Kenneth, M. (1994). Models for addiction treatment in psychiatric populations. Psychiatric Annals, 24(8), 412-417. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1995-07292-001 Models of therapy. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.apacenter.com/specialization/emotional-well-being/models-of-therapy/ National institute on drug abuse. (2009, September). Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction Read More