Substance Abuse Treatment in Wisconsin
Substances are drugs that have the potential to cause a person to develop an addiction if he or she misuses them. Unfortunately, many people misuse drugs to numb their emotions or feel their euphoric effects. Addiction is a very common disease affecting millions of people worldwide. To achieve recovery, professional help is necessary to treat the dangerous cycle that drugs and alcohol pose in all aspects of life.
At Denoon Recovery in Waukesha, Wisconsin, we offer substance abuse treatment programs and resources to give people the tools and life skills they need to stay on a path to recovery.
What is the Difference Between a Substance Abuse Problem and a Substance Addiction?
When a person suffers from a substance abuse problem, he or she likely suffers from substance dependency. Substance dependency occurs when a person frequently abuses certain drugs to the point where it causes him or her to have an increased tolerance to them.
As a result, individuals who suffer from substance abuse problems typically suffer from withdrawals whenever they aren’t consuming a large amount of their substances of choice. People who suffer from substance abuse problems, or substance dependency, will later develop substance addictions if they continue to abuse more and more drugs to avoid feeling withdrawals.
Substance addiction is characterized by biochemical changes in the brain along with substance dependency and a willingness to do anything to get more drugs. This includes putting the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones at risk. People who suffer from substance addiction also display negative behavioral changes such as increased irritability and no longer keeping up with their hygiene.
While all people who suffer from substance addiction also suffer from substance abuse problems or substance dependency, not all people who suffer from substance dependency also suffer from substance addiction.
What is a Substance Use Disorder?
A substance use disorder is another term for a substance addiction. Many define addiction as the most severe form of a substance use disorder.
Either way, both substance use disorders and substance addictions cause people to experience biochemical changes in the brain along with substance dependency and a willingness to do anything to get more alcohol or drugs. Both substance use disorders and substance addictions also require substance abuse treatment to achieve recovery.
Common Substances That People Abuse
People abuse some substances more often than others. Some of the most common substances that people abuse include the following:
Alcohol is a fermented beverage that contains ethanol in it. Although people use alcohol to get “buzzed,” alcohol is a depressant. This is because alcohol slows down brain activity.
Such slowed brain activity sometimes leads to people slurring their words or losing their memory. Some individuals who drink too much alcohol may even blackout or become unconscious.
Despite the negative effects that alcohol use can have, it is arguably the most easily accessible drug. That’s because alcohol is a legal substance that people often consume when socializing with one another.
Heroin is an opioid drug that’s made from morphine. Morphine is a natural substance from the seed pod of an opium plant.
Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance. People who consume heroin do so by either injecting, sniffing, snorting, or smoking it.
When people consume heroin, it binds to opioid receptors in the brain. Opioid receptors impact the way that people feel pain and pleasure. Overtime, consuming too much heroin can cause people to suffer from everything from insomnia to pneumonia and lung complications, to liver or kidney disease, and more.
Opioids are a class of drugs that either mimic or derive from natural substances found in the opium poppy plant. Examples of synthetic opioids that mimic natural substances found in the opium poppy plant include fentanyl and methadone.
Prescription opioid pain relievers such as OxyContin, oxycodone, Vicodin, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine are natural opioids found in the opium poppy plant. Heroin is an illegal semi-synthetic opioid.
Drugs that are opioids bind to the opioid receptors in the brain. Because opioid receptors impact the way people feel pain and pleasure, scientists have discovered ways to use prescription opioids to help people manage their physical pain.
Prescription opioids are highly addictive though. Hence, opioids are one of the most commonly abused substances today.
Like with opioids, many people use prescription drugs to help relieve themselves of pain and discomfort. Unfortunately, it’s quite common for people to abuse prescription drugs by taking more than they are prescribed to trade in feelings of pain with feelings of euphoria.
Prescription drug abuse often leads to drug dependency and addiction though. Thus, Individuals with prescription drug abuse problems should seek out substance abuse treatment.
Cocaine is a white, powdery substance that people snort, smoke, or inject into themselves to help them feel energized and euphoric. Cocaine use can help people feel more energized and euphoric because it’s a central nervous system stimulant. In other words, cocaine stimulates high levels of dopamine in the brain.
Over time, though, cocaine use leads to negative effects on one’s brain cells, nerve cells, bodily proteins, and more. Continued cocaine use can even cause strain on a person’s heart which leads to stroke or cardiac arrest.
Meth is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. The crystal form of meth looks like a glassy, bluish-white rock. People take meth by either smoking it, swallowing it in a pill form, snorting it, or injecting the meth powder into water or alcohol.
Because meth causes people to experience an intense, but quick high, many people repeatedly abuse the substance to continue to feel its effects. As a result, many people suffer from meth addiction and need substance abuse treatment.
Marijuana is the leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds of the Cannabis sativa plant. Within marijuana is the chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, otherwise known as THC. THC causes mind-altering effects.
Although marijuana use is legal in certain U.S. states, it is the most commonly used illicit substance in the U.S. It’s also important to note that even though marijuana use is legal in certain U.S. states, it’s still an addictive substance. Thus, it’s possible to need substance abuse treatment for marijuana use.
Statistics on Substance Abuse in Wisconsin
- In 2019, approximately 7.66% of people in Wisconsin suffered from a substance use disorder, which is higher than the 7.32 % national average
- Wisconsin consistently reports having a higher percentage of its residents taking part in alcohol use and binge drinking
- The number of drug-related deaths in Wisconsin has increased in the past decade
- The age-adjusted rate for mortality related to drugs in Wisconsin increased from 10.9 deaths in 2010 to 29.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 2021
- The age-adjusted rate of emergency room hospitalizations for opioid overdoses more than tripled in Wisconsin from 17.1 per 100,000 population in 2010 to 53.7 per 100,000 population in 2021
- According to the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, Wisconsin ranks 3rd in the country for the percentage of adults who currently drink alcohol
- More Wisconsin adults report current alcohol use in the past 30 days (64.8%) than the U.S. average (55.1%)
- Only 37.9% of Wisconsin adults who binge drink think they put themselves at risk
Substance Abuse Treatment
With all of the drug and alcohol use in Wisconsin and other parts of the U.S. and the world, it’s no wonder that substance abuse and addiction are so common. The most effective way to treat substance abuse and addiction is to attend a substance abuse treatment program.
Substance abuse treatment comes in various levels of care. These levels of care vary based on the intensity of the treatment program. For example, the most intensive substance abuse treatment program is the inpatient treatment program. This is because inpatient treatment programs require their patients to live in rehab facilities where they receive care 24/7 for constant care and monitoring. Inpatient treatment programs for substance abuse are also highly structured.
There are two main types of inpatient treatment programs, standard inpatient treatment and residential treatment. Like standard inpatient treatment, residential treatment requires its patients to live in rehab centers 24/7 for constant care and monitoring. The main difference between the two is that residential treatment programs are slightly less structured than standard inpatient treatment programs.
For individuals whose substance addiction isn’t severe enough to need constant care and monitoring, there is outpatient treatment. Outpatient treatment programs for substance abuse allow patients to live in the comfort of their own homes when not receiving care. Some outpatient treatment programs even give patients enough time to themselves to continue working and tending to their daily responsibilities while in treatment.
There are three main types of outpatient treatment programs. These include partial hospitalization program treatment, intensive outpatient program treatment, and outpatient program treatment. Partial hospitalization program (PHP) treatment is the most intensive form of outpatient care, followed by intensive outpatient program (IOP) treatment. The standard outpatient program (OP) is the least intensive of all the outpatient treatment programs.
Substance Abuse Treatment Programs at Denoon Recovery
Denoon Recovery is an outpatient drug and alcohol addiction treatment center located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. As a Wisconsin-based addiction treatment center, insurance coverage for treatment is available for those who qualify.
Here at Denoon Recovery, we offer a wide variety of customized and comprehensive outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. We also offer co-occurring substance addiction and mental health treatment programs and sober housing for those who need it.
The levels of outpatient treatment care that we offer here at Denoon include partial hospitalization program treatment, intensive outpatient program treatment, and standard outpatient program treatment. As mentioned earlier, we also offer sober housing and a wide variety of customized dual diagnosis, or co-occurring, treatment programs. Our dual diagnosis treatment programs are for individuals who simultaneously suffer from a substance addiction and mental health disorder.
Receive Substance Abuse Treatment at Denoon Recovery Today
If you suffer from drug or alcohol addiction and need help, Denoon Recovery has everything that you need to achieve recovery. To learn more about our rehab center and the services that we offer, feel free to contact us. Our team is more than willing to answer any questions that you may have.
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p01023-2021.pdf
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/alcohol/index.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/
https://pdas.samhsa.gov/saes/state
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/guide/pay.htm
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/opioids
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/methamphetamine
