Treatment for heroin
Heroin use disorder has different treatment options, which include behavioral and pharmaceutical approaches. Pharmaceutical approaches involve the use of three types of drugs, namely agonists, which are responsible for the activation of opioid receptors, partial agonists, and antagonists, which change the effects of opioids. The behavioral approach includes the cognitive therapies and contingency systems where the patients are rewarded when they test negative for heroin tests. These treatment options work because they ease the withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, pain, and vomiting, which may affect the victim when they suddenly stop using the drug. They also work because they change the behavioral perceptions of a person and encourage healthy living. Pharmaceutical side effects include habit forming, tiredness, and some are highly addictive. Physical therapies may lower the self-esteem of the victim because they may feel they have failed the society ( Addiction center, 2020).
Question 2: Trends for opioid medications
Opium medications are highly active on the brain and can produce pleasure because they affect areas involved in reward. Oxytocin is a powerful painkiller that is prescribed by doctors, but as the use of intensifies, the body develops a tolerance, and the user is forced to maintain the effect. Vicodin abuse has also increased because most people consider using them without proper medication to relieve pain. Percocet is also widely abused because of its narcotic effects that develop after prolonged use. There is increased use of opium drugs because of their availability in most and drug centers and lack of regulatory laws that govern their purchase. Most of these drugs, such as Vicodin, have been restricted by Drug Enforcement agency and selling drugs with more than 325mg of acetaminophen has been banned( Addiction center,2020).
Despite this effort, users still find these drugs over the counter because some of them, such as Percocet, are legal to purchase. An example of opioid use was experienced in the Boston medical Centre when the institution established an addiction center to engage patients that were suffering from opium addiction. Many people have benefited from the facility, which indicates the drug misuse that was previously in place.