Prescription Drug Addiction

Conditions We Treat

Prescription Drugs- Effective When Used Properly, Dangerous When Not Prescribed

Most people who use their prescription medication as prescribed will not end up with a prescription drug addiction. Prescription medication is also commonly prescribed for medical conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD), chronic insomnia, obesity, anxiety and depression.

However, there are a great number of people–perhaps you’re one of them–who are using prescription medicine without a prescription or in dosages far beyond what their doctors instructed. A United States National Institute on Health (NIH) monthly bulletin warned that approximately 16 million Americans had reported using a prescription drug for non-medical reasons with the past year; 7 million in the past month.

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Learn More About Prescription Drug Addiction

Those using prescription drugs without a condition requiring them for treatment are even more likely to become addicted than those using them as prescribed. If prescribed and used correctly, prescription drugs can provide wonderful benefits. They allow us to once again take part in the life activities we most enjoy, liberating us from the restrictions of illness, pain, and age. But prescription drugs also pose severe risks of addiction and dependency. In such cases, a drug that once freed us from pain might become the root cause of it; and a prescription that once enabled us to experience life more fully now becomes the primary thing that holds us back.

Types of Prescription Drugs

Opioids (opiates, painkillers) – which are prescribed for pain relief.
Stimulants – used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obesity or narcolepsy
CNS depressants – arbiturates and benzodiazepines (benzos), commonly known as tranquilizers and sedatives, prescribed for sleep problems (insomnia) or anxiety

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Why Prescription Drug Addiction Happens So Easily

The reasons for addiction are as varied as the people who get addicted, both physically and psychologically.

If you were prescribed painkillers, for instance, you may have built up a tolerance and could no longer get the pain relief you needed. Needing more and more to get the same results helped contribute to becoming addicted.

The way opioid painkillers work is by preventing certain brain chemicals from being released in the brain, thereby blocking your ability to feel pain. By blocking those chemicals, the brain not only doesn’t perceive the pain, but also experiences a euphoric feeling or high. Soon you find yourself taking dangerously high doses to manage pain or to get the same euphoric feelings.

Using stimulants prescribed for ADHD when not medically necessary is drug abuse. The focus you got when you first began abusing the stimulant will soon require increased dosages, leading to addiction. Stimulant addiction is very serious and carries potentially severe health consequences.

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Breaking Free

Once addicted, it is nearly impossible to break break your drug addiction without professional help. It is even more difficult to stay drug-free after detox without top-notch treatment. To ensure your safety, you should not detox alone. Because there can be severe medical complications during detox, supervision is necessary.

At Cliffside Malibu your detox will be supervised and you will be made as comfortable as possible. Our team has a wide variety of detox treatments available to alleviate your symptoms as much as possible.

Prescription drug detox is one of the most feared steps of the entire healing experience. That’s why Cliffside offers industry-leading professionals that will guide you through a detox process that’s gentle, sensible, and responsible with the supervision of your personal doctor. We won’t obligate ourselves to an aggressive timeframe. Instead, we’ll move at the pace that makes the most sense for you, and stand-by-side with you to minimize the hardship that detox can create.

Suffering from prescription drug addiction is hard enough. We believe deeply that detox shouldn’t serve as an added source of pain and suffering.

Our Program

Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment Program in Malibu, California

Our team will create an individualized treatment program for you, taking all factors into account–your physical condition, length/amount/substance abused, and life before you entered drug treatment. A psychotherapist will be selected whose style of practice is determined to be most compatible with you. Your therapist will work with a team of industry-leading professionals to continually reevaluate your treatment program and make adjustments along the way.

Working almost daily, one-on-one with your therapist to uncover the underlying reasons for your addiction, you will learn new ways to cope with the stresses of life and deal with the factors that may have driven your addiction. Our team of addiction professionals, nurses, nutritionists, personal trainers, massage therapists, acupuncturists and others are specialists in their fields and noted for their commitment to addiction recovery.

Personalized Care

Stages of Change for Prescription Drug Addiction Recovery

At Cliffside Malibu, we base our individualized luxury treatment plans on the Stages of Change model. The Stages of Change model, created by James O. Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island, illustrated how those seeking to recover from addiction go through a series of “stages” that allowed them ultimately to transcend their addictions and maintain sobriety. This means that we meet you where you are mentally, physically and spiritually, helping you to overcome the deep-rooted issues that have caused your addiction to flourish.

The staff of Cliffside Malibu was personally trained by Prochaska on this powerful treatment model. It is the hallmark of our treatment program. Learn more about the Stages of Change.

Stories of Success

What Our Patients Are Saying About Cliffside Malibu

Confidential Insurance Verification

Accepting Most Major Insurance Plans

Cliffside works with a variety of insurance plans. Our admissions team will verify your benefits and clearly explain the options available before admission. We firmly believe in eliminating barriers to treatment. It’s why we closely work with major insurance carriers to ensure everybody receives the treatment they deserve. We also accept private payments for additional convenience.