Polysubstance abuse
We at Origins Recovery Centers are no strangers to individuals who are addicted to multiple substances. This is actually a rather common occurrence, but we want you to know that your polysubstance addiction is something were are very used to treating and we do so with no only great experience, but with also great enthusiasm.
First off, let us define what we consider to be polysubstance abuse. Many clinicians define it as the use of three substances in an abusive or addictive manner within the course of a year. For our purposes, we will consider you a polysubstance addict if you simply have difficulty defining a single drug of choice and you have often found that one drug will provide an adequate substitute for another. In other words, you will simply abuse which ever substance is available. Merely having done a lot of various substances does not qualify someone as a polysubstance abuser, in our opinion, if they still have a single more prominent, anchoring and primary drug of choice.
Quite often, polysubstance abuse is the evolution of single drug abuse. For instance, a person who is an alcoholic will often experience severe anxiety (when they aren’t drunk) as a result of their abuse of alcohol and will often be prescribed benzodiazapenes (anti-anxiety meds) to counteract this problem, since rarely does the alcoholic actually tell their physician how much they drink. Soon thereafter, the alcoholic may discover that the two medications potentiate one another and it is not long until they will use either substance in an equally abusive manner depending upon availability.
Also, another polysubstance combination we see quite often is based around a person who originally is addicted to stimulants like cocaine or meth. In time, this sort of polysubstance abuser will begin to abuse marijuana in order to make themselves hungry since stimulants supress appetite and then opiates and/or alcohol in order to be able to fall asleep since stimulants make it dificult to sleep. So, what began as using certain substances for “practical” purposes in combatance of the side effects of their primary drug of choice, will progress to where the polysubstance abuser has incorporated all substances equally into their using repertoire and this ecomes just a sickeningly tragic concoction of multiple forms of self abuse.
We are very familiar with addicts like you who choose to get their fix through multiple channels. We are not here to judge you, but rather to assist you and let you know that you should seek professional help. We have established ability and experience within the treatment of polysubstance abuse.
If you are are ready to discuss your addiction to multiple substances, please free to call us anytime at 1-888-U-GET-WELL
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