Addiction Problems & Community-based Recovery Solutions in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
With
a population of around 700 thousand and one of the highest crime rates in the
United States of America, it should come as no surprise that Nashville,
Tennessee has some of the worst drug problems in the country. The most abused
drug is alcohol, with over 30 percent of patients admitted to rehab suffering
from alcoholism. The second most abused sort of drugs are opioids.
Like
many other areas of the U.S., the opioids that are used are often prescribed by
doctors. Opioids sold under names such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Valium are
widely abused in Nashville. In 2013, Nashville was rated the second worst in
the entire U.S. for prescription drug abuse.
Aside from alcoholism and opioid addiction, there is a high prevalence of crack and powder cocaine addiction in Nashville as well. There are many other drugs in use in the city, but these are the primary causes of drug addiction in Nashville, and the drugs that people are most frequently admitted to rehabilitation centers to receive treatment for.
Most people admitted to treatment centers in Nashville are teenagers.
On top of the high prevalence of drug problems, and crime in general, Nashville, Tennessee has one of the highest violent crime rates in the United States.
Given these facts, it should come as no surprise that the second largest private prison company in the U.S., CoreCivic, was founded and is presently located in Nashville, Tennessee. It has been funded by many prominent organizations in the city of Nashville, the most notable of which is Vanderbilt University, which employs more people than any other organization or business in the city.
Many people die of overdose in Nashville every year; they overdose on prescription opioids, they overdose on illegal opioids such as heroin, and still some others die from other drugs, such as alcohol and cocaine. Additionally, a mass of people are regularly arrested for illegal drug possession in Nashville, Tennessee. The prison population in Tennessee is so high, in fact, that Tennessee has a higher proportion of its population in prison than any actual country in the world, except for the United States itself.
For these reasons alone, anyone with a drug dependence in Nashville, Tennessee should seek treatment as soon as possible. But even these might not be the most important of the reasons that you or your loved one needs to seek treatment; drug addiction does horrible damage to communities and families, often much worse than an individual’s incarceration, and sometimes even worse than an individual’s death.
Treatment
Thankfully, there are many treatment options available in the city of Nashville, and many treatment centers in and around the area, that serve the city.
Below we will describe the treatment process in many Nashville drug addiction treatment centers, from beginning to end, to help you make the best decision possible concerning your rehabilitation and recovery.
Where should I go? Locally/Away?
Intake
The first step on the road to recovery from your addiction is intake, into a residential treatment center or treatment program. It is in this part of the process that you apply to the treatment center where you would like to be treated, where they assess your suitability for the center and their programs. And most importantly of all, it is in this step of the process that you ask questions of the treatment center to find out if it meets your needs and expectations.
One of the reasons it is so important for you to find out whether the treatment center that you are interested meets your needs and expectations, is that a major predictor in the success of a drug addiction treatment program is the amount of time a patient stays in the treatment program. So if you don’t ask questions, and you just expect that the treatment center will be a certain way, and you end up leaving because the treatment center does not meet your expectations or needs in some way, you may be jeopardizing your chances at recovery.
And there is no need to attend a treatment center that you do not believe is right for you. In and around the Nashville area, and all around the state and country, there are countless treatment centers accepting patients, all with different programs to suit different people’s individual needs and circumstances.
There are so many options, so many centers, and so many programs, that it is unnecessary to undergo treatment somewhere that’s not right for you. And there are many places that you will find that are right for you. This is why it is so very important that you ask questions of the treatment center, about their programs, about the details of your stay there, about whatever you believe will be important to you, so that you can find the perfect fit, so you can stay long-term, and successfully enter recovery.
Many medical professionals recommend that a patient seeking to recover from drug addiction or alcoholism stay in rehabilitation for at least three month before leaving. This is quite a while, so make sure to find a comfortable fit. Make sure to find somewhere that you are comfortable staying for a long period of time, a treatment center that you can see yourself remaining at for a long period.
At the beginning of the intake process. you will be interviewed by the treatment center that you have applied to attend. Sometimes this interview will be in-person, at the treatment center itself. Sometimes, it will take the form of a short questionnaire, that you can fill out and submit on the internet. Sometimes it will be just a phone interview.
Whatever the form of the interview, the purpose is to assess you and your situation, your suitability for the treatment center. It’s also to prepare them for your entry into the treatment center, if you decide to attend.
In the interview, whether its an in-person interview or an online questionnaire, they will ask you a lot of questions about yourself and about your addiction. Some of the questions they may ask include: What is the history of drug use in your family? What is your history of drug use? When was the last time you used the drug that you are addicted to? What do you consider to be the drug that you are primarily addicted to? Have you attended any other treatment programs in the last 10 years? If so, other treatment programs have you attended? What was the longest period of time that you remained off of the substance that you are addicted to? Is there any important information that we haven’t asked about, that you would like to provide us with?
It is important to be honest in your answers to these questions. Your answers to these questions will likely be used later on, and if you exclude important information or include untrue information, it could make more difficult for them to plan the rehabilitation program that is the best for you.
Now, after this first interview, if you have decided to attend the treatment center, once you arrive to the treatment center to be admitted you will be interviewed again. This time, the interview will definitely be in-person, and it will be more in-depth than the first interview. This is the second interview in the intake process, and it is this interview which will exert the most influence on the creation of your treatment program at the treatment center.
Usually, this second interview will be a one-on-one interview, with a psychologist who works at the treatment center. This psychologist will be responsible for planning your treatment program with you, to best meet your needs and expectations. It is important also, to let this interviewer know of any medical problems you have, if they are not already aware of all of your medical problems. Usually, they will know of all of your medical problems by this point, though.
Another important thing to note, and maybe to ask about before you decide whether or not you want to attend the treatment center, is that different treatment centers have different rules about what you can and cannot bring to the treatment center.
Drugs that you have not been prescribed, including alcohol, are prohibited at every treatment center. It is also prohibited to carry cellphones at most treatment centers. Other electronic devices, musical instruments, and mouthwash are prohibited at many treatment centers as well. So if there is an item that it is very important to you that you want to bring with you, then you should ask the treatment centers if you will be allowed to have it with you at the treatment center, because if you do not ask you may find out when you get to the treatment center that the item is prohibited. These are the sorts of questions that you might want to ask before deciding which treatment center to attend.
On your first day at the treatment center, one of the workers there will lead you to your new room, and together both of you will go through all the items that you have brought with you. The items that you are not allowed to have at the treatment center will be taken away from you, and kept by the treatment center to give back to you when you leave treatment. The items that are allowed, you will usually be able to keep in the room that you have been given.
If you have been prescribed any drugs by your doctor, the treatment center will take the drugs and put them in the treatment center pharmacy. The pharmacy will give you your prescription drugs as they have been prescribed by your doctor, in the dose and the frequency that they have been prescribed.
Other than this, on your first day you will likely be administered a drug test. This test is to determine whether you need to undergo detox, and to help the medical professionals prepare detox for you if you do. If you do not test positive for any drugs, then you will be put into a rehabilitation program right away, and won’t have to go through any detox procedure.
Detox
Before undergoing detox it is very important to let the medical workers know of any medical problems or allergies that you have, so that they can prepare your detox process so that it is suited to your medical situation. It is especially important to let the workers at the treatment center know if you have any infectious diseases, before you go to detox. If you don’t let them know, you aren’t only endangering yourself, but you may be endangering others as well, by potentially exposing them to your infectious disease.
Before and after detox, you may also be given other tests, if you have other medical problems. If you have other medical problems, you will be given care for them, as well.
Detox is a difficult process, but is your first step on the path to recovery. It is necessary to undergo detox, to begin the process of healing from your addiction. Detox is not the solution itself, but it is the beginning.
There are different kinds of detox programs, each suited to different people in different kinds of situations. Most detox programs belong to one of two categories. There are inpatient detox programs and there are outpatient detox programs.
In inpatient detox programs, the patient stays at the treatment center for the duration of the detox program. Inpatient detox programs are primarily for patients who suffer a very severe addiction, especially to drugs such as Xanax or alcohol, which sometimes have fatal withdrawal symptoms. In inpatient detox programs, the patient remains constantly supervised by professional medical staff, and is always able to immediately access medical care. The patient will be cared for at all times; medical workers will help the patient with their withdrawal symptoms as well as any other medical problems that the patient may have.
In outpatient detox programs, the patient still has access to the medical care they need. But they do not stay at the treatment center for their entire detox. They don’t sleep at the detox center, and usually sleep at their own homes. Outpatient detox programs take place at a variety of locations. Some outpatient detox programs take place at doctors’ offices, and some at other mental health centers. The detox program can also be undergone at the treatment center itself, but the difference is that the patient is not sleeping at the treatment center overnight, but rather staying at their own home or somewhere else.
Whether an outpatient or inpatient detox program is best depends on a lot of things. It depends on the person, their situation, the drug or drugs that they are addicted to, and what other medical problems they have, among other things. During intake a counselor and other medical professionals will decide what kind of detox program is best for you.
There are other ways of detoxing, but these are the main two types of detox programs. Some people try to detox at home by themselves, but depending on what drug they are addicted to, and what other medical problems they suffer from, withdrawing from a drug that you are addicted to at home can be fatal. The withdrawal from drugs such as Xanax, Valium, and alcohol can cause seizures, among other things. And even if the drug that you are withdrawing from is an opioid, for example, there are always unexpected medical problems that could surface, that it would be much better if you had a doctor present, to address.
For these reasons many medical professionals recommend against trying to detox at home, in many cases, because of the potentially life-threatening dangers involved.
Whichever detox program you choose, however and wherever you detox, you have made significant progress once you have completed detox. Once detox is complete, the patient can start off on the path to recovery clean, and healthier.
Rehabilitation Centers
After detox is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation can involve many different activities, depending on the treatment center and the treatment staff that is helping you along your path to recovery. In rehabilitation, treatment workers will often try to help you resolve some of the underlying problems which may have lead to your drug addiction. There may be many other activities as well. Different treatment centers work differently; they have different rehabilitation activities available, and some treatment centers have different ideas concerning rehabilitation altogether.
Nevertheless, there are three main forms of rehabilitation programs that many treatment centers offer. They are: Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP), Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP), and Residential Treatment Center programs (RTC). A treatment professional can help you to decide which of these rehabilitation programs is best for you. Each is suited to different situations, different needs, and ultimately, different individuals.
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) take the least amount of time, out of the three different kinds of rehabilitation programs. In Intensive Outpatient Programs, a patient is only required to attend treatment in the afternoons and evenings, and for only a few hours every week. Like outpatient detox, the patient will not stay overnight at the treatment center, but rather will sleep somewhere else of their choosing, oftentimes at their own home. Because of the relative lack of supervision and structure in this kind of rehabilitation program, it is usually only recommended to the most motivated addiction patients, and only those patients that can effectively manage themselves without constant assistance or regulation.
Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) are much like Intensive Outpatient Programs, in that the structure and expectations of the patient are similar, except that they require greater involvement from the patient. Partial Hospitalization Programs usually require that the patient attends treatment activities 5 days a week, for at least six hours a day. And unlike Intensive Outpatient Programs, in Partial Hospitalization Programs, it is not uncommon for there to be treatment activities for the patient to attend over the weekend as well.
Very different from both Intensive Outpatient Programs and Partial Hospitalization Programs, are Residential Treatment Centers (RTC). Unlike outpatient rehabilitation programs, in Residential Treatment Center programs, the patient stays at the treatment center for the duration of their rehabilitation. Treatment programs like this involve constant supervision, and a very firm day-to-day structure, to create the best possible environment for the patient. These programs are the best option for patients who are not highly motivated, or who are not very able to manage themselves. But even for patients who are highly motivated and very able, Residential Treatment Centers might still be the best option, for the high quality of care, and high quality environment, which they offer.
Should I choose inpatient or outpatient?
Recovery
After a patient has completed rehabilitation, it is time for the next step, which is recovery. And much like there is a variety of options for rehabilitation and detox, so to are there many recovery options. Different treatment centers offer different recovery programs, for different people with different needs and in different situations.
One option, usually for patients who have been involved in a Residential Treatment Center program and who have completed it successfully, is to move from the residential program to an outpatient rehabilitation program. By making the move from an inpatient to an outpatient rehabilitation program, the patient assures that they will be making a smoother transition, than if they moved from a residential rehabilitation program to some other kind of recovery program.
What happens after discharge?
For patients who are motivated and in good situations, support groups are a good option to consider. Support groups are groups of addicts who have discontinued their drug use, and regularly meet together to provide support to one another. Support groups are a part of many recovery programs, but sometimes it can be the only kind of recovery program that someone attends.
A program much like support groups, in that it involves many recovering addicts to come together to help each other, is Sober Living Houses (SLHs). In a sober living home, multiple former addicts live together, sometimes to work and sometimes just to participate in further treatment, to help and support each other. Sober Living Houses serve as an in-between, between drug addiction treatment and re-entry into the real world.
Sober Living Houses are a great option for people in many different situations. And on top of that, there is a lot of variation between different Sober Living House programs. In some programs, everyone in the house will be in recovery, and working. But in some other Sober Living House programs, there will be some social workers in the house at all times, to assist the patients in recovery.
There are some requirements to live in a Sober Living House, though. Rules change between different Sober Living House programs, but there are a few rules which are generally the same for all Sober Living House programs. The first of these rules is that you can not live in the house if you bring any drugs into the house, and that includes alcohol.
Many sober living house also mandate that the people living there are not allowed to have any guests overnight.
It is also usually required that people in recovery, in sober living houses, actively participate in recovery meetings. The people living in these houses are also usually subject to random drug testing, which includes testing for alcohol use, as well.
To stay in the houses, it is necessary to pay fees on time. And many sober living houses require that the people that stay there must be either involved in work or study. But again, there are some Sober Living House programs that are different, and that only require that the recovering patient be actively participating in a continued treatment program.
Getting along with one’s fellow housemates is also a significant requirement, in many sober living arrangements.
Sober Living House programs are not only about recovery, but also about building the skills necessary to successfully live after recovery, so that a relapse won’t happen. Sober Living Houses are about recovery; they are about support between people who are recovering; they’re about building those skills necessary to be the best person that you can be.
All of this is to say that there are a great many different programs available. There is a great variety and number of rehabilitation programs and recovery programs in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. If you or anyone you know is suffering from a drug addiction, there is hope. And there are many options, so that no matter what your needs or expectations are, you can find a treatment program that’s a good fit for you.
There is a lot of violence in Nashville, and there is a lot of crime. Much of it is due to the sale of drugs, and people using them. Save yourself from your situation. You can save yourself from the crime, from the prison, from the horrible consequences of addiction. High quality treatment is available all around Nashville, for you to get to the recovery that you need.
