The role of the psychiatrist in addiction treatment

Drug addiction is a serious illness characterized by the emergence and gradual development of an irresistible craving for the use of pathological psychoactive substances – drugs. It is expressed in the appearance of physical and mental addictions. A patient suffering from this disease takes narcotic drugs to relieve the constant psychological discomfort that occurs when he stops taking this substance.

When a person with addiction enters for treatment, a complete examination is necessary. It includes a thorough collection of anamnesis, followed by the stage of instrumental and laboratory diagnostics. At the same time, the mental state of a person is examined, because in a situation with alcohol and drug addiction, harm is done not only to physical health, when using psychoactive substances, the mental component suffers, first of all.

Psychiatrist is a doctor who studies the mechanisms of occurrence, development, detection and treatment of mental illness. His work also consists in the reception and counseling of mentally healthy people and patients, the selection of drug therapy, examination of those in need, in order to determine mental health and legal capacity.

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Mental disorders when diagnosed with addiction:

attempted suicide;
tantrums;
depression;
sleep disorder;
various phobias, attacks of panic attacks;
delusions and hallucinations, paranoid ideas;
withdrawal syndrome, the so-called “delirium tremens”;
different types of psychosis.

The goal of a psychiatrist is to identify a mental disorder when present. Choose the right drug therapy and psychological correction. Drug therapy, in this case, plays the role of symptomatic support. It is prescribed to improve memory, stabilize the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness, and remove the decay products of psychoactive substances. The psychological rehabilitation program is selected individually and depends on the type of addiction, the patient’s condition and the length of the illness.