Learn More About Our New Jersey Opioid Treatment
Request a Callback
Opioid Rehab Center in New Jersey
Opioid addiction is one of the biggest public health problems in the United States. The soaring use of opioids since the 1990s is described as an epidemic. In 2021, more than 106,000 people in the United States died from overdoses, most involving an opioid. Deaths that involved synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, rose, with more than 70,061 reported deaths in 2021.
If you’re struggling with opioid addiction or dependence, you aren’t alone. Relevance Behavioral Health is an opioid rehab center in New Jersey that offers evidence-based treatment and care.
Relevance Recovery is a drug addiction and mental health treatment center in New Jersey that offers comprehensive treatment services. Contact us today to learn more about our New Jersey outpatient rehab.
How Do Opioids Work?
Opioids are a type of substance, including prescription medicines for pain and illicit drugs like heroin. Whether it’s a prescription opioid or an illegal one, they work similarly on the brain and body and are highly addictive.
Some prescription opioids are made directly from compounds found in the opium poppy plant, and others are synthetically made, using the same structure chemically.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid that’s one of the main drivers of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. It’s available as a prescription. Still, much of what’s found on the streets is made illegally. Heroin is also an opioid, and it’s illegal, with effects similar to prescription pain medicines.
When someone takes an opioid, whether it’s one that’s prescribed, like oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone, or it’s an illegal drug, it binds to certain receptor sites in the brain and the central nervous system and body. When it binds to these sites, it changes pain signals, which is why these drugs are used medicinally. At the same time, opioids, particularly at higher doses, can also trigger feelings of euphoria or pleasant relaxation. These effects can prompt the reward response in the brain. Once that happens, the reward response can play a role in developing an addiction.
At first, using opioids is a choice, but once someone becomes addicted, the use is compulsive and out of control because of changes in their brain.
Our opioid rehab center in New Jersey offers programs that treat patients holistically. You’re more than just an addiction, which we understand and center our treatment programs around.
As with other types of addiction, opioid addiction is very complicated. Some people can use opioids without ever becoming addicted, but for others, addiction and dependence can occur quickly. Many genes that are thought to be part of developing an opioid addiction are involved in what’s known as the endogenous opioid system. This is the body’s system for regulating pain, reward, and addictive behaviors.
Opioids that someone takes are considered exogenous opioids that act on these receptors. There may be differences in the function and structure of these receptors influencing how some people respond to opioids.
Many other factors may be part of opioid addiction, such as differences in the nervous system and neurotransmitters and family history and environment.
Having co-occurring mental health disorders such as depression or other psychiatric disorders raises the risk of addiction to all substances, including opioids. People who grew up in stressful or traumatic environments or have certain personality traits like impulsivity could face a higher risk of developing an addiction.
Many signs and symptoms of opioid addiction can occur. A person may have a few or show nearly all of them. Specific symptoms of opioid addiction can depend on the type used, whether other substances are used, how long someone has used opioids, and how often.
Behavioral symptoms of opioid addiction can include being isolated, stealing, forging prescriptions, or doctor shopping. Slurred speech and a lack of coordination can also occur. Physical symptoms may include constipation, dry mouth, weight loss, headaches, and injection sites. Mental symptoms include a lack of impulse control, problems concentrating, and trouble making good decisions. Social symptoms include mood swings, a disconnection from reality, and depression or anxiety.
Along with addiction, one of the most significant risks of misusing opioids is overdose. Risk factors for an opioid overdose include:
- Using opioids only to get high
- Taking a prescription medicine too often or taking doses that are beyond the prescribed amount
- Mixing opioids with other substances, including alcohol, other prescription medications like benzodiazepines, or illegal drugs
- Taking medicines that are someone else’s
An opioid overdose occurs because these drugs slow down the central nervous system’s function. The CNS controls many essential life-sustaining functions, including breathing and heart rate. If a person takes a dose of opioids more than their CNS can handle, it can lead to an overdose. Symptoms of an opioid overdose include:
- Pale or clammy skin
- Limp body
- Can’t be woken up
- Slow or stopped breathing or heartbeat
- Vomiting
- Fingernails or lips with a blue or purple color
Relevance Behavioral Health is an opioid rehab center in New Jersey with varying pathways of care to help you recover and regain control and fulfillment in your life.
Take the first step towards mental well-being – complete the Substance Abuse quiz and embark on a journey to understanding and support.
Finding an Opioid Addiction Treatment In New Jersey
Opioid addiction treatment in New Jersey or elsewhere should have some common characteristics. It should be accessible and holistic in that it treats the whole person, and every treatment program should be highly tailored to individual needs.
Many people require what’s known as a continuum of care. A person might begin with medication-assisted treatment as they’re detoxing from opioids, for example. Many medications are approved to help treat opioid use disorders, and they can help reduce cravings and symptoms of withdrawal.
There are also inpatient treatment programs. Relevance Recovery can refer patients to an N.J. opioid addiction treatment program with inpatient options if needed.
Once someone is ready for outpatient treatment, or if it’s their first step in their treatment program, they begin to explore what recovery might look like.
Regardless of the structure of an addiction treatment program, it has to consider the complexity of addiction. Addiction affects mental and physical health, relationships, your career, and more, so all of this needs to be addressed in your treatment program.
At Relevance Behavioral Health, we are an opioid rehab center in New Jersey that can provide you with the tools needed to sustain lifelong recovery. Contact us to learn more because we believe you are relevant and worth treatment to be free from opioid addiction.
Get the Help You Need, Now.
Start your journey to substance abuse recovery with us in New Jersey today.