It’s not uncommon for people in our addiction treatment Delray Beach program, or in any addiction treatment program for that matter, to be heavy smokers. Recovering addicts and alcoholics are well-known for their propensity to smoke – and smoke a lot. Traditionally, programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program have discouraged concurrent treatment for drug addiction and tobacco addiction. The concern we’ve had is that attempting to treat both addictions at once could drive people out of addiction treatment altogether.
But the results of a new study suggest that treatment for nicotine addiction can be a successful part of programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program. Incorporating nicotine addiction treatment into programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program can reduce recovering addicts’ risk of smoking-related diseases, and could even improve their chances of overall success in our recovery.
Smoking Death Rate Highest in Substance Abusers
Smoking causes one in five deaths each year in the U.S., but substance abuse patients have the dubious distinction of dying from smoking-related causes at a much higher rate than any other segment of the population. As of 2008, 63 percent of people with a substance abuse disorder said that they used tobacco. Rates of tobacco use in the general population were about 28 percent.
Despite the high rate of tobacco use among substance abuse patients, most programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program do not include smoking cessation therapy in treatment.
Researchers Study Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation in
Addiction Treatment Programs
Researchers from the National Institute of Drug Abuse conducted a study on the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatment for methamphetamine and cocaine addicts in programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program. Cocaine and methamphetamine addicts were randomly chosen from programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program and assigned to a 10-week smoking cessation therapy program. The program involved weekly counseling sessions, antidepressant medication, nicotine inhalers and contingency management. Contingency management is a technique used in programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program where recovering addicts are rewarded for their abstinence.
The participants received drug and carbon monoxide testing during the study to measure the success of both the drug and smoking cessation treatment they were receiving, but during the 10 weeks and at three and six month follow-ups. Just as in our addiction treatment Delray Beach program, study participants also self-reported treatment outcomes.
Smoking Cessation Helps Patients in Programs Like Our Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Program
The study, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, found that patients in programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program enjoyed a great deal of success from nicotine cessation therapy during drug addiction treatment. Not only did the smoking cessation therapy not interfere with the effectiveness of the drug addiction treatment, it actually improved drug addiction treatment outcomes for patients in programs like our addiction treatment Delray Beach program.
Make Smoking Cessation a Part of Your Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Program
If you need drug addiction treatment, our addiction treatment Delray Beach program offers a range of evidence based, alternative and holistic treatments to help you overcome addiction and get your life back. With the results of this study, it’s now clear that smoking cessation therapy can and should be a part of addiction treatment for anyone who needs and wants it. Our addiction treatment Delray Beach program offers a comprehensive, all-natural smoking cessation treatment involving auricular (ear) acupuncture. Ear acupuncture has been proven to help treat nicotine and heroin addiction.
When you receive smoking cessation therapy from our addiction treatment Delray Beach facility, you’ll receive six 75-minute sessions of auricular acupuncture. You can receive your smoking cessation treatment in a group or individual setting. Self-massage, breathing techniques, visualization, and mind-body exercises form a part of our comprehensive smoking cessation therapy. The smoking cessation treatment we offer at our addiction treatment Delray Beach is painless.