Methamphetamine Addiction in Australia
METHAMPHETAMINE ADDICTION IN AUSTRALIA
Methamphetamine addiction in Australia has been on the rise since the heroin drought of the late 90’s to early 2000’s. Speed users have moved to using methamphetamine, as have many career heroin users. Many people who are on pharmacotherapy programs also use methamphetamine fairly regularly.
The increase in methamphetamine addiction in Australia
Crystal methamphetamine (also known popularly as Ice) is just one of a number of amphetamine-type stimulants that are contending for market share against more traditional illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The increase in methamphetamine addiction in Australia is exacerbated by its cheap and readily available status. Its appeal was also magnified by the hugely successful TV series Breaking Bad, which ran for several years and broke many viewing and awards records. Whilst it didn’t exactly romanticise the methamphetamine phenomena, it certainly would have excited all drug users and potential drug users, who are drawn to the chaos of the drug world as a whole. The series itself was addictive, and it definitely had an impact on methamphetamine addiction in Australia, and around the world.
No societal boundaries or barriers
Not all people who use methamphetamine run into trouble with a dependency or addiction problem. People use this drug for many different reasons. It seems to be the flavour of the moment on the timeline of human drug-taking history. Enquiries to SafeHouse Rehab Center Thailand from people in trouble over methamphetamine addiction in Australia have included the full gambit of society: shift workers; fly in fly out workers; family members stressed over financial commitments; people in the party scene; university students who want to cram or study for exams, and many more. Like cocaine and other popular drugs before it, methamphetamine addiction in Australia has few boundaries – certainly not age, race, religion, class or financial status.
This is a huge departure from the previous study strategies of times gone by with students using cigarettes and coffee as stimulants to increase concentration when studying. The simple fact is that methamphetamines are stimulants that make people feel good. Like any mood-altering drug this is the very reason they are consumed. We all want to feel good. Whether it’s a couple of beers at the end of the day or a glass of wine with dinner, people use it to relax. Like any drug, if taken in increasing quantities and frequency, it will sooner or later create a dependency. People who run into problems with methamphetamine addiction in Australia often eventually ask for treatment assistance.
Symptoms, family issues, and solutions
Many of course do not, because they do not accept that they have a problem. As SafeHouse professes during rehabilitation, the state of denial is itself a symptom of addiction, and a self-granted permit for the addict or alcoholic to continue drinking or using their drugs of choice. Other symptoms of addiction – especially of stimulants – include delusions and paranoia, which, along with denial, become a normal way of being. Some people end up in psychosis. All this psychological upheaval, of course, increases other emotional dysregulation such as anxiety and frustration, hostility, anger including violence and other behavioural changes. The SafeHouse treatment program addresses all these issues using the ‘stepped care’ principle that protects clients from delving too deep, too soon, into a stimulant-fuelled past that will certainly have left emotional scars.
For those with moderate to severe addiction problems, the impact on the individual, partners, children, families and communities is immense. The overall emotional and social costs are immeasurable. Whilst it is the recovery of the addict that is the key to commence rebuilding relationships, where appropriate SafeHouse rehab centre welcomes and even encourages the input of family and other affected individuals. But only if offered, when appropriate, and in a fashion that nurtures all parties.
Residential rehabilitation option
Well-structured residential rehabilitation has evidenced some of the best outcomes for those persons who wish to cease using stimulants. Certainly, thousands of sufferers of methamphetamine addiction in Australia have benefitted immensely. Most of these peoples’ lives have spun out of control. Some are in trouble with their partners, their families, the police, courts, and other institutions. It often requires the person to remove themselves from their familiar environment to a safe and sound, unfamiliar place where the reflection acceptance and initial healing can take place, and the seeds of significant change can be sown. This requires the person to at least be partly willing to participate in their own recovery and to begin to take personal responsibility. Of itself, not a huge undertaking, but to the average sufferer of methamphetamine addiction in Australia this can be a frightening concept. This fear is itself a symptom of addiction, and if an addict or alcoholic is scared enough of continuing using, this alternative fear is far easier to face. A quick look at the SafeHouse Rehab Center Thailand website page first week in rehab will demonstrate that, in taking the first tentative steps towards a new life, there is, in reality, nothing to fear.