Treatment FAQ

how does mat factor in to abstinence only addiction treatment

by Leonor Hansen Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

MAT for Opioid Addiction The medications used in MAT don't cure opiate dependence but do help people abstain. Some block withdrawal symptoms, while others block euphoria. The following medications may be used to treat opioid use disorder: Methadone

Full Answer

How does medication-assisted treatment (MAT) work?

“Research shows that a combination of medication and therapy can successfully treat these disorders, and for some people struggling with addiction, MAT can help sustain recovery.” How Does MAT Work? The use of medication-assisted treatment in treating drug and alcohol use disorders (AUD) can help to:

What is mat and how does it work?

Combining medications and behavioral therapies provides a "whole patient" approach to managing substance use disorders. “Research shows that a combination of medication and therapy can successfully treat these disorders, and for some people struggling with addiction, MAT can help sustain recovery.” How Does MAT Work?

What is abstinence and how does it work?

Abstinence is a term used in the addictions field to describe the process of abstaining—meaning avoiding, or not engaging in—certain potentially addictive substances or behaviors.

Can combining medications and behavioral therapies help treat substance use disorders?

Combining medications and behavioral therapies provides a "whole patient" approach to managing substance use disorders. “Research shows that a combination of medication and therapy can successfully treat these disorders, and for some people struggling with addiction, MAT can help sustain recovery.”

Is abstinence the only solution for addiction?

Conclusions: Available evidence does not support abstinence as the only approach in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Controlled drinking, particularly if supported by specific psychotherapy, appears to be a viable option where an abstinence-oriented approach is not applicable.

What factors influence stigma mat training?

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STIGMABlame. ... Stereotypes of Dangerousness and Unpredictability. ... Knowledge about Mental and Substance Use Disorders. ... Contact and Experience. ... Media Portrayals. ... Race, Ethnicity, and Culture.

What are 3 factors that influence addiction?

Certain factors can affect the likelihood and speed of developing an addiction:Family history of addiction. Drug addiction is more common in some families and likely involves genetic predisposition. ... Mental health disorder. ... Peer pressure. ... Lack of family involvement. ... Early use. ... Taking a highly addictive drug.

What are the most important factors in recovery from a drug addiction?

An important part of the addiction recovery process is learning to be aware of emotions, accept emotions, feel emotions, and cope with emotions. The longer one is able to maintain their sobriety, the better chance they have at long-term recovery.

What is the stigma of mat?

Due to the frequent exposure to these types of programs in early recovery, MAT is often stigmatized as “replacing one addiction with another.”

How does stigma affect addiction?

Ultimately, the stigma surrounding addiction can lead to guilt and shame, causing people to hide their addiction and prevent them from getting the treatment they need.

What is the most critical factor in addiction?

Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, early exposure to drugs, stress, and parental guidance can greatly affect a person's likelihood of drug use and addiction. Development. Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person's life to affect addiction risk.

What are some protective factors for addiction?

The protective factors include high self-esteem, religiosity, grit, peer factors, self-control, parental monitoring, academic competence, anti-drug use policies, and strong neighborhood attachment [10,11,12,13,14,15].

What three general types of factors can either increase one's risk of drug abuse or protect against drug abuse?

Environmental factors that can contribute to someone's risk for drug abuse and addiction include:Home and family. The home environment has an important impact on a person's risk for drug abuse and addiction. ... Availability of drugs. ... Social and other stressors. ... Peer influence. ... School performance.

Which of the following is an important factor in substance abuse?

Family history or genetics is one primary factor that may determine if you can or will become addicted to substances. Those who have a history of addiction in their family are more likely to become addicted to substance after trying it.

What is the first rule of recovery?

It is based on a few simple rules that are easy to remember: 1) change your life; 2) be completely honest; 3) ask for help; 4) practice self-care; and 5) don't bend the rules.

What is total abstinence?

Abstinence from alcohol involves completely avoiding intake of any alcohol and contrasts with controlled drinking that might help an alcohol addict to become a moderate and non-problematic drinker.

Benefits of MAT

MAT has emerged as a preferred treatment approach because of the numerous benefits associated with offering medications alongside counseling when treating opioid addiction. According to experts, MAT is associated with the following benefits:

Are there drawbacks associated with MAT?

There are certainly benefits associated with MAT, but some people worry if there are drawbacks linked to these drugs. One potential drawback of MAT is the abuse or diversion of these medications. Some people may sell these drugs on the street, use them to get high, or take drugs for which they do not have a prescription.

MAT at iRecoveryUSA

As mentioned, the overall lack of available MAT services is a barrier for those seeking treatment for opioid addiction, but iRecoveryUSA provides a solution. We offer comprehensive addiction treatment services via our telehealth platform, meaning you can participate in MAT from the comfort of home.

What is the role of abstinence in addiction?

Abstinence is a centuries-old method for treating substance abuse that requires the addict to completely give up all drugs (and alcohol).

What is the abstinence treatment?

Abstinence is a centuries-old method for treating substance abuse that requires the addict to completely give up all drugs (and alcohol). Abstinence-based treatment (or ABT) uses counseling and behavioral therapy to support addicts in making positive changes in their lives.

What is the purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous?

In fact, Alcoholics Anonymous was the first group to promote addiction as a disease rather than a choice , a position now supported by medical research. ABT has long had both critics and supporters. Many who have stayed sober through ABT say that total abstinence is essential to recovery.

Why is ABT so inexpensive?

Supporters also point out that ABT is relatively inexpensive because it does not require a large medical staff. However, critics of ABT argue that addiction is not a “one size fits all” problem and that many people are not comfortable with the focus on spirituality.

What is the success rate of ABT?

Success rates for ABT range anywhere from 5% to 70%, depending on the source of the data. In recent years, researchers have begun comparing ABT with medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which combines psychosocial therapy with medication to curb cravings and withdrawal.

Is MAT better than ABT?

The studies overwhelmingly show that MAT is more effective in lowering drug use and preventing overdoses than ABT alone. For example, MAT doubles the likelihood that a patient will stay in recovery and avoid relapse for at least a year after seeking treatment.

What is MAT in therapy?

MAT refers to FDA-approved medications that are intended to help support individuals in their treatment of substance use disorders. Used in conjunction with behavioral and other counseling therapies, it can be a powerful proponent in one’s recovery.

Why does abstinence work?

Abstinence works because it’s very black-and-white.

Why is it difficult to determine which approach to take for addiction?

Because addiction can be so complicated to treat, it’s impossible to determine which approach will work best with each individual. Some people benefit from taking a trial-and-error mentality. While this may be frustrating and tedious, it may be one of the best methods for determining the appropriate course of action.

Do AA members promote abstinence?

Many members of AA and other 12-step groups promote abstinence for these reasons. The premise is simple: don’t put certain drugs in your body- at any costs! That said, abstinence can become complicated in certain situations.

Is Sublocade a habit forming drug?

However, the effects are weaker than other opioids, like methadone or heroin. That said, because it can be habit-forming, there is the possibility for misuse. In response, the FDA has recently approved Sublocade, a breakthrough in the MAT community, as it is the first, injected, extended-release form of buprenorphine.

What Is 12-Step Abstinence?

As one of the first methods of treating addiction, 12-step programs are a time tested approach to drug and alcohol addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 and became the first of many different 12-step programs that would spread all over the world. The program was founded by Bill Willson and Dr.

Is 12-Step Effective?

The evidence for 12-step programming effectiveness is mixed with some studies finding positive effects while others find negative ones. A 2009 review found two positive studies, one negative one, and one that was neu

What Is MAT?

MAT, or medication-assisted treatment, is an approach to addiction treatment that’s newer than other treatment options like 12-step. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), MAT combines behavioral therapies and medication to address a substance use disorder.

Is MAT Effective?

According to SAMHSA, MAT has shown to improve patient survival, increase treatment retention, decrease illicit opioid use and criminal activity, and increase a patient’s ability to maintain employment, and improve birth outcomes among women struggling with substance use disorders while pregnant.

Treatment Combinations

The best approach to addiction treatment is one that’s tailored to individual needs. MAT and 12-step programs don’t need to be mutually exclusive. 12-step programs are often used as a way to continue to pursue recovery after you complete formal treatment.

What is MAT in medical terms?

At the time, medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, was a new addiction treatment model with limited evidence to support its efficacy. At Beth Israel Medical Center, Newman advanced the work of Drs. Vincent Dole and Marie Nyswander, who had piloted the first methadone maintenance therapy. But even after the treatment model was approved in 1972, ...

What was the myth behind the MAT?

Throughout the early years of MAT, uninformed policymakers and citizens perpetuated the myth that methadone maintenance programs were simply replacing one addiction with another. Decades later in New York City, Mayor Rudy Giuliani attempted to shut down methadone maintenance programs in public hospitals and city jails. The mayor insisted that the medication was a crutch for people experiencing addiction. Even as research showed positive outcomes — including reduced rates of crime and diseases caused by injection drug use — and experts from the National Institutes of Health recommended the expansion of methadone maintenance programs, Giuliani and his cohorts held fast to the conviction that methadone was “a chemical that’s used to enslave people.” Another 20 years later, in the middle of the nation’s relentless opioid crisis, President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, echoed the familiar refrain at a fire station in Charleston, West Virginia . Price told first responders in the state with the highest drug overdose death rate in 2016, “If we’re just substituting one opioid for another, we’re not moving the dial much. Folks need to be cured so they can be productive members of society and realize their dreams.” But not everyone agrees. On July 22, 2016, former President Obama signed The Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act (CARA) into law. The act authorized physician assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine, another medication for opioid use disorders, after they’d completed the required training and registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Then in December 2016, $1 billion was allocated to the opioid epidemic as part of the Obama Administration’s 21st Century Cures Act. The State Opioid Response Grants, funded by the Cures Act, require that “FDA-approved medication-assisted treatment (MAT) be made available to those diagnosed with OUD.”

What is the goal of treating opioid addiction?

“The goal always is reducing or eliminating the use of illicit opioids and other illicit drugs and the problematic use of prescription drugs.”.

Why does Azar say we have to remove the stigma from opioids?

Explaining that many cases of opioid addiction begin with legal opioids, Azar went on to say, “We have to remove the stigma from [opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine] because there’s evidence-based, scientific-based ways of treating with these that do work.”.

Why are patients deterred from using methadone?

Patients are deterred by the lack of anonymity while standing in dispensary lines, the prison-like atmosphere of methadone clinics, and the feeling that doctors don’t care about them . “They treat us like crap,” Deana, in treatment for heroin addiction, told a reporter for NPR’s All Things Considered.

Who was the scientist who suggested that addiction was an alteration of metabolism?

In 1967, Dr. Vincent Dole, a metabolic scientist and professor at The Rockefeller University, published an article with Dr. Marie Nyswander suggesting that addiction was an alteration of metabolism — a biological disorder, like diabetes, that would respond to medication.

When was the treatment model for opioid dependence approved?

But even after the treatment model was approved in 1972 , Newman and others who supported medication-assisted treatment for opioid-dependent patients found themselves at odds with their colleagues in the medical field and thwarted by layers of bureaucracy as they fought to treat their patients effectively and humanely.

What is AA 12 step?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was the first program focused specifically on treating addiction, and complete abstinence from alcohol was the cornerstone of the approach. Therefore, abstinence has a long history of being an entrenched concept required for recovery. Those who developed the AA 12 step program genuinely believed ...

Does 12-step require abstinence?

For example, 12-step programs require abstinence, whereas motivational interviewing does not . Abstinence from alcohol involves completely avoiding intake of any alcohol and contrasts with controlled drinking that might help an alcohol addict to become a moderate and non-problematic drinker.

Is abstinence a rigid or all or nothing approach?

Abstinence is a rigid, all-or-nothing approach, so much so, that it is considered by some factions of the addictions field to be unworkable for many people who want to overcome addictive behavior.

Is abstinence based therapy unworkable?

With the growing recognition of behavioral addictions, abstinence-based approaches are increasingly seen as unworkable. For example, everyone needs to eat, so abstinence from food is not possible—although some who are particularly attached to abstinence-based approaches hold that certain foods should be completely avoided.

Is it advisable to abstain from alcohol?

For those whose health has been severely compromised through alcohol and drug use, abstinence may be advisable, as further exposure to alcohol or drugs could be life-threatening, or abstinence may half progression of a condition that may become life-threatening if the person consumes alcohol or drugs. In these circumstances, the decision ...

Is abstinence necessary for recovery?

Complete Abstinence May Be Necessary. Some addictive behaviors, such as sexually abusive behavior or the use of inhalants, are so harmful that controlled behavior is not possible or advisable under any circumstances, and complete abstinence is necessary. Maintaining Abstinence During Recovery.

What is the abstinence only recovery model?

Historically, addiction treatment has centered upon an abstinence-based model, one which asserts that abstinence is essential in order to recover from addiction. One of the most popular forms of “abstinence only” recovery treatment is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a step-based, peer recovery program that has more than 2 million members worldwide in ...

Why is the AA program not resonated?

For some people, the AA program has not resonated, mainly due to its spiritual component. After all, not all people are comfortable with the idea of praying or focusing on spirituality. Others have found its framework too rigid, especially where the complete abstinence requirement is concerned.

What is harm reduction?

Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use and addiction. It incorporates a spectrum of strategies – from safer use, to managed use to abstinence – to meet drug users “where they’re at,” addressing conditions of use along with the use itself.

How Does Medication-Assisted Treatment Work?

  • The use of medication-assisted treatment in treating drug and alcohol use disorders(AUD) can help: 1. Prevent relapse 2. Normalize brain chemistry 3. Block the euphoric reaction of substances 4. Alleviate withdrawal symptoms 5. Reduce cravings 6. Help facilitate therapy 7. Allow patients …
See more on addictiongroup.org

Types of Mat Medications

  • The following medications have been approved by the FDA in MAT: 1. Methadone 2. Buprenorphine 3. Naltrexone 4. Naloxone (Narcan) 5. Disulfiram 6. Acamprosate
See more on addictiongroup.org

Mat For Opioid Addiction

  • The medications used in MAT don't cure opiate dependence but do help people abstain. Some block withdrawal symptoms, while others block euphoria. The following medications may be used to treat opioid use disorder:
See more on addictiongroup.org

Mat For Alcoholism

  • These medications don't cure AUD. But they can be very effective at controlling cravings and blocking its euphoric effects.
See more on addictiongroup.org

Abstinence-Based Treatment

  • As the name implies, abstinence-based treatment means simply abstaining from opioid use altogether without any medication assistance. It is the most common form of treatmentfor substance abuse in the United States today, mainly because it is difficult to find and access medication assistance. Thus it is often used as a matter of necessity instead of patient preferen…
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Abstinence-Based Treatment Programs

  • Abstinence-based treatment programs were originally used for alcohol-dependent patients in 1935, the most famous being Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The program, formally a 12 step program, provides individuals with a social support group and a gradual step-by-step path to counter their alcohol dependence. Since then, multiple twelve-step programs addressing a variet…
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What Is Medication For Addiction Treatment (MAT)?

  • Medication for Addiction Treatment for opioid dependence (MAT) advocates combining the use of medications with behavioral and psychological support. Using FDA-approved medications for OUD helps reduce cravings and prevent withdrawal symptoms, which are the most common reason for opioid relapse. Extensive research has demonstrated the efficacy of MA...
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Medications Used in Mat

  • Currently, three medications have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the medical treatment of opioid dependence. These drugs namely, methadone, buprenorphine, and naloxone, act in differing ways on the opioid receptors in the brain.
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Medication For Addiction Treatment vs. Abstinence-Based Treatment Success Rates

  • Given the effectiveness of MAT, its use has risen rapidly: Only 7 European countries provided methadone for OUD in 1980. By 2009, it was being used in more than 70 countries worldwide. Adoption rates for MAT are also increasing in the US, with roughly 50% of individuals with OUD now receiving medications. Research consistently proves MAT to be the superior treatment mo…
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Excited to Learn More?

  • To learn more about the success rates and safety of Bicycle Health’s telemedicine addiction treatment in comparison to other common treatment options, call us at (844) 943-2514 or schedule an appointment here. Photo by Artem Podrez from Pexels
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