It is no secret that America is in opioid addiction crisis. In 2015, 20.5 million people had a substance use disorder. Of those people, 2 million had a disorder involving prescription pain relievers. Further, 591,000 had a substance disorder involving heroin. Overdosing from drugs is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In 2015 alone there were 52, 404 lethal drug overdoses. Clearly the country is in a crisis.
Methadone has long been a successful treatment for people suffering with opioid addiction. How effective are methadone treatments? They have been successful for over 50 years. Factually, how effective are methadone treatments? The effects of methadone last between 24 and 36 hours. If you?re addicted to heroin, that can be a substantial time of relief. Long term, how effective are methadone treatments? The longer a patient is in treatment, the better the success rate of methadone treatment. Success rates range from 60 to 90 percent, corresponding to length in treatment. This can be a positive outcome for treatment for heroin addiction and for opioid addiction.
Pain pill addiction is overwhelmingly common and is often the leading cause to opioid addiction. Most heroin users started out using pain killers, in fact four out of five do. How effective are methadone treatments in these instances? In looking at the alternative, abstinence and non-medical treatments cannot compare to the use of methadone treatments for heroin and opioid addiction. They have only about a 5 to 10 percent success compared to the established success rate of methadone treatments and a methadone treatment program. So how effective are methadone treatments? According to SAMHSA or Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administrations, nearly 270,000 people in March of 2011 were receiving methadone. Judging from past statistics for success rates, the outcomes are expected to be positive.
The epidemic of this disorder seems to be targeting the young. In 2014, 2.7 percent of people aged 12 and over in the United States were dependent on some form of illegal drug. And in 2015, about 590,000 people suffered from heroin disorder. Six thousand of these were teenagers and 155,000 were young adults.
How effective are methadone treatments has been established. Whether you or someone you know needs treatment for opiate addiction, needs opiate detox or needs opiate treatment, there are methadone clinics and methadone rehab centers that are established to help the disorder. Don?t wait.