Legal High Rehab: What We Need to Know

There is a dangerous new class of drugs quickly emerging as the drugs of choice among British youth. These are known as ‘new psychoactive substances’ in a clinical sense and ‘legal highs’ on the street. Each of these drugs presents unique properties that affect the body and mind in different ways. All of them should be considered dangerous. In this article, you will learn the basics of why these drugs are popular and what goes into legal high rehab.

Legal highs are classified under four categories: stimulants, sedatives, psychedelics, and synthetic cannabinoids. Some of the more commonly used are:

• Methoxetamine (Special K, MXE, MKET)
• Herbal Ecstasy (HEXT)
• Ephedrine (Cloud 9, Nirvana Plus)
• Yohimbine (Herbal Viagra)
• Salvia (Eclipse).

You might already know that legal highs tend to be packaged and marketed as either plant food or bath salts. If so, you probably also know that such packaging and marketing is intentionally deceptive. These drugs are manufactured for the purposes of getting high, not feeding plants or taking a bath. Do not be fooled by the fancy packaging and promises of a safe high that will not hurt you.

Legal High Rehab Become More Common

News reports over the last five years have indicated that the use of legal highs is growing in the UK. Our own personal experience of assisting addicts and their family members bears this out. The need for legal high rehab is becoming more common among those who call our 24-hour helpline.

Why are legal highs becoming so popular? There are a number of reasons, beginning with the fact that so many young people have been led to believe these drugs can be used indiscriminately and without damage to physical or mental health. Simply put, kids do not believe these drugs can hurt them. Only after it’s too late do they discover the truth.

Second, legal highs are growing in popularity because they are easily accessible. The name ‘legal highs’ demonstrates the problem. A legal high contains ingredients that mimic the effects of illegal drugs without containing any of those illegal substances. Their ingredients, combined with the fact that the products are packaged as plant food or bath salts, allows them to slip through the fingers of the law. They can be sold online, in head shops, and on the street.

Lastly, legal highs are relatively inexpensive. They are the drugs of choice among young people who do not have a lot of pocket money to spend.

Addiction and Rehab

Now that you know the basics of legal high substances let us discuss addiction and rehab. The reason legal high rehab exists is found in the reality that these drugs are addictive. What you should know, and what many drug users attempt to deny, is that any psychoactive substance has the potential of being addictive. The nature of psychoactive substances is such that they alter brain chemistry. This creates tolerance over time, which eventually leads to addiction.

The process of breaking an addiction involves detox and rehab. Detox allows the body to cleanse itself after drug use has been stopped. It is followed by psychotherapeutic rehab that is meant to address the mental and emotional damage caused by addiction. Here is the most important thing to understand in this regard: it is virtually impossible for psychotherapeutic rehab to be successful if a person does not first go through detox.

Detox and rehab can be combined into a single programme offered by a private rehab clinic. From our experience, this kind of treatment tends to offer the best results. Private clinics provide medically supervised treatments, a quiet and serene environment conducive to recovery, tried-and-trusted psychotherapeutic treatments provided by trained therapists, and the accountability and support of the group setting.

Since there are so many different legal highs a person could take, it is not possible for us to lay out a detailed description of what detox and rehab would look like. But we can offer a general outline as follows:

• Detox – Detox for most drugs generally lasts between five and ten Our clinics offer medical supervision throughout the process to ensure patient safety and comfort.

• Individual Counselling – A big part of psychotherapeutic treatment is individual counselling with trained therapists. A treatment known as cognitive behavioural therapy is frequently used for drug rehab. It has proven to be very effective over the years.

• Group Counselling – Alongside individual counselling is group counselling conducted through a support group model. This kind of counselling is beneficial because it provides mutual support and accountability among all participants.

• Life Skills Training – Once rehab is complete, the recovering addict must reintegrate into society. To do so, he or she will need to possess certain life skills that will help prevent relapse. Those skills are taught in rehab.

• Nutritional Counselling – People recovering from legal high addiction are often suffering nutritionally as well. To address that, therapists include nutritional counselling that trains patients how to eat well in the future. Good nutrition is key to a full recovery.

Most private clinics offer patients a range of aftercare services designed to begin once formal rehab ends. Aftercare services provide additional support that helps reduce the risk of relapse significantly. Patients take advantage of the services voluntarily, and they can usually do so for up to 12 months if necessary.

Your road to recovering from legal high use begins by recognising you have a problem requiring treatment. If you are not sure of where you stand, one of our trained counsellors can help you figure things out. You need only contact us on our 24-hour helpline to speak with one of those counsellors.

Should our assessment reveal you need professional legal high rehab, we can offer you a list of treatment providers in your local area. We can even help you access a programme if you require the extra assistance. At any rate, you will not get well until you agree to undergo treatment. So don’t wait; call us right away.