Admitting a drug addict who voluntarily undergoes treatment in a health facility is an effective alternative to achieve rehabilitation, said Edgar Miraval Rojas, general director of the Víctor Larco Herrera National Hospital, who warned that drug addiction is an irreversible disease.

He said that in this type of case, the treatment given to the patient is rehabilitation since there is no cure option. He explained that when the person reaches the stage of neuroadaptation (disposition of hypersensitivity at the brain level due to the consumption of addictive substances), it can be said that the person already has a mental disorder problem.

In this regard, he explained that medical treatment has four stages. The first is Crisis Care when the person presents intoxication, withdrawal syndrome or other emergency complications.

The second stage is Detoxification, where the patient’s hospitalization is necessary, which must always be voluntary and can last from three days to 30 days. This treatment is part of a specialized program that contemplates the person’s medication to reduce or neutralize the withdrawal syndrome.

Then, the patient goes to a Short Stabilization program for one to six months, in which medication is necessarily required. At this stage, the most important thing is individual, group and family intervention, whose purpose is to prepare the patient to go out again to meet the family and social environments. She indicated that if he is alone, it will be very difficult for him to rehabilitate.

Miraval Rojas said that the third stage is Prolonged Stabilization, which lasts six months and two years. During this time, the person can study or work. At this stage, you must have strong social support, such as a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

When the patient is from two to five years in total drug abstinence, it can be affirmed that the person is already in the Rehabilitation Stage, emphasized the general director of the Larco Herrera Hospital.