About 2.5 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2021 used methamphetamine (Meth) in the past year. And an estimated 0.6% (or about 1.6 million people) had a methamphetamine use disorder [A]. Meth is one of the most destructive drugs of abuse and most difficult to recover from. Read on to learn more about why this is the case and the challenges of relapse during recovery.
How Meth Affects the Body and Mind?
Meth, also known as crystal meth and ice, is an addictive synthetic stimulant. It can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken orally. It’s often used with other substances. The effects last 2-6 hours if smoked, and 6-8 hours if injected, longer than cocaine. It’s cheaper and easy to make with commonly available ingredients.
Users experience a temporary sense of heightened euphoria, alertness and energy as it increases the amount of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, in the brain. Over time, this also changes how the brain works. Among other things, dopamine is involved in reinforcing rewarding behaviors making people want to continue using meth.
Meth also speeds up the body’s systems to dangerous, and sometimes deadly levels. It increases blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates. Psychological effects include anxiety, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations and mood disturbances [B].
Chronic, long-term effects of using meth include [C]:
- Permanent damage to the heart and brain
- High blood pressure leading to heart attacks, strokes and death
- Liver, kidney and lung damage
- Anxiety, confusion and insomnia
- Paranoia, hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions or violent behavior including psychotic symptoms lasting for months or years after meth use
- Intense itching, causing skin soes from scratching
- Premature osteoporosis
- Severe dental problems (“meth mouth”)
Why Is Meth So Hard to Recover From?
Meth alters brain structures and functions that are involved with decision-making. It also affects the ability to suppress habitual behaviors that have become useless or counterproductive. This may explain why meth addiction is so hard to treat and has a significant chance of relapse early in treatment.
Over time the brain adjusts to the high dopamine levels caused by meth use and becomes numb to natural sources of pleasure, including sex. For this reason, many meth users feel compelled to take higher doses to chase the euphoric feeling from their first use. After a while, a person cannot produce dopamine naturally and requires the drug to feel normal, needing larger doses to experience feelings of pleasure.
This makes meth very hard to recover from. Sober pleasurable activities don’t match the high of meth use to the degree that all meth users want to do is take more meth. And they often do this in binges followed by a crash with serious depression, anxiety and irritability.
Understanding the Meth Relapse Cycle
If someone decides to seek treatment for meth abuse, their recovery journey may follow a cycle of relapse and then sobriety before giving in to their cravings and starting to use again. This cycle is often caused by environmental or social triggers that can cause an urge to use the drug, combined with changes in the brain caused by meth use.
Certain people, places or things may be cues that trigger memories of past meth use,leading to intense cravings for the drug. As mentioned earlier, the brain’s dopamine receptors are altered by chronic meth use, which can also lead to cravings.
Understanding Meth Relapse Rates
Relapse is a common part of recovery and does not represent failure. According to studies, the average rate of meth relapse is 61% within the first year after treatment and 25% during years 2-5. Continuing abstinence declines over time with early periods of abstinence predicting later and continuing abstinence In this study 23% maintained abstinence after 5 years [D]. While the early numbers may be discouraging, the longer-term numbers show that recovery is possible.
Can I Recover from Meth Addiction?
Yes you can. There are currently no medications which can counteract the effects of meth or prolong abstinence.
The most effective treatment strategies offered in addictions treatment centers (rehab), include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), an approach that helps you reframe negative thought patterns and set achievable goals.
- Contingency Management (CM which uses a set of reward vouchers for achieving behavioral goals of not using
- Individual Therapy with a counselor
- Family Therapy
- 12-Step programs which provide social support with others who are successfully in recovery
Factors That Contribute to Meth Relapse
In a 2023 Taiwanese study of 449 meth users, 37.8% relapsed to meth use within 12 months and 23.2% did not complete the study. This means 39% maintained abstinence after 1 year, an encouraging result. While it’s difficult to generalize, the relapse group demonstrated a variety of factors [E] :
- Lower education
- More severe psychological symptoms
- Longer duration of meth use
- Higher odds of polysubstance use
- Higher craving severity
- Higher odds of a baseline urine test
In addition there may be other social factors relating to home environment, financial and employment status, among others which contribute to relapse. It’s important to note that
multiple treatment episodes may have a cumulative positive effect.
Here some other common reasons for relapse:
- Withdrawal: Early in sobriety it’s common to relapse to avoid the discomfort of withdrawal
- People, places or things: These are all cues that can trigger drug use.
- Boredom and isolation: The challenge is what to do with all the new time not spent using can lead to boredom and then using again.
- Uncomfortable emotions: Using meth masks emotions. When sober these may arise and be difficult to cope with, leading to using again.
- Unaddressed mental health issues: It’s common for someone to not know how to cope without using meth or other drugs or alcohol.
- Relationships and Intimacy: It’s a good idea to avoid the complications of this for up to a year while you stabilize in sobriety.
- Poor self-care: This sends your brain a message that you don’t care to get well.
- Pride and overconfidence: Keep in mind everyone is eligible for relapse.
Meth Addiction Treatment in Anaheim
Located in Anaheim, California, Restorations Health Care can help you or a loved one overcome their addiction or mental health issues. Our mission is all about saving lives. We offer detox and inpatient treatment programs that help people get back on their feet. Our dedicated team of trained addiction professionals and counselors provides individualized addiction treatment programs for recovery. Reach out to our Admissions team now.
Sources
[A ] National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). 2023. What is the scope of methamphetamine use in the United States?
[B] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 2023. Know the Risks of Meth.
[C] National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). 2022. What are the long-term effects of methamphetamine misuse?.
[D] Brecht ML, Herbeck D. 2014. Time to relapse following treatment for methamphetamine use: a long-term perspective on patterns and predictors. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 Jun 1;139:18-25
[E] Huang M, et al. 2023. Risk factors for relapse among methamphetamine users receiving a joint legal-medical treatment program as a diversion intervention: A one-year follow-up study. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2023 Aug;1
