Seconal Addiction Treatment
Seconal is a barbiturate derivative that at one time was the most widely abused prescription sleeping pill in the United States. The medication is still in use and the risk of addiction is still acute for those who take it for more than a short period of time for insomnia, or who consume it for recreational purposes. Seconal dependency is a serious medical condition that requires rapid intervention, but those who seek out treatment usually have excellent odds of recovery.
What Is Seconal Addiction?
Seconal is the brand name for a drug known as secobarbital sodium, a barbiturate derivative that is sometimes prescribed for insomnia. In addition to its use as a sleep remedy, Seconal may also be prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy, or as an anti-anxiety medication for people scheduled to undergo surgery.
Seconal was a highly popular sleeping pill in the 1970s, until its capacity for causing rapid addiction became apparent. Surprisingly, Seconal has now made a comeback, thanks to growing concerns over the addictive qualities of other widely prescribed sleeping medications, especially those in the benzodiazepine class.
No one who takes Seconal should use it for longer than one or two weeks. This drug can be an effective remedy for insomnia during its most acute stage, but taking it for an extended period is liable to lead to dependency.
Seconal Addiction Facts and Statistics
Seconal is a sedative that works by slowing activity in the central nervous system. In doing so, it can boost the brain’s supplies of the neurotransmitter GABA, which produces the soothing and deeply relaxing effects that give Seconal its utility as a sleep medication.
In 2016, there were approximately half a million people in the United States who misused Seconal or other sedatives. While these numbers are relatively low in comparison to benzodiazepines, that is because barbiturates are used far less frequently and not because their addictive qualities are any less advanced.
Among those who develop Seconal addiction, some begin using it for sleep and come to crave it more and more as their use escalates. Others abuse it recreationally, often in mixture with other drugs that produce similar relaxing effects.
According to one study, between four and five percent of hospital emergency department visits related to drug abuse involve barbiturates, which is a striking number for a drug class that supposedly went out of style four decades ago.
Effective World-Class Treatment for Seconal Addiction
When an individual has been diagnosed with Seconal addiction, fast and effective treatment is essential.
You should never attempt to stop using Seconal without some type of professional supervision. Your doctor can recommend a safe plan, but if you are already experiencing addiction you may need more specialized care. Your recovery journey at Alta Mira begins with safe, supervised detox.
Making Private Detox Safer
For most drugs of abuse, detox triggers uncomfortable, painful withdrawal symptoms. The risks of going through withdrawal include relapse in response to these symptoms. For Ativan and other benzodiazepines, however, there are even more dangerous risks. Seconal withdrawal causes anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and increased heart rate. It may also trigger seizures.
To safely detox, you need 24-hour supervision with medical care. Not only will this protect you if more serious side effects arise, but the right care helps you go through this difficult process more comfortably. With symptoms under control, you’ll be ready to begin your personalized treatment plan.
Individualized Treatment
Effective treatment for Seconal addiction takes into account each individual’s unique needs, limitations, and strengths. At Alta Mira, you will go through a thorough evaluation to determine the foundation for a specialized treatment plan. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment here. Every resident benefits from therapies and other approaches that best meet their needs.
Luxury Seconal addiction treatment at Alta Mira includes a variety of strategies. You’ll receive individual behavioral therapy, group therapy, and support, and have the option to bring in your family for sessions. Experienced therapists will help you dig deeper to address all the issues in your life that have contributed to addiction: past traumas, relationship challenges, grief and loss, spirituality, and more.
Relapse Prevention
The best treatment for addiction to Seconal is ongoing. Relapse is a very real possibility, no matter how hard you work while a resident at Alta Mira. To minimize the risk of relapse and to ensure long-term wellness, we offer continuing care that doesn’t stop when you walk out the residence doors.
Our care team will coordinate your continuing treatment or therapy sessions and help develop a plan for your future. You can also participate in free support group meetings, regular check-ins, and quarterly renewals through our amazing alumni group. Consider substance use disorder to be a chronic illness, and it’s easier to understand how important these ongoing sessions are to long-term recovery.
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866-922-1350Signs and Symptoms of Seconal Addiction
Secobarbital sodium will work against insomnia, as long as doses are carefully controlled and use is restricted to the terms of the initial prescription, which generally will run for no more than two weeks.
But the drug can be extremely addictive when use continues. Tolerance quickly builds, and users are forced to increase dosages to experience the same sensations.
Seconal addiction is both physical and psychological in nature, and some of the symptoms that betray its presence include:
- Daytime drowsiness
- Bouts of anxiety between doses
- Sudden shifts in mood and energy levels
- Neglect of personal hygiene
- Slurred speech
- Poor coordination
- Loss of ability to focus and concentrate
- Lightheadedness or vertigo
- Nausea and vomiting
- Changes in appetite
- Gaps in short-term memory
- Nightmares
- Respiratory distress
- Daily cravings for the drug
These are all signs that indicate excessive Seconal consumption, which is a recipe for inevitable disaster.
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866-922-1350Seconal Addiction Causes and Risk Factors
Chronic insomnia is the greatest risk factor for Seconal addiction. Men and women who struggle with sleeplessness over a prolonged period may be strongly tempted to misuse sleeping pills, and that is often what happens when the person has access to barbiturates.
Anyone who takes a prescription medication for sleeping problems could slip into addiction. But even among this group, there are some people who are more at risk for drug dependency than others. Additional risk factors for Seconal addiction include:
- Family history and genetics. Multiple studies have confirmed that half or more of the risk for addiction can be traced to inherited factors, most likely passed on by parents with their own history of substance abuse.
- Previous mental health problems. Of the 19 million Americans who had a past-year substance use disorder in 2016, 8.2 million (43 percent) had a co-occurring mental health disorder.
- A history of recreational substance abuse. Many people believe (falsely) that prescription drugs are safer than alcohol, or illicit substances like heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine. These individuals may turn to prescription medication as a way to get a “safer” high, which can put them at grave risk for addiction.
- Exposure to severe neglect and abuse at a young age. Up to two-thirds of men and women in treatment for substance abuse report being physically, sexually, and/or emotionally abused during childhood.
Co-Occurring Disorders
A 2012 study by the Sleep Research Society found that about 45 percent of people with one mood or anxiety disorder had accompanying insomnia, and those who had two or more such disorders had insomnia 60 percent of the time. Among those who have PTSD, which is now classified as a trauma and stressor-related disorder rather than an anxiety disorder, 70 percent report problems with insomnia or other sleep-related conditions.
Since these conditions tend to be chronic, the sleeplessness they cause is usually chronic as well, and that can easily lead to Seconal abuse if the medication is prescribed (or even if the person attempts to self-medicate using illicitly obtained Seconal).
In some instances, people who become dependent on Seconal were recreational users already suffering from an addiction to alcohol, illicit drugs, or some other type of prescription medication. Combining drugs in this way is clearly a risk factor for Seconal addiction, and in general drug mixing is extremely dangerous and can lead to a fatal overdose if treatment for drug dependency is not sought.
How Our Luxury Seconal Rehab Center Transforms Lives
During your stay at Alta Mira, you’ll have an individualized treatment plan tailored to your specific needs. This will include comprehensive services for any co-occurring conditions that might be complicating or supporting your Seconal addiction.
Our Transformational Seconal Addiction Treatment Program
Your first 30 days of treatment at Alta Mira is referred to as your Detox, Stabilization, Assessment period, which begins with private, medically supervised detox. During this time, our detox specialists will keep you safe and secure, monitored 24/7, as you rest in the privacy of your own room.
You can also expect:
- Weekly meetings with a psychiatrist
- Weekly meetings with a medical doctor
- Neuropsychological testing and advanced psychological testing
- Orientation to our recovery fundamentals and self-regulation skills development
- In-depth family engagement and the option for loved ones to attend multiple 4-day family programs
- Introduction to therapy groups
Following 30 days of stabilization, clients move on to the next phase of their recovery process at Alta Mira, which we call our Transformational Program. Key elements of our complete 90-day transformational Seconal rehab program include:
- Three individual intensive psychotherapy sessions per week
- Weekly meetings with a medical doctor
- Participation in advanced workshops to support introspection, foundational change toward recovery, and relapse prevention
- Expanded neuropsychological assessment and continued weekly psychiatrist meetings inform tailored treatment adjustments and a refined individualized clinical approach
- Practice and integration of recovery principles and self-regulation skills and continued family work to support improved individual outcomes
- Intensive Workshops
The Courage to Change
Lasting change takes time. It can take six weeks to change a simple habit. Changing behavior following Ativan addiction can be very challenging. Learning how to develop clean and sober behaviors, effectively deal with triggers and stressors, take medication as prescribed, and make healthy lifestyle changes to support long-term recovery can take time.
Better Seconal Addiction Treatment Outcomes
Our 90-day program provides the structure, support, and time to learn a new way of living to give clients the best possible outcome. Studies show that individuals should participate in drug treatment for at least 90 days to see the best results. However, the best indicator of success is not the duration of the program, but the mutual cooperation between the recovering addict and the treatment center, as they plan for continuing care after finishing the program.
Working Together
We understand that in order for treatment to be successful, we must listen closely and truly understand your needs, aspirations, personal history, and treatment goals. All members of our care team align closely with you so that you feel safe, respected, and ready to do your work. With this approach, Alta Mira co-creates a profound healing experience with you so you can achieve your recovery goals and reclaim your life.
Reclaim Your Life at Our Private Seconal Addiction Treatment Center Today
We believe individuals are best able to focus on their recovery when immersed in a secure, serene, healing setting. That’s why we provide comfortable surroundings while maintaining the most advanced and sophisticated Seconal rehab program in Northern California. Clients can expect compassionate care from our best-in-class Seconal addiction specialists.
Seeking a helping hand to guide you through these difficult times is not an easy decision. Our caring and experienced team at Alta Mira can help guide you through the next steps toward achieving lasting recovery.
Don’t let Seconal control your life. To begin your life-changing transformation, contact us today.
Seconal Addiction FAQs
While benzodiazepines have gained a reputation for potency, in the sleeping pill category it is barbiturates that pose the greater risk for a deadly overdose.
Overdoses can occur easily when a person is abusing barbiturate medications like Seconal. Extreme respiratory depression is the mechanism by which Seconal can cause death, and symptoms of significant distress may be apparent 15-30 minutes after a person has taken a potentially lethal dosage.
Besides obvious respiratory distress, other signs of a possible Seconal overdose include severe grogginess and unresponsiveness, the inability to stand up or move around, slurred speech and blurry vision, extreme mental confusion, and a loss of consciousness.
If a Seconal overdose is suspected, action should be taken immediately. Failure to summon emergency personnel at the first sign of trouble could cost critical minutes and put the person’s life in jeopardy.
Under conditions established by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), an addiction to Seconal can be diagnosed if at least two of these criteria are met:
- Physical and psychological cravings for Seconal are a regular occurrence.
- Growing tolerance for Seconal has led to progressively escalating consumption.
- Repeated attempts to stop using the drug have failed.
- Withdrawal symptoms accompany attempts to quit taking Seconal, or even attempts to reduce dosages.
- Drug use has become increasingly compulsive, meaning Seconal has been used more frequently or in greater quantities than originally planned.
- Seconal abuse has interfered with personal, financial, familial, and work-related duties and responsibilities.
- Use of Seconal, and recovering from its effects, has begun to consume an inordinate amount of time.
- Continuing Seconal use is linked to a range of social problems and interpersonal conflicts.
- Physical and mental health problems have been caused or exacerbated by Seconal abuse, yet use continues.
- As a consequence of Seconal abuse, favorite hobbies or personal activities have been neglected.
- Seconal use has been implicated in reckless, impulsive, or dangerous behavior.
Barbiturates can cause a fierce addiction if abused for an extended period, and the withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping can be fearsome.
If the use of Seconal is stopped abruptly, within six to eight hours withdrawal symptoms will likely begin to manifest. These symptoms may include:
- Anxiety
- Agitation
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Extreme nausea
- Spikes in heart rate or blood pressure
- Tremors, shakiness
- Swelling or numbness
- Weakness and fatigue
- Delirium
- Panic attacks
- Convulsions
Most of these symptoms can be minimized, and the most serious ones avoided altogether if dosages of Seconal are tapered gradually, under the care of a physician and a medical support team that can administer properly calibrated quantities of the drug.
To achieve the best results, people suffering from Seconal dependency are advised to seek medically-supervised detox services in a drug and alcohol treatment center that offers this amenity. In a hospital-like environment, withdrawal symptoms can be safely managed, along with any physical or mental health needs that might arise over the course of the seven-to-10-day detox program.
Withdrawal from Seconal addiction can be strenuous and can threaten sobriety. But the chances of a person remaining committed to recovery are greater if they undergo structured detox in a clinical facility where 24-hour care can be provided.