BASIC DESCRIPTION

(Meth)amphetamine is a highly addictive chemical stimulant that effects the part of the brain responsible for reward, pleasure and motivation by effecting the levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. .  So what does all this mean and what do you need to know?

Meth, also known as crystal meth, is a semi transparent crystal that is broken apart and snorted, smoked or injected into the body.  First time users of this drug often times describe feeling a sense of strength, clarity, focus and desire beyond anything they have ever experienced prior to using the drug. These feelings are powerful but short-lived causing the user to want to ingest more of the substance as soon as the euphoric effects begin to wear off.  Continual use of the substance quickly leads to mental impairment by altering judgment and inhibition.   The loss of judgment and inhibition disables the users ability to make the decision to stop without something external forcing the user to stop. This creates the vicious cycle of no sleep, constant use and eventually psychosis.

So how do they stop?

The most difficult part about quitting crystal meth is making the decision to do so.  The dopamine altering effects of crystal meth create such strong cravings that finding the desire to stop without some external circumstance, like loss of money, job, home, relationships and even freedom by way of incarceration are generally the most common ways an individual ends up stopping.

Once the decision to stop has been initiated the user will usually do very little but eat and sleep for days until their body fully repairs. This state of repair is due to the long stretch of physical strain they have put their body through.   After this repair phase the user will go into what is referred to as a “pink cloud” stage.  The pink cloud stage can be characterized by feelings of happiness and motivation.  This comes from the addict experiencing the rebalancing of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine.  This is the most common time for the addict to relapse. During this period they tend to downplay the negative consequences of their crystal meth use.   That is why it is very important for their long-term success that they are in a treatment program during this time period.  Without a treatment program a crystal meth addicts’ probability of relapsing at the 60 or 90-day mark is extremely high.