Opioid Addiction

Heroin is a semi-synthetic drug derived from morphine, which is itself derived from opium. The active ingredient is diacetylmorphine, which acts on the central nervous system with depressant effects. Other derivatives of morphine are the opiates (e.g. methadone) and the opioids (e.g. tramadol).

The immediate effects are analgesic, sedative, euphoric and pleasurable. Over time, what is sought is relief from the discomfort that the absence of heroin causes. There are changes in personality, memory problems, anxiety and depression, and gastrointestinal, liver and kidney disorders.

The percentage of people who use heroin relative to the general population is low, approximately 0.1% of people aged 15 to 64. The average age of onset of use is between 14 and 21. There is currently an upturn in the number of people with this addiction, which is directly linked to the changing profile of users among the new generations.

In recent years the route of administration has changed radically. In the 1980s and 1990s the main route was injection. Nowadays (mainly in connection with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the devastation and deaths it caused among this population) most people snort or smoke it.

Very often a person who uses heroin also uses other substances (amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis…), and heroin is frequently used to obtain a sedative effect that counteracts the effect of other stimulant substances, so the profile of the user would no longer be that of a heroin user so much as that of a polydrug user.

It is one of the most addictive drugs there is, whatever the route of administration; its use rapidly generates tolerance in the body, and after only a few doses a larger quantity is needed to keep feeling the same effects. This probably makes it the drug with the greatest potential for addiction: one in four people who try it develop an addiction.

It also produces withdrawal syndrome when use is stopped, in which case medical treatment is necessary.

The structural and functional changes it produces in the brain tend to persist over time, making relapse more likely even a long time after stopping use.

What do we offer?

• First orientation and information interview. Compiling the clinical history to establish history of use, personal and family background, social and family situation, organic conditions, etc. This interview determines whether or not detoxification is needed before starting psychotherapeutic treatment, and whether this should be outpatient or residential.
• If treatment is residential: referral to one of our two therapeutic centres: Riera Major or Can Coll. Detoxification can be carried out at both centres. Maintenance treatment with methadone or other opiate agonists/antagonists is also possible.
•  If treatment is outpatient:
  • Individual psychotherapy: Orientation and treatment sessions with a psychologist specialising in drug dependence.
  • Psychiatric care: guidance and assessment of whether psychotropic medication is needed to lessen the desire to use alcohol (craving) and the loss of control once use begins (priming).
  • Urine test monitoring
  • Family therapy
  • Group psychotherapy