Psychopharmacological treatments for substance abuse are divided into two primary categories acute withdrawal and chronic maintenance (Frances, Miller and Mack, 2005). Acute withdrawal symptomology can be described as the physical side effects associated with stopping a substance. During this point, medicine can be provided to the client in order to reduce pain or discomfort associated with the withdrawal symptomology. Maintenance medications are substances that are used in place of the substance to either stop the consumption. In regards to maintenance medications there are two primary categories of pharmacotherapies, drugs that substitute or block. Drugs that block prevent the receptors in the brain from craving the substances. Prior to the administration of blocking drugs, the individual must be completely clean from the drug. Alternatively, substitute drugs are simply replacing the substance being abused with another drug with similar features in its place. To examine acute withdrawal symptomology, a study …show more content…
Treatments of individuals with substance use disorders are not as clear-cut as finding a solution and providing it to the client. There are significant obstacles to treatment such as legal and monetary problems that preclude individuals from not only seeking treatment but clinicians from providing treatment. There are ethical guidelines established that complicate the decisions that clinicians make regarding treatment. Furthermore, it is well documented that individual’s socioeconomic status affects the probability of drug use. Individuals of a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to use illicit substances than their peers. This means that they have a significantly lower probability of receiving optimum treatment due to lack of available