Columbus Drug Detox & Alcohol Rehab

Dr. Saurabh Bhardwaj

Dr. Bhardwaj, Medical Director is a Board-Certified Addiction Psychiatrist (ABPN) and currently the Medical Director of Defining Wellness Center in Brandon MS. He is also an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Center for Innovation & Discovery in Addictions (CIDA) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He has been in Mississippi since 2018, building Addiction services for the state's only medical center and joined Defining Wellness Center in 2022 to provide specialized dual diagnostic services. He is a recipient of Ruth Fox scholarship from AAAP and trailblazer teaching award from UMMC. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

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Drug Detox and Alcohol Rehab Treatment Center in Columbus

According to the 2020 census, Columbus, Mississippi, had a population of 24,083. Thomas Lanier Williams III was born in Columbus, Mississippi, but people know him better by his pen name “Tennessee Williams.” Many other famous people were born in this wonderful city, so it is responsible for giving the world a tremendous amount of talent. However, there’s another side to Columbus that isn’t quite as glorious.

The Truth About the Drug Epidemic in Mississippi

At 76.8 opioid prescriptions per 100 people, Columbus’ medical providers wrote more of these prescriptions than the national average of 51.4 prescriptions for every 100 people. In 2018, approximately 60% of the fatalities in Mississippi were the result of opioids. This means that 173 people died due to opioids in the city that year.

The Trauma of Drug Addiction

When people are addicted to drugs, they often feel as if they’re alone in their addictions. The nature of their addiction makes it difficult for them to change their circumstances, and they can’t stop the substance use even though that’s exactly what they would like to do. They can improve their circumstances by asking for help. Then, they can begin to feel as if they have a future. When they start to believe that they can live a different life, they are willing to get the help they need to end the cycle of addiction.

Many people who have had the severest addictions were able to come back from the brink and live in society again. People with substance use disorders cannot believe that it can happen for them because they’re powerless to stop taking their drugs of choice. However, there is hope.

Withdrawal Symptoms

After people become addicted to drugs or alcohol, their bodies become accustomed to receiving a steady dose of the substance of choice. If you’re addicted to a substance and you fail to take a dose, your body will “remind” you that it’s time to do so by sending out withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable and painful. To relieve them, you’re forced to take the substance again.

Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms

If you stop or ingest a lower dose of opioids, you will experience the following symptoms:

  • Sweating
  • Runny nose
  • Insomnia
  • Increased tearing
  • Muscle aches
  • Anxiety
  • Agitation

Stopping the use of alcohol also results in withdrawal symptoms, which include the following:

  • Unclear thinking
  • Nightmares
  • Mood swings
  • Shakiness or jumpiness
  • Irritability
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • Nervousness
  • Anxiety

As people become addicted to substances, they become physically dependent upon them. When they try to stop the substance use on their own, the withdrawal symptoms listed above present themselves. They may also be psychologically addicted to their substances. When this occurs, they cannot stop the substance use because they believe they need to ingest the substance in order to function normally.

We can help. At Defining Wellness Centers, we have trained and educated professionals who have the knowledge and experience needed to treat substance use disorders.

Drugs and Crime

The drug issue has clouded the beauty that people usually find in Mississippi. The DEA determined that the drugs that are plaguing Mississippi are from Mexico. As a matter of fact, Mexico currently has more than 75,000 acres of land that are dedicated to the production of poppy plants. Therefore, most of the heroin that enters Mississippi comes from across the border with Mexico.

China is also a major contributor to the drug trade. Along with Mexico, China produces a large amount of the fentanyl that ends up in Mississippi. It travels by way of shipping containers to Mexico, and from there, the drug cartels smuggle it across the border. Once in the country, drug dealers commit several offenses with the purpose of continuing and increasing their drug trade. These crimes include robbery, burglary, assault and homicide.

In the recent past, the use of fentanyl and heroin has been rising. This is particularly dangerous because drug manufacturers are lacing heroin with fentanyl, and it is leading to an increasing number of deaths due to opioids. In 2018, the CDC stated that fentanyl overdoses increased by 71%.

How Did It Start?

This is something that had its beginnings in the late 1990s. At that time, the pharmaceutical companies assured physicians that prescription opioids were incapable of causing addiction. Physicians believed what the executives in the pharmaceutical industry told them, so they began to prescribe prescription opioid pain relievers in greater numbers.

In reality, prescription opioids are highly addictive, and when clients received these prescriptions, they were unprepared for the consequences. They became addicted and began to misuse their medications. As a result, overdoses due to opioid prescriptions started to increase.

In 2017, more than 47,000 people died of an overdose due to opioids, but this didn’t just include prescription opioid medications. Also included in these overdose deaths were heroin and synthetic opioids. The most prevalent among them was fentanyl. Also in 2017, 652,000 people were diagnosed with an opioid use disorder, and 1.7 million people experienced a substance use disorder that was related to prescription opioids.

This problem has been growing out of control, but our team at Defining Wellness Centers is here to help you or your loved one gain control of your life again.

Getting Help at Defining Wellness Centers

Columbus residents have the best chances of fighting their addictions and becoming sober at centers like Defining Wellness Centers. The therapy that you will receive will put you on a path towards sobriety.

You may be resistant to going into a rehab center because you’re not ready to stop using drugs. At Defining Wellness Centers, however, we provide a professional medical detox program. In this program, our medical personnel will administer medications that will relieve your withdrawal symptoms so that you can be as comfortable as possible.

The first thing that we do at Defining Wellness Centers is to help your body release the toxins that the substances left behind. The medications that we give you will help you tolerate the detox process. After it’s over, your physical addiction to substances will be much more manageable, and we can move on to treating your psychological addiction.

Inpatient Treatment at Defining Wellness Centers

It can be difficult to convince yourself or a loved one to enter into an inpatient treatment program, but this may be the best option. If you have been entrenched in a substance addiction for many years, you will need the increased supervision that you will receive at our 24-hour treatment center. You will have everything that you need at the center so that you can then focus on recovering from your addiction.

The first step in the process is entering the medical detox program. After this is complete, our staff will take an individual assessment so that you receive the best treatment plan possible. At this time, our psychologist may diagnose you with a mental health disorder that will need to be treated at the same time as your substance use disorder. If you have a mental health disorder, this is another reason that you need to be in a residential treatment program.

Partial Hospitalization Program

If you’re currently in a residential treatment program, the partial hospitalization program lets you continue your treatment. In a partial hospitalization program, you can remain at home. This program requires you to work with your therapist to create a plan that will continue to take you down the road toward sobriety.

In partial hospitalization, you will continue receiving therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy and motivational interviewing are included in our therapeutic intervention. Individual therapy and group therapy are also a part of the partial hospitalization program. Because it’s important that you get support from other family members, the partial hospitalization program provides family therapy sessions for your entire family.

Outpatient Treatment Program

You may not need as intensive a program as the partial hospitalization program. If this is the case, Defining Wellness Centers gives clients the option of entering into an outpatient program. You will continue to need support and services while you navigate your way to permanent sobriety. You may choose between the following two options:

Intensive Outpatient Treatment

This option offers you more than what the traditional outpatient program can offer. You will be able to continue your life outside of a treatment facility, but you will be required to visit the treatment center three days a week. Each day, the sessions will last for three hours. You will also receive the benefits of one-on-one sessions with your therapist in addition to family therapy.

This option also offers you the support of your peers, which is highly beneficial to people when they’re in recovery. Peer group meetings offer you the chance to express yourself, and you have the chance to learn from your peers. This is one of the most important parts of substance use treatment because it’s a safe place where you won’t feel alone. Feeling alone in your struggles is one of the main reasons that can cause you to remain stuck in your addiction. It’s also the best place to learn how to handle difficult situations. Some of your peers will have more experience than you, and you will be able to turn to them for guidance on how to address issues that you may find troubling.

Outpatient Treatment

Our outpatient program continues the treatment of the intensive outpatient program. You will be able to keep working with your intensive outpatient program therapist. In the outpatient program, you will only need to attend group sessions two days a week. The length of time will even be shorter, with each session lasting for 90 minutes. You will also receive one individual therapy session. Outpatient treatment is hugely beneficial.

Research has shown that those addicted to substances have a better chance of becoming sober and maintaining their sobriety for the long term if they remain in substance use treatment programs for as long as possible. Relapse is possible, but this doesn’t mean that treatment failed you or your loved one. Treatment for substance use must be treated as physicians treat diabetes or heart disease. They must monitor your loved one’s progress, and when it appears that the treatment is not as effective as it was in the beginning, then your loved one’s physician will give your loved one a new treatment.

If you’re concerned about yourself or a loved one, the best thing that you can do is to sign up for a drug or alcohol treatment program. If you have any questions about our programs at Defining Wellness Centers, feel free to contact us today.

Begin your Recovery Today

If you are ready to take the step towards a new life, call Defining Wellness today and learn more about how we can help you.