×

Silver Pines and Steps to Recovery have provided addiction recovery programs in Pennsylvania for over a decade with detox, residential, outpatient, and sober living services. Last year, we expanded our services to include robust mental health services, new locations, and specialized services for our nation’s veterans with more to come this year! We are visually recognizing our growth with a unified look that better reflects who we are today and the passion we have for helping everyone with their addiction and mental health recovery journeys.

Resources

Drug Dependence vs Drug Addiction

Drug Dependence vs Drug Addiction

When you’re trying to educate yourself about drug addiction, the terminology you come across may be confusing. One common question people have is what the difference is between drug addiction and drug dependence. Both can cause your life to become highly unmanageable, and you must get treatment for either. Dependence to drugs is incredibly dangerous, and it’s one of the primary reasons why people develop an addiction.

What is Drug Dependence?

Drug dependence happens on both a physical and psychological level. The first challenge to overcome when trying to get sober is dealing with the physical dependence. This type of dependence happens because the body is trying to keep a balance, but you throw off this balance when you use drugs. Once you stop using drugs or when the drugs leave your body, the body doesn’t know what to do, so you experience symptoms of withdrawal.
drug dependence
These symptoms can include:
  • Irritability
  • Nausea
  • Anxiety
  • Aches and pains
  • Depression
There are many more symptoms, and these can vary depending on the substances you’ve been abusing. In order to overcome a physical dependence to drugs, you need to go through a medical detox process. Without medical assistance, some symptoms of withdrawal can be potentially fatal. Many of the psychological issues you deal with during withdrawal have to do with your psychological dependence to the substance.

How does a Drug Addiction Form?

In order to survive, our brains need to map out a chain of events that give us pleasure. Many scientists have researched this in humans as well as animals for decades. Our survival instincts are based on having a trigger, doing a behavior and receiving some type of reward. When we repeat this cycle, a habit develops, which begins to evolve into an addiction. There comes a point where a person loses the power of choice when it comes to using drugs.

For many years, people believed that those who had an addiction suffered from some type of moral failing. Due to MRI brain scans, we have a better understanding of how drug addiction actually works. Drugs and alcohol hijack the pleasure centers in the brain, so you continue turning to drugs even when you don’t want to get high. This leaves many people in a dilemma because they can’t even trust themselves. It’s important to know that there is hope to overcome this addiction.

Getting Help for Addiction

If you have a drug dependence or addiction, Silver Pine Treatment Center is an addiction rehabilitation facility that can help. We understand the disease of addiction and are here to help you overcome it one step at a time. Unlike some facilities, we provide an on-site detoxification center to help you through the symptoms of withdrawal safely. To assist you with overcoming your addiction, we have a wide range of therapeutic methods that include:

Don’t wait another day to begin your new life free from active addiction. Give us a call today at 267.209.7313.

Related Resources

Overcome your addiction today with the help of one of the best addiction rehab centers in the U.S. We are in-network with most major insurance companies.
Call Today 267.209.7313
Scroll to Top