How Addiction to Adderall Treatment Works

Adderall addiction takes a toll on your health, happiness, and quality of life. Getting Adderall treatment for a stimulant addiction is essential for long-term recovery.

Adderall is a prescription stimulant drug used to treat attention-deficit disorder and other disorders. It’s commonly abused by young people who believe it enhances their academic or athletic performance. But studies show this simply isn’t true, and in fact, students who abuse Adderall have lower grades than those who don’t, and they’re more likely to become addicted. Adderall treatment is essential for people who have developed an addiction to this dangerous drug.

How Adderall Addiction Develops

Over time, chronic use of Adderall leads to changes in the functions and structures of your brain. Adderall, like all psychoactive drugs, acts on the memory, learning, and reward centers of the brain. As you use Adderall and experience pleasure from it, your brain creates a memory of the use, and the learning center builds a connection between the use and the pleasure it produces. Over time, these connections become stronger. At some point, they may become so strong that powerful cravings for Adderall begin to occur. These cravings are caused by the same mechanisms that drive us to procreate and eat food to stay alive.

Adderall addiction is characterized by being unable to stop using Adderall even though it’s causing problems in your life. These problems may be related to your finances, relationships, health, or legal issues. They may stem from engaging in risky behaviors while you’re trying to procure Adderall or while you’re under the influence.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse stresses that willpower and good intentions are rarely enough to overcome any addiction. Treatment is almost always needed, and Adderall treatment through WhiteSands Treatment can help you end your Adderall abuse or addiction for good.

Adderall Dependence

Addiction and dependence are not the same things. Dependence is characterized by withdrawal symptoms that set in when you stop using Adderall.

Dependence develops as your brain changes its chemical function in order to compensate for the presence of Adderall. Over time, these brain changes lead to tolerance, which means that you need increasingly larger doses of Adderall to get the desired effects. At some point, brain function may shift so that the brain operates more comfortably when Adderall is present than when it’s not. When you then stop using Adderall, normal brain function rebounds, and this causes symptoms of Adderall withdrawal.

While withdrawal from Adderall isn’t particularly dangerous, it can be intense enough to send someone who’s trying to quit right back to using it, just to make the symptoms stop. Symptoms of Adderall withdrawal include:

  • Intense cravings.
  • Intense hunger.
  • Anxiety.
  • Severe depression.
  • Panic attacks.
  • Fatigue.

Getting help with withdrawal from Adderall through medical detox at WhiteSands Treatment can help you withdraw more comfortably and more quickly. Medical detox involves administering medications to help alleviate the intensity of withdrawal symptoms.

Adderall Treatment for Addiction Works

While medical detox takes care of the physical dependence on Adderall, treating an addiction to Adderall is far more complex. A high-quality treatment program that takes a holistic approach to treatment can help you end your addiction by:

  • Addressing the underlying issues that led to the addiction.
  • Developing a toolkit of skills to combat cravings, stress, and other triggers.
  • Identifying harmful thought and behavior patterns and learn to think and behave in healthier ways.
  • Finding purpose and meaning in life without Adderall.

Treatment works to not only end your Adderall abuse, but to also restore your quality of life and sense of wellbeing. Treatment works, and WhiteSands Treatment can help you reclaim your lfie. Call us today at (877) 855-3470 to get started.


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