There are many different types of drug treatment programs with varying methods and success rates. Holistic treatments for drug dependency are among the healthiest and most effective methods of treatment, according to many studies. These treatments focus on mind and body to treat chemical dependencies, rather than flooding the body with harmful prescription drugs. The following is a list of the most popular types of holistic drug treatments.

Nutrition Based Therapy

Many drug addicts and alcoholics have a very poor diet, which creates massive vitamin deficiencies in their bodies. This is due in part to the addicts being consumed by their drug habits and not focusing at all on the foods they put into their bodies. By focusing heavily on the patient’s nutritional health during rehab, you can improve the patients’ health substantially.

The increased nutritional intake has also been shown to curb some of the common side effects associated with drug withdrawal such as nausea and lethargy. Many nutrition based therapies also use a healthy dose of supplements to eliminate deficiencies in the addict’s body. The reason that potent supplements are needed is because the addict is usually very malnourished. Usually, a doctor will be able to prescribe various multivitamins and individual supplements to speed up the recovery process.

Meditation and Regular Exercising

Most of the time, the mind of an addict is overrun with thoughts of stress and worry about different situations they have been involved in. The presence of overwhelming amounts of stress can be just as bad for a patient’s health as the drug addiction itself. Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and anxiety are just a few of the major side effects of too much stress.

The implementation of universal life energy or other relaxing types of meditation can do wonders for a recovering addict’s state of mind. Generally, after an addict begins to get off of the drugs, they still have major lifestyle hurdles to overcome in order to stay sober. By using Yoga to focus their mind, they can overcome these hurdles with a clear mind and often times with far less stress. These types of exercise and meditation regiments are designed to get the addict’s mind of off the craving for drugs and on to healthier things.

Using Acupuncture or Massage

Studies have shown that massage can be a great way for a recovering addict to let go of stress. Massages are shown to calm your thoughts and your body at the same time, which makes them a great holistic treatment for stressed out former drug users. Being able to calm their nerves and letting them remove them from their situation, albeit temporary, can have a large effect on the addicts success rate.