Treatment must be individualized and last a sufficient amount of time to ensure the patient has kicked the addictions and to ensure the prevention of relapse. The most common forms of treatment for polysubstance dependence include: inpatient and outpatient treatment centers, counseling and behavioral treatments, and medications. It is important that treatments be carried on throughout the patients life in order to prevent relapse. It is a good idea that recovering addicts continue to attend social support groups or meet with counselors to ensure they do not relapse. Inpatient treatment center
Inpatient treatment centers are treatment centers where addicts move to the facility while they are undergoing treatment. Inpatient treatment centers offer a safe environment where patients will not be exposed to potentially harmful situations during their treatments as they would on the outside. Inpatients usually undergo the process of detoxification. Detox involves withdrawing the user (usually medically) from all substances of concern. During their stay in the treatment facility, patients often are learning to manage and identify their substance addictions and to find alternate ways to cope with whatever is the cause of their addiction. Outpatient treatments
Outpatient treatments include many of the same activities offered in an inpatient treatment facility, but the patient is not protected by the secure and safe environment of an inpatient treatment center. For this reason, they are significantly less effective. The patient usually continues to hold a job and goes to treatment nightly. Twelve-step programs
Both in-patient and out-patient treatments can offer introductions to 12-step programs.
The results of this study indicated that of the 17.3% who said that they regularly used substances, 40% said that they used more than one substance, but 3.9% specifically reported using three or more substances, indicating that there is a lot of overlap in the use of different substances. The researchers compared their results to earlier German studies and found that substance dependence seems to be increasing, at least in Germany. Gender differences
Women and men differ in various ways when it comes to addictions. Research has shown that women are more likely to be polysubstance dependent. It has been noted that a larger percentage of women use licit (legal) substances such as tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants. On the other hand, men are more likely to use illicit (illegal) substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and other illicit substances. Research suggests that women addicts more frequently have a family history of substance use. When asked to describe their onset of addictions, women more frequently describe their addiction as sudden where as men describe them as gradual. Females have a higher percentage of fatty tissues and a lower percentage of body water than men. Therefore, women absorb substances more slowly. This means these substances are at a higher concentration in a womans bloodstream. Female addicts are known to be at greater risk for fatty liver disease, hypertension, anemia, and other disorders. See also
Self-medication

References
External links

A great resource for more information: http://www.nida.nih.gov/nidahome.html