Tweaking
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Methamphetamine abuse is on the rise in the U.S., especially in the West. A report issued in early 2009 from the RAND Drug Policy Research Center puts the societal cost of meth abuse in the U.S. at $23.4 billion. One of the reasons for the skyrocketing increase in meth abuse in the west is proximity to Mexico’s meth production super labs.
Meth abuse basically falls into three patterns: low-intensity, binge, and high-intensity. Low-intensity abuse refers to individuals who use meth on a casual basis but are not psychologically addicted. Binge and high-intensity users are addicted psychologically, and generally smoke or snort the drug to achieve a more intense high faster. Tweaking occurs in the binge and high-intensity stages.
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What Happens with Tweaking
In order to understand tweaking, it’s important to discuss how meth works in the body. Meth is a powerfully addicting stimulant that affects the central nervous system in a dramatic way. It is a Schedule II stimulant, meaning it has a high abuse potential and is only available by prescription for a limited number of conditions such as narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder (ADD). When an individual uses meth, the effects vary depending on how the drug is ingested. Low-intensity users or casual users swallow or snort meth. Binge and high-intensity meth abusers smoke or inject the drug and experience a rush that is psychologically addicting. Low-intensity meth users do not experience a rush.
Rush causes the binge and high-intensity meth user’s heart to race, while the pulse, metabolism and blood pressure skyrocket. Intense pleasurable feelings ensue, similar to those achieved with cocaine. Unlike cocaine, however, whose rush lasts a low 2 to 5 minutes, with meth, the rush lasts from as little as 5 minutes to as long as a half hour.
Smoking or injecting meth causes the adrenal gland to release the hormone epinephrine (adrenalin) – the so-called “fight-or-flight” syndrome. The intense feelings of pleasure during the rush are caused by the release of dopamine in the brain’s pleasure center.
After the rush, the meth user experiences the high, which is sometimes referred to as the shoulder. During the high period, the meth user may interrupt others, finish their sentences, and think and act as if he or she is significantly smarter than others. Often, this results in extremely argumentative and challenging behavior. This high lasts between 4 and 16 hours. In order to continue the high, binge meth users smoke or inject more of the drug. The subsequent rushes and highs, however, become smaller and smaller until there isn’t any of either. The binge meth user becomes hyperactive – mentally and physically – for the duration of the binge which may last 3 to 15 days.
Tweaking in the Binge Meth Abuser
For the binge meth user, tweaking occurs toward the end of the binge, when nothing helps achieve the rush or the high. Intense emptiness, sadness and hopelessness occur, despite taking more meth. Feeling very uncomfortable, the tweaker will often take a depressant, such as alcohol, to alleviate those feelings.
Following the binge and tweaking stage, the binge meth abuser’s body is completely drained of epinephrine, resulting in the crash – the need for an incredible amount of sleep. Crashes render the meth abuser non-violent and nearly lifeless as their bodies seek to regain epinephrine during sleep. Crashes can last from 1 to 3 days.
After the crash, the binge meth user’s body returns to a somewhat normal state, which is much less than an optimum normal, having deteriorated due to meth use. This normal state lasts a short amount of time, from 2 to 14 days, and becomes shorter as the frequency of binging increases.
Tweaking in the High-Intensity Meth Abuser
True addicts, the high-intensity meth abusers, often called speed freaks, spend their lives in an endless attempt to recreate the perfect rush that they first experienced when using meth. They also try to stave off crashes. Neither is successful. Each rush and high is less euphoric and sustained than the one before. The meth addict takes more and more meth and more often, but the results are not what he or she craved or remembered from previous times.
True meth addicts are very dangerous to confront, due to their wildly unpredictable behavior. Extremely irritable, having not slept in perhaps as many as 15 days, and frustrated over their vain attempts to achieve the high they crave, high-intensity meth abusers pose a threat to anyone that appears (to the abusers) as a threat or a challenge.
Effect of Alcohol on the Tweaker
Tweakers often use alcohol to help alleviate their discomfort. This renders them a “disinhibited” tweaker, one who is unable to be reasoned with – or even communicated with in a reasonable manner. The alcohol in their body slows and impairs their movements and ability to speak, although not to the extent of someone who has only consumed alcohol but has not used meth. The tell-tale signs of a tweaker – rapid eye movement and rapid-paced speech – may be slowed to a near-normal state.
Other Problems with Meth Abuse
Meth addicts and tweakers, feeling a sense of overconfidence and superiority, may decide to get in a vehicle and drive. Their erratic behavior, flashes of paranoia and hallucinations, trying to avoid potential “threats” and other challenges, is extremely dangerous on the road. Tweakers often carry arms to protect themselves from their imagined threats.
Seeking to finance their habit, tweakers, who often are present at raves and other clandestine parties, engage in spur-of-the-moment crimes such as theft, purse-snatching, burglaries, armed-robberies and vehicle theft.
Domestic violence is another problem directly associated with meth abuse. When a meth abuser is tweaking, domestic disputes – which are always problematic for law enforcement officials – becomes even more dangerous due to the tweaker’s unpredictability and paranoid behavior.
Tips for Approaching a Tweaker
Due to the nature of their jobs and the high-risk situations they encounter daily, it is perhaps no exaggeration to say that no one interacts with tweakers on a more consistent basis than law enforcement officers. In fact, the situation with tweakers has become so dangerous that law enforcement officials have put together several safety tips for police (and others) when approaching a tweaker. They are listed here (edited for content and clarity) as a reminder that individuals in the tweaking stage of meth abuse are extremely dangerous.
• Maintain a Safe Distance – Tweakers regard encroachment into their personal space as a threatening movement. It’s best to keep a safe distance of 7 to 10 feet from anyone who is, or is suspected to be, tweaking on meth.
• No Bright Lights – The last thing you want to do is shine bright lights into the eyes of a tweaker. Already moderately or greatly paranoid, the tweaker who is blinded by bright lights may turn violent or try to escape.
• Lower Voice, Speak Slowly – When trying to communicate with the tweaker, it’s important that you lower your voice and speak slowly. That’s because, to the tweaker, who hears everything already as fast-paced and high-pitched, if you hope to get through at all without provoking the tweaker, you’ll have to exercise extreme caution in your speech.
• Use Slow Movements – Similar to using slowed speech and lowered pitch, use care when making any movements in front of the tweaker. Everything is exaggerated to the tweaker, and rapid movements of any kind are likely to be misinterpreted as threatening physical actions.
• Keep Hands Visible – Tweakers can become extremely agitated and violent if they can’t see your hands. Keep them visible at all times. If you don’t, the tweaker may feel threatened and act out in an irrational and dangerous manner.
• Keep Him Talking – As long as the tweaker can be encouraged to keep talking, they’re otherwise engaged. If they lapse into silence, that’s not a good sign. Their paranoid thoughts could be taking over, with the result that you could become part of their dangerous paranoid delusion.
Treatment for Meth Abuse
Many meth abusers believe that they can quit using meth on their own, without treatment. Even if they do enter treatment, if they quit after the drug leaves their body and do not go on to receive counseling, 93 percent will relapse.
Meth addiction is more psychological than physical. True, long-term meth abuse does have potentially serious consequences such as heart damage, stroke, skin ulcers and infections, and risk of developing hepatitis B and C, along with HIV and AIDS. Over time, meth abusers may lose weight, have pale, chalky skin, intense body odor, sweat profusely, and significant problems with teeth and gums. High body temperatures, convulsion and death can occur due to overdose. And meth abuse in pregnancy can lead to premature delivery and/or birth defects in the baby.
But the psychological effects are perhaps the most damaging. Research shows that meth causes long-term changes in the brain, the effects of which scientists are just beginning to discover. Mental and behavioral changes that occur with long-term meth abuse include paranoia, hallucinations (auditory and visual), confusion and the feeling that insects are crawling on the skin. Some of these behavioral and mental changes are nearly indistinguishable from schizophrenia.
Still, treatment for methamphetamine abuse does work, if the addict stays in treatment long enough for the counseling and therapy to work. In essence, once the body is cleansed of the drug, the patient undergoes individual and group counseling and therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), to help modify their expectancies, thinking and behavior and to learn new coping skills and ways of living without meth. Relapse prevention, family counseling, anger management, health and wellness education, relaxation techniques, structure and guidance are often part of personalized treatment plans for meth addiction. Attendance at 12-step meth support groups is also important in helping the meth addict to remain in recovery and drug-free. Depending on the duration, frequency and method of meth abuse, treatment may last from one month to several. For long-term and dual-diagnosis meth addicts, treatment may require a longer commitment.
For further information on how to find a meth addiction treatment center, check out the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) treatment facility locator.
