Crystal MethIf someone you know is suffering from a crystal meth addiction and you would like to take the first steps in getting them the help that they need, you may visit our Interventionist or you may tell us a bit about your situation or ask us a question.
 
Methamphetamine (AKA Crystal Meth)

What are the street names/slang terms?
Chalk, Crank, Croak, Crypto, Crystal, Fire, Glass, Meth, Tweek, White Cross

What is Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth)?
Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth) is an addictive stimulant that strongly activates certain systems in the brain.

What does it look like?
Methamphetamine (crystal meth) is a crystal-like powdered substance that sometimes comes in large rock-like chunks. When the powder flakes off the rock, the shards look like glass, which is another nickname for meth. Meth is usually white or slightly yellow, depending on the purity.

How is it used?
Methamphetamine (crystal meth) can be taken orally, injected, snorted, or smoked.

What are its short-term effects?
Immediately after smoking or injection, the user experiences an intense sensation, called a “rush” or “flash,” that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Snorting or swallowing meth produces euphoria — a high, but not a rush. After the initial “rush,” there is typically a state of high agitation that in some individuals can lead to violent behavior. Other possible immediate effects include increased wakefulness and insomnia, decreased appetite, irritability/aggression, anxiety, nervousness, convulsions and heart attack.

What are its long-term effects?
Methamphetamine (crystal meth) is addictive, and users can develop a tolerance quickly, needing larger amounts to get high. In some cases, users go without food and sleep and take more meth every few hours for days, ‘binging’ until they run out of the drug or become too disorganized to continue. Chronic use can cause paranoia, hallucinations, repetitive behavior (such as compulsively cleaning, grooming or disassembling and assembling objects), and delusions of parasites or insects crawling under the skin. Users can obsessively scratch their skin to get rid of these imagined insects. Long-term use, high dosages, or both can bring on full-blown toxic psychosis (often exhibited as violent, aggressive behavior). This violent, aggressive behavior is usually coupled with extreme paranoia. Methamphetamine (crystal meth) use can also cause strokes and death.

Methamphetamine abuse is a significant problem in the United States

• Approximately 10 million people 12 years and older have abused methamphetamine (crystal meth) in their lifetimes; in 2005, approximately 500,000 were current users (NSDUH).
• Abuse has been especially noteworthy in certain areas of the country with indicators suggesting particular problems in Hawaii, the West Coast states, rural areas of the West and, more recently, the Midwest.
• According to NIDA's 2006 Monitoring the Future Survey, there has been a significant decline of past year methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse by 10th graders; however, during the same time period the abuse rate among 8th and 12th graders did not change (Figure above).
• Methamphetamine's (crystal meth’s) potent addiction liability and destructive health and social consequences make its abuse particularly dangerous.

Methamphetamine (crystal meth) acts by increasing the release of dopamine in the brain, which leads to feelings of euphoria. However, this influx of pleasure is followed by a "crash" that often leads to increased use of the drug and eventually to difficulty feeling any pleasure at all, especially from natural rewards. Long-term methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse also results in many damaging physical and psychiatric effects, such as:

• Addiction;
• Violent Behavior;
• Anxiety;
• Confusion;
• Insomnia;
• Psychotic features (e.g. paranoia, hallucinations, delusions); and
• Cardiovascular problems (e.g. rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, stroke).

What Does Methamphetamine Do to the Brain?

Methamphetamine's (crystal meth) adverse effects on the brain are clear. In animals, methamphetamine damages nerve terminals in brain regions containing dopamine and serotonin, two chemicals essential for normal functioning of the central nervous system. Similarly, in humans, methamphetamine (crystal meth) alters the brain in ways that impair decision-making, memory, and motor behaviors, and causes structural and functional deficits in brain areas associated with depression and anxiety. Dopamine cell death, however, has not been documented in methamphetamine (crystal meth) abusers, which could explain why extended abstinence allows for some recovery from methamphetamine-(crystal meth) induced deficits in dopamine function (Figure above). But even though a recent neuroimaging study of methamphetamine (crystal meth)  abusers showed partial recovery of brain function in some regions following protracted abstinence, function in other regions did not display recovery even after two years of abstinence7ndash; suggesting that long-lasting and even permanent brain changes may result from methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse.

Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth) and HIV

In addition to its harmful effects on the brain, methamphetamine (crystal meth) is inextricably linked with HIV, hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Its abuse increases the risk of contracting HIV not only through the use of contaminated injection equipment, but also through increased risky sexual behaviors and through physiological changes that may favor HIV transmission. Methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse may also affect HIV disease progression. For example, clinical studies suggest that current methamphetamine (crystal meth) abusers on highly active antiretroviral therapy may be at greater risk of developing AIDS than non-users, possibly due to poor medication adherence or interactions between methamphetamine (crystal meth) and HIV medications. Similarly, preliminary studies suggest that interactions between methamphetamine (crystal meth) and HIV itself may lead to more severe consequences for HIV-positive patients who abuse methamphetamine (crystal meth), including greater brain damage and cognitive impairment. More research is needed to better understand these interactions.

Treatments for Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth) Addiction

Methamphetamine (crystal meth) addiction can be successfully treated. The Matrix Model, a proven effective treatment for methamphetamine (crystal meth) addiction, consists of a 16-week intervention that includes intensive group and individual therapy to promote the behavioral changes needed to remain off drugs, prevent relapse, and establish a new lifestyle unrelated to drugs. When applied to methamphetamine (crystal meth) abusers, the Matrix Model has been shown to significantly reduce drug use (Figure to right). Motivational Incentives for Enhancing Drug Abuse Recovery (MIEDAR), an incentive-based method for cocaine and methamphetamine (crystal meth) abstinence, is another treatment program that has recently demonstrated efficacy in methamphetamine (crystal meth) abusers through NIDA's National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.
NIDA is supporting the development of medications for all aspects of methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse and addiction. For example, a recent clinical trial revealed that the antidepressant bupropion, marketed as Wellbutrin, ® is effective in reducing methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse in low/moderate users. Because addiction changes the parts of the brain that affect our ability to think, to control impulses, and to understand consequences, with methamphetamine (crystal meth) in particular exceeding other drugs in its disruption of cognition, and because drug-impaired cognitive functioning can predict treatment dropout and lead to continued abuse and relapse, people undergoing methamphetamine (crystal meth) treatment also need medications to help them recover this functioning to give behavioral therapies the best chance to work. A "rising star" in this arena is modafinil, a medication used to treat narcolepsy, which appears to improve cognitive functioning, and may also complement behavioral counseling for methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse. To treat methamphetamine (crystal meth) overdose, NIDA is also developing antibodies to methamphetamine (crystal meth) that will bind the drug in the bloodstream and prevent its deleterious effects.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

If someone you know is suffering from a crystal meth addiction and you would like to take the first steps in getting them the help that they need, you may visit our Interventionist or you may tell us a bit about your situation or ask us a question. You may certainly call us 24/7 at 1-810-625-7500.