Opioid Addiction Treatment on Long Island

Long Island opioid use statistics are worrisome. A 2017 FPI report showed that an estimated 45,450 people were living with opioid use disorder on Long Island. And while those numbers have decreased since then, the region’s opioid crisis is far from over.

The problem with opioids is that they’re easy to develop a dependence on because they’re powerful relievers of severe pain. Also known as narcotics, these drugs trigger the release of dopamine (a feel-good hormone), causing highly addictive feelings of euphoria.

But what is opioid addiction (opioid use disorder), and what causes it? Get detailed answers to your questions and learn about opioid addiction warning signs and its negative impact on health.

Afterward, explore medical care specifics, starting with diagnosis, what to expect from opioid addiction treatment on Long Island, and more.

What Is Opioid Addiction?

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a serious medical condition where affected people have a compulsive reliance on opioids, regardless of their tangible adverse effects on their well-being.

Someone with an opioid addiction fully understands that it’s causing them physical and mental harm and disrupting their daily lives. However, they find themselves returning to opioid consumption, and they’re unable to stop due to painful withdrawal symptoms.

What Are Opioids?

“Opioids” or “narcotics” are umbrella terms that describe a class of medications specifically designed to alleviate severe pain. They’re prescribed for patients recovering from surgeries or injuries, suffering from chronic headaches, or experiencing cancer-related pain.

How do opioids work?

These chemical substances function by attaching themselves to proteins (called opioid receptors) on nerve cells in the brain and other parts of the human body. Once they do, they block pain messages that the body sends to the brain, effectively relieving intense pain.

Types of opioids include:

• Morphine
• Hydrocodone
• Fentanyl
• Oxycodone
• Codeine
• Oxymorphone

Note: Heroin is also considered an opioid, since it’s made from morphine. Yet, it has no medical use and is highly addictive, making possession of it, dealing in it, and consuming it illegal.

Opioid Use Figures in New York

To understand why reliable opioid addiction treatment on Long Island is needed, look at opioid use statistics in New York State.

According to recent NY OASAS addiction data:

• Fentanyl was present in 78.9% and 75.3% of cocaine and psychostimulant deaths, respectively, in 2022.
• Opioids made up around 30.3% of treatment admissions as a primary substance of use in 2022.

Also, the New York State Opioid Annual Report 2025 shows that:

• Opioid deaths among NYS residents historically peaked at 5,361 in 2022, increasing by over 400% from 1,074 in 2010.
• In 2022, the financial cost of opioid-related overdose deaths in NYS was estimated to be 62 billion dollars.

Similarly, a 2021 news article has pointed to the prevalent opioid addiction concerns on Long Island. It reported that Nassau and Suffolk counties would receive a total of $228 million in opioid lawsuit settlement funds.

These funds would be used for opioid addiction education, prevention, and treatment in these Long Island hotspots.

What Are the Risk Factors Linked to Opioid Addiction?

Opioid use disorder risk factors can be environmental, hereditary, mental, or psychological. People are more likely to end up with an opioid addiction if they:

• Take opioid medicines for longer or more often than intended.
• Have a family history of substance misuse.
• Are struggling with a mental illness (anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc).
• Have experienced physical or sexual abuse.
• Are younger in age (early 20s or younger).
• Heavily use tobacco.
• Lead stressful lives (financial problems, unemployment, relationship struggles, or living in poverty).
• Enjoy thrill-seeking activities and impulsive decisions.

What Are Some Warning Signs That Someone Has an Opioid Addiction?

Knowing the early signs of an opioid addiction means that intervention will be quicker and therefore deliver longer-lasting results. Familiarize yourself with opioid use disorder symptoms to determine if it’s time to seek professional help:

• Taking narcotics for longer or more often than prescribed.
• Having issues with responsibilities at work, school, or home.
• Suffering from withdrawal symptoms or taking more opioids to avoid withdrawal complications.
• Continuing to use opioids despite making psychological or mental conditions worse.
• Using opioids in hazardous situations (driving, operating heavy machinery, and the like).
• Constantly thinking about using opioids.
• Not being able to stop consuming opioids.
• Spending a significant amount of time acquiring opioids or recovering from their ill effects.
• Developing a tolerance for opioids.

What Are the Harmful Effects of Prolonged Use of Opioids?

Opioid addiction complications are many, the first of them being overdosing. Overdosing on opioids leads to dangerous effects, like respiratory arrest and even, in some less common cases, seizures and acute lung injury. All these may, unfortunately, have lethal results.

However, opioid addiction’s negative impact doesn’t stop there; it might also cause:

• Lifestyle-related struggles (poor performance at work, relationship crises, or growing family issues)
• Legal trouble
• Other worrisome diseases: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV

Ultimately, the general public isn’t widely aware that relapse after a period of undergoing opioid addiction treatment increases the odds of death.

If someone returns to doses that they’d previously had a tolerance for, they could easily overdose on them after a 100% opioid-free period.

How Is Opioid Addiction Diagnosed?

At a facility for opioid addiction treatment on Long Island, determining whether someone has OUD starts with a physical examination.

Then, healthcare professionals will ask the patient a few questions about their behavior and habits within the last 12 months. This test helps them get a count of OUD symptoms to understand whether the condition is mild, moderate, or severe.

The guide they use for this diagnosis is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It lists a total of 11 symptoms:

• If a person has displayed two or three of these signs within the past year, their condition is mild.
• A moderate opioid addiction is identified by having showcased four or five symptoms.
• Lastly, more than six signs mean a patient has a severe addiction problem, requiring immediate intervention.

What Are the Types of Treatment Available for Opioid Addiction on Long Island?

Long Island Interventions is dedicated to helping families looking for dependable opioid addiction treatment on Long Island. Its goal is to match patients with reputable care facilities that best suit their condition, medical history, lifestyle, and more.

This section addresses the type of care you’re likely to receive in treatment centers catering to residents of Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens.

Opioid Addiction Treatment on Long Island: Counseling Options

Across various programs, an essential part of addiction treatment lies in counseling. Counseling aims to correct harmful thoughts, change the way you perceive addiction, and more.

For opioid use disorder treatment, counseling types include:

• Individual counseling: This is one-on-one talk therapy with an addiction specialist. It utilizes one or more evidence-based behavioral therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, and contingency management.
• Family therapy: It aims to build solid familial or spousal relationships by educating family members on how to be supportive on the road to recovery.
• Group therapy: This form of therapy fosters a sense of camaraderie and belonging by sharing struggles, hopes, dreams, and goals in a group setting. You feel like you’re not alone in facing your addiction challenges, boosting your motivation and resolve.

Opioid Addiction Treatment on Long Island: Medication-assisted Treatment

Alongside talk therapy, medications could be administered to limit the severity of withdrawal symptoms and make giving up opioids easier. Depending on each patient’s needs, the following medicines may be part of a treatment plan:

Methadone, Buprenorphine, and Lofexidine

At the start of treatment, these three medications are responsible for reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. They target the parts of the brain affected by the addiction, working to restore the chemical balance in them so that recovery is more easily achieved.

The good thing about methadone, buprenorphine, and lofexidine is that they don’t develop dependency in addiction patients. However, for those who want to reduce their intake, they still have to do it gradually, guided by their doctors’ instructions.

Naltrexone

This medication doesn’t assist with withdrawal symptoms or cravings. Rather, it works to reduce the sense of euphoria associated with consuming opioids, and that’s why it’s not used when trying to rid the system of this substance.

It’s taken to prevent a relapse, usually when a patient has been off opioids for around ten days.

Opioid Addiction Treatment Programs

Whether the opioid use disorder condition is mild, moderate, or severe, there’s a specific type of treatment program designed for each case’s medical needs.

Inpatient Treatment

In inpatient treatment plans, an addiction patient is expected to stay 24/7 at a treatment facility under the supervision of a team of healthcare providers.

This controlled environment keeps severe addiction patients away from their daily cravings, helping them safely manage withdrawal symptoms.

Of course, inpatient programs take individuals away from their daily routines and obligations. But their intensive, around-the-hour care and supervision are critical for advanced OUD cases.

Outpatient Treatment

Contrarily, outpatient treatment programs require people struggling with mild to moderate opioid addiction to undergo an agreed-upon number of hours of therapy weekly. After their sessions are over, they can go back to their daily lives.

Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP)

A mix of the previous two, a partial hospitalization program is an intensive version of outpatient care. Also called a day program, PHP provides addiction treatment for affected people for up to four to eight hours a day, five to seven days a week.

Then, patients can go back to their homes once treatment is done. This program works best for people who have a moderate addiction problem.

Wrap-Up: Start Your Journey to Recovery on Long Island

Prolonged opioid use changes the brain’s chemistry, disrupting lives, affecting careers, and negatively impacting physical health. The longer someone waits until they get professional help, the more dependent they become on opioids, and the harder withdrawal can be.

If you suspect that someone you love is misusing opioids, contact Long Island Interventions today.

This is a Long Island-based service that helps patients find suitable treatment centers so they can overcome their addiction struggles and achieve recovery. At the right treatment facility, counseling and medications for opioid addiction are provided and tailored to individual needs.

Opioid addiction treatment on Long Island is available to battle this ever-present crisis in the region and bring mortality numbers down.