Table of Contents

The Basics of Peyote Rehabilitation

This guide was written to provide an overview of the peyote rehabilitation process as well as to offer helpful resources for persons recovering from peyote addiction.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more research is required to fully understand how hallucinogen addiction works and how best to treat it. There are no FDA-approved medications for hallucinogen detox, but behavioral treatments are an option. Most hallucinogen recovery efforts begin with an evaluation or assessment, which is conducted by an addiction treatment professional. After the assessment, the professional offers advice about what types of treatment options might be right.

Peyote rehab can take place in an inpatient or outpatient setting, depending on your needs and recovery goals. Either option will likely include individual and/or group therapy, and you might also engage in recreational therapies and education to help you understand addiction and develop new coping skills. You may step down through treatment methods, going from more intense and structured environments to less intense and less structured environments as you work to return to a new normal. Even after discharge, individuals typically participate in aftercare to support long-term recovery.

Description of the Four Steps of the Rehab Process

For more information, read our guide to the rehab process.

What Makes Peyote Rehabilitation Difficult?

Because peyote is a Schedule I substance (outside of allowed Native American religious use), recovery can sometimes be made more challenging by legal difficulties. If you have been charged with peyote possession, it may help to seek out a rehab facility that is experienced in offering support for such legal situations as well as addiction counseling.

Another factor that can make peyote rehab more difficult is the fact that there are no medications approved for peyote detox. Peyote withdrawals don’t tend to be as intense physically as withdrawals from drugs like heroin. That means they don’t necessarily push someone back to using the drug because they’re simply too physically uncomfortable. But withdrawal from hallucinogens can lead to depression, anxiety, mood swings, and paranoia. Dealing with these issues on your own can make it less likely you’ll succeed in getting clean, which is one reason it can be important to seek professional help.

The Unique Struggle of Peyote Addicts
Peyote…
  • floods the brain with dopamine, making it more likely that the user will start to crave tramadol.
  • is a Schedule I drug in most cases, with stiff penalties for possession./li>
  • is a hallucinogen, and there are no approved detox medications for use in treating addictions to hallucinogens./li>
  • may be seen as a “safe” recreational drug by those who don’t fully understand it, which can make it less likely someone realizes they have fallen into addiction and might need treatment./li>
  • has only been studied in a limited fashion with relation to long-term effects and treatments./li>

Peyote Rehabilitation Statistics

Adderall Treatment Admissions by Gender

73.4% Male
26.6% Female

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimates in 2015:

  • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimated in 2015 that 4,840,105 individuals 12 years of age and older — 1.8% of the population — used hallucinogens.
  • By 2018, around 2% of the population reported having used hallucinogens within the past year.
  • In 2017, only around 2,225 individuals 12 years of age and older in need of treatment enrolled in a rehabilitation program for hallucinogen misuse.

Demographics of Individuals Seeking Treatment for Hallucinogen Addiction

According to a 2017 SAMHSA report that charts admissions to and discharges from publicly funded substance use treatment facilities, men are considerably more likely to seek treatment for hallucinogen abuse, which includes peyote. The gender breakdown of treatment admissions for hallucinogens was 73.4% male and 26.6% female. While hallucinogen addiction occurs in all age groups, the most common age group admitted to a treatment facility for hallucinogen use was individuals aged 25 to 34, with 30 being the average age of all individuals from all age groups who are seeking rehabilitation.

Hallucinogen Treatment Admissions Percentages by Age Group, 2017
Age at the Time of Treatment Admission Percentage of Hallucinogen Treatment Admissions
12-17 8.7%
18-24 25.7%
25-34 36.9%
35-44 18.8%
45-54 7.2%
55-64 2.6%
65+ 0.2%

Peyote Detoxification & Withdrawal Process

Peyote has a half-life of around 6 hours in the human body. The effects of peyote last around 12 hours, which is fairly long for a drug in general. But several hallucinogens have the same long-lasting impact, including LSD. This long-lasting impact can mean people build up a tolerance to peyote if they are taking it every one to two days or so. While that doesn’t typically lead to the type of physical dependency associated with opioids or other types of drugs, it does create a possibility of using a toxic amount of the drug.

Because peyote addiction is often more psychological than physical, detox treatment involves a more behavioral approach. Instead of providing medications and helping with physical symptoms, treatment providers are more likely to concentrate immediately on behavioral methods such as motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Body Mind
Short-Term Symptoms Sweating
Changes to eating or sleeping habits
Changes to heart rate or temperature
Headache
Changes in mood
Depression
Anxiety
Long-Term Symptoms None presently known Rare potential psychosis or hallucination disorder

Peyote physical withdrawal symptoms are usually nonexistent or mild

For the most part, peyote doesn’t cause physical withdrawal symptoms. You may experience some changes in heart rate or body temperature, and a headache is possible when you first come down from a peyote high. However, these are less withdrawal symptoms and more just an immediate and very temporary reaction to the serotonin changes within your body caused by the peyote. Typically, they don’t last long enough and aren’t harsh enough to cause someone to want to immediately use peyote again just to get rid of the symptoms.

Peyote addiction tends to be psychological

Psychological addictions are different from physical dependencies. With a psychological dependence, you are mentally or emotionally tied to the drug. This is a common type of addiction with hallucinogens in part because people who abuse these types of drugs often do so to get away from certain situations or stressors in life. They begin to rely on drug use as a behavioral coping mechanism to deal with life, and when they stop using drugs, they may have a hard time finding a suitable replacement.

 

For more information about withdrawal, read our guide on peyote addiction.

Treatment for Peyote Addiction

Treatment for peyote addiction is typically grounded in therapy and other behavioral options. Depending on how much someone is abusing peyote, whether other drugs are also involved, and the person’s overall environment and support system, peyote addiction treatment can take several paths. Someone might choose a full inpatient treatment program; others might work with an individual therapist via motivational enhancement therapy to kickstart a drug-free lifestyle.

Whatever the path you take into rehab, you’ll typically complete an inpatient or outpatient program and then step down into a less structured form of treatment. For example, someone who starts with inpatient treatment 24 hours per day might then move to an outpatient program that requires half-day attendance five days a week. Ultimately, the goal is typically to end up in aftercare and long-term support, which might include periodic group or individual therapy or the ability to attend support meetings as needed.

Rehabilitation Settings

Within either an inpatient or outpatient setting, treatments such as detoxification services, behavioral therapies, and medication-assisted treatments are offered for varying lengths of time.

Inpatient treatment involves living full-time (including overnight) at a treatment facility for a set period of time. Outpatient treatment involves scheduled appointments at a facility in which you are free to come and go. Within each category, there are several distinctions.

Tramadol Treatment Programs
Setting Type of Treatment Description Duration Time Commitment
Inpatient Short-Term Residential Intensive treatment, sometimes in a hospital setting. Therapies offered are extensive. Medication-assisted treatment is available to those who qualify. 14-30 days Hours Per Day:
24
Days Per Week:
7
Long-Term Residential Intensive treatment in a non-hospital setting, most often a therapeutic community with other patients. Therapies offered are extensive. Medication-assisted treatment is available to those who qualify. 3-12 months Hours Per Day:
24
Days Per Week:
7
Partial Hospitalization Intensive treatment in a hospital setting. Patients do not stay overnight. Considered inpatient due to the hospital setting. Extensive services are provided and require a near full-time commitment every week. Medication-assisted treatment is available to those who qualify. 14-30 days Hours Per Day:
6-8
Days Per Week:
5
Outpatient Intensive Day Treatment Extensive services of an inpatient program but patients return home each day following treatment. After completion, patients often transition to less intensive counseling. Therapies offered are extensive. Medication-assisted treatment is available to those who qualify. 3-4 months Hours Per Day:
2-4
Days Per Week:
3
Counseling Both individual counseling and group counseling focus on short-term behavioral goals to develop coping strategies. Therapies offered are moderate. Medication-assisted treatment is not available. As long as desired Hours Per Day:
1-2
Days Per Week:
1-3
Support Groups Self-help groups center on maintaining abstinence after another form of treatment. Typically meet one day a week for 1-2 hours. As long as desired Hours Per Day:
1-2
Days Per Week:
1

Behavioral Therapies for Peyote Addiction

Behavioral therapy for substance addiction seeks to identify and manage addictive behaviors that lead to use and prevent relapse. Behavioral therapy is based on the concept that all behavior is learned, and thus, unhealthy behavior can be changed through learning coping skills and increasing awareness of negative thoughts and beliefs that contribute to substance abuse.

Behavioral Therapies for Peyote Addiction
Type of Therapy 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

 

Further reading:

Definition 

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a proven method employed in the treatment of a wide range of mental health and behavioral disorders ranging from depression and anxiety to addiction.

 

The therapy works on the premise that thoughts and feelings are intricately related to behaviors and that, by changing thought patterns and negative responses to them, individuals can change their behaviors.

 

For the purposes of addiction, CBT often involves identifying the root causes and triggers of substance abuse and working to remediate those issues and develop better coping mechanisms for them.

 

CBT can be a good option for peyote addiction because people who abuse hallucinogens often do so out of a desire to escape the life around them. CBT helps individuals face their realities and begin working in meaningful and appropriate ways to accept or change them.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

 

Further reading:

Motivational enhancement therapy is often used as a jump-start approach to addiction management. If someone has ambivalence about their peyote addiction — such as not seeing that it’s a problem or not being very motivated to break out of the cycle — MET might be an appropriate start for treatment.

 

MET takes place over a limited number of therapy sessions. Through talk therapy and interview techniques, the therapist works with the person so that they might begin to see the real value in breaking out of addiction. Ultimately, the goal of MET is to create stronger internal motivation for sobriety, which can then be helpful to the person as they continue to work through recovery in other ways.

How to Find Help

Finding a Rehabilitation Center for Peyote Addiction

To enhance your likelihood of success with rehab, it’s important to find an addiction facility or treatment provider that works best for you. That’s not the same for every person, so think about your own goals for treatment and talk to an addiction counselor to understand your options. As you consider different treatment providers, consider asking about their experience with treating addictions to hallucinogens. The correct approach for peyote and similar drugs may be different than the approaches that work best with other substances.

Our Directory

Our directory of rehab programs includes a comprehensive list of available treatment centers and programs as provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In the directory, you will find tools to filter the programs by setting, price, and location.