The antipsychotic medication is needed to help users cope for the depressing lows associated with meth withdrawal; users who have been awake for days or even weeks at a time also need to sleep if they are going to succeed in treatment.

"It's very hard to learn when you haven't slept," said Alex Stalcup, medical director of the New Leaf Treatment Center in Lafayette, Calif., who says meth is the toughest addiction to overcome of all the drugs he has seen in 18 years in the field.

Stalcup added that treatment programs should assume that meth addicts will use the drug at least three times after enrolling; he advised program leaders not to punish or criticize those who relapse, but rather to find out what went wrong.

Stalcup also said that meth users need halfway houses to transition back to a drug-free life on their own, and said progress should be measured in small steps, such as getting patients back to eating and sleeping on a normal routine. "We know we've made progress when we can get them up in the mornings," he said.

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