Prepare For The Change
When preparing for a change, you need to constantly remind yourself of the reason you want to change. You also need to check what worked or didnt work if this isnt your first attempt.
Set specific, measurable and realistic goals. Remove anything at home or at work that reminds you of the addiction. You would also have to do distance yourself from friends who would remind or lure you back into the addiction.
You would have to also know what is at stake. You would have to change the way you think about yourself, how you spend your time every day and how you handle problems.
How Can It Affect Your Life
Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Drug addiction is characterized by the inability to control drug use, leading to compulsive drug-taking. It can result in criminal activity, job loss, financial instability, and health problems.
The good news is that drug addiction is treatable. Drug addiction can be successfully treated with behavioral therapy and medication. Treatment for drug addiction should be tailored to the individuals needs.
A Willingness To Change
People often say, the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem. But at Turnbridge, we believe the initial step to recovery, more than anything, is a combination of recognition and readiness: not only do you need to be aware of your drug habit, you must also be ready to address it.
The key to a successful recovery starts with the active decision to make a change a change to better your mind, your body, your relationships, your outlook, and your sense of self. A change to move away from the drug-using lifestyle youve come to know so well. A change in your friend groups and what you do in your free time. A change in your mindset and attitude towards life.
For most people battling drug addiction, this first step is often the hardest. And it doesnt always happen right away. For some, this willingness does not develop until weeks into a rehab program, and that is okay. We understand that change can be scary its unfamiliar territory. If you are here, though, you have likely already decided that something has got to give. There are reasons you want to live sober. There is something inside telling you its time to take the leap. You dont have to do it alone. A professional treatment center like Turnbridge can support you through the entire recovery process.
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Focus On Your Mental Health
A considerable component of overcoming substance abuse is acknowledging and focusing on your mental health.
Addiction recovery is an internal battle, and it can affect your mindset significantly. As you begin your journey to recovery, you must prioritize your mental health.
Luckily, there are many ways to do this. You can set aside some scheduled you time or allow yourself some free time to relax. It doesnt matter what you are doing it matters that you give your mind and mental state some time to reset and heal.
You might also seek out options for talk therapy. Often, people who struggle with addiction have overcome traumatic events. Counseling and therapy can help you de-couple drug use from your coping mechanisms.
These changes will help you learn other ways to handle emotions that you used drugs to deal with.
How To Talk To Someone With A Substance Use Disorder
When you talk with your loved one about their substance use, there are things that you can do and not do that can help the conversation be more productive and potentially result in a positive outcome.7, 8
- Express your concerns and state facts, not opinions.
- Be patient.
- Offer help, including information about treatment, how it works and how it can help them get off drugs.
- Offer to go with them to the doctor or to an appointment.
DONT:
- Neglect your own needs. Take care of yourself, regardless of the outcome.
- Dont yell or act angry.
- Enable the person.
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Why Is It So Difficult To Quit Drugs
Because certain drugs alter brain function, they can be addictive. Neurotransmission, a process that alters the way your brain relays information through drugs, is an example of this.
One neurotransmitter, dopamine, is more active when there are multiple substances being taken. Dopamine activity that is triggered by drugs can cause a dopamine surge, which can lead to compulsive drug use.
Dopamine activity in the brains reward centers can be affected by many of the most popular drugs of abuse. Dopamine neurotransmission, which is thought to be responsible for feelings of motivation, pleasure, and reward, is also believed to play an important role in the development and maintenance of an addiction.
Dopamine is normally released when people are enjoying pleasure activities like eating and having sex. Many drugs can cause an increase in dopamine activity. This can lead to a rewarding euphoria and encourages drug users to continue using the drug. This is why so many drugs can be called reinforcing, and why it can be so difficult to get clean from drug addiction.
Although dopamine is not the only factor that contributes to addiction, the way drugs affect the brain is complex and dependent on many factors.
Imaging studies have shown that certain addictions may be associated with decreased activity in the frontal cortex. This is the brain part that makes decisions. This means that quitting drugs may not be as simple as deciding to stop using them.
Tips For Overcoming An Addiction
Quitting is a different experience for everyone. Some people find it empowering. Others find it painful, difficult, and frustrating, sometimes needing many attempts before achieving their goal. Still, others discover new sides to themselves during the quitting process .
There is no “right” way to feel while you are quitting. However, if you are feeling depressed or find yourself constantly wanting to return to the addictive behavior, you should seek support and treatment.
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Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle
If you fix one part of your life but ignore other areas, you are setting yourself up for failure. Its best that you try to maintain a healthy relationship with your family and friends, have a job that you enjoy, and also find time to relax every day. Exercising regularly is one of the best things that you can do to maintain sobriety.
Maintaining sobriety is a difficult task that requires a lot of hard work and dedication. However, if you can follow the ten tips weve outlined in this article, youll be well on your way to achieving success. Remember to take things one day at a time and dont be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Sobriety is possible for anyone who wants it badly enough just remember to stay positive and focused on your goals.
Explore Your Addiction Treatment Options
Once youve committed to recovery, its time to explore your treatment choices. While addiction treatment can vary according to the specific drug, a successful program often includes different elements, such as:
Detoxification. Usually the first step is to purge your body of drugs and manage withdrawal symptoms.
Behavioral counseling. Individual, group, and/or family therapy can help you identify the root causes of your drug use, repair your relationships, and learn healthier coping skills.
Medication may be used to manage withdrawal symptoms, prevent relapse, or treat any co-occurring mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.
Long-term follow-up can help to prevent relapse and maintain sobriety. This may include attending regular in-person support groups or online meetings to help keep your recovery on track.
Affordable Online Therapy
Nearly 3 Million people have turned to BetterHelp for professional online therapy. Take the quiz and get matched with a therapist that fits your needs.
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Also Check: How To Treat Alcohol Addiction
Things To Think About Before You Start
If youre thinking of taking steps to stop taking drugs or cut down, dont be afraid to reach out for help. Its much easier to make positive changes when youve got help and support from other people.
You could:
- Speak to your doctor about your worries. Theyll be able to give you advice and useful information.
- If you can, talk to family and friends about your drug use. Asking for help can make a big difference, especially in the first few weeks.
- Find your nearest drug service. You can search for your nearest service and look at treatment options further down the page.
- Join a peer support group like Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous.
If you have a dependency, please speak to a professional before stopping using suddenly, so you can carefully manage any withdrawal symptoms.
Seeking Drug Addiction Help
If you have a loved one who is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it can be difficult to watch them. You may be wondering how to help them with their substance abuse issues. They might be ready to quit and wondering where to get help for substance abuse. There are a number of ways to help a drug addict. Here, we will talk about the signs of drug and alcohol use disorders, what you can expect when your loved one is dealing with a substance use disorder, how to handle the difficulties of trying to help them and how having a loved one with a drug or alcohol addiction affects you.
Read Also: How To Know If Someone Is Addicted To Alcohol
Ways To Recover From Addiction To An Energy Vampire
If you are addicted to an energy vampire or narcissist, you are likely an empath and are highly capable, hard-working, intelligent, compassionate and able to make everything else in your life work expect your relationships. The good news is, there are steps you can take to get your life and your relationships back on track and extricate the energy vampires in your life for good.
How Do The Best Treatment Programs Help Patients Recover From Addiction
Stopping drug use is just one part of a long and complex recovery process. When people enter treatment, addiction has often caused serious consequences in their lives, possibly disrupting their health and how they function in their family lives, at work, and in the community.
Because addiction can affect so many aspects of a person’s life, treatment should address the needs of the whole person to be successful. Counselors may select from a menu of services that meet the specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of their patients to help in their recovery.
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C Seek Support From Friends And Family
Most of the time, people with addiction unknowingly dissociate from their loved ones owing to their behaviors surrounding drug and substance abuse.
Its, therefore, essential to set boundaries in all your relationships and consider joining a sled-help group such as Alcoholics Anonymous .
In such groups, you will get social support from individuals going through the same ordeal.
It is hard to quit when you are alone. And since your addiction may have caused you to disconnect from the people closest to you, it becomes imperative to have someone who can walk you through the recovery process.
Finding a few people who support your recovery goes a long way in improving your outcomes. They must understand for them to find their ways of helping. Of course, they may not know what youre going through, but it is important to present them with an idea and let them know of your intentions.
Effective Treatment Strategies To Finally Overcome An Addiction
Overcoming an addiction is difficult even for the strongest of people. Cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, and family therapy are often the first strategies people and health care professionals use to treat addiction. However, these treatments may not be enough to help people fully recover from an addiction. Instead, many people need a combination of drug therapy and additional support strategies. Here are eight effective support strategies that can help people overcome an addiction.
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God Is Still Here For You During Addiction
Addiction is like a black hole. It pulls in everything good and only leaves feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. Like a void growing larger and larger, the struggle of overcoming a substance usedisorder can feel like an impossible task to achieve.
Its hard to say how your addiction grew to such proportions. It started as a recreational habit, helping you unwind after a hard day or loosen up in social circles. Over time, this seemingly harmless habit evolved into something more dark and sinister.
At this point, you may feel as if all hope is lost. The walls are closing in around you, leaving no options other than to perpetuate the vicious addictive cycle.
You might think that God has forsaken you, withdrawn all support and left you to fend for yourself. But this could not be further from the truth.
Psalm 50:15 reminds us that God asks us to call on Him in our times of trouble.
He promises to deliver us from the darkness of our sinful decisions and forgive our transgressions. All we need to do is ask and He will be there for us. Taking refuge in His loving embrace can be your greatest source of strength.
How To Get The Drug Problem Under Control
It is really great that you have decided to quit substance abuse. Well done! When you are thinking about overcoming drug addiction, you should keep some necessary things in your mind. Here we will guide you with a step-by-step guide on overcoming substance abuse.
You just need to take smaller steps for a bigger and fruitful purpose. So, lets check them out now.
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Keep An Eye On Your Own Behaviors And Attachments That Might Reflect Codependence
Relationships become very complicated in the context of drug addiction, and codependency is a common and confusing factor. Over time, when youre caring about an addict, your view of reality and the way forward can become distorted. Says addiction specialist Alan Massey of codependency, It becomes the dysfunctional side of caring that gets people locked into being over-responsible and losing touch with their authentic selves. Codependency is wrapped up in those difficult-to-define boundaries and enabling behaviors. But speaking with professionals who know the realities and possibilities of addiction recovery can help to refresh your perspective and the better choices you make moving forward.
Why Doesnt The Status Quo Work
With all of the options available, why do many people remain addicted or relapse? One reason is that most of the addiction recovery programs in the U.S. are based on the chemical hook theory of addiction that certain substances are addictive and if you use them, you will become addicted. This is, for the most part, a fallacy. Anyone who has had surgery has taken a good amount of heroin in the form of diamorphine! And yet most people who have had surgery are not heroin addicts.
Now, there are some people who truly may have a physical addiction to a drug I have a friend who was given morphine in the hospital at age 10 and says it was the best feeling ever. But, most people who become addicts have something else going on so that the standard chemical hook approach to drying out and avoiding the substance you are addicted to whether you use a 12-step program, rehab, a medical approach or some combination doesnt work. In fact, many people recover from addiction to one substance, then become addicted to something else, such as sex, smoking cigarettes, or working too much.
This supports the theory that pain, whether its physical pain or emotional pain both of which register in the same parts of the brain is the root cause of addiction, not the substance itself. In other words, what addicts are really doing is avoiding pain by using or doing something that makes them unable to feel it.
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How To Overcome Drug Addiction
Michael Menna, DO, is a board-certified, active attending emergency medicine physician at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York.
Drug addiction, or substance use disorder , is when someone continues using a drug despite harmful consequences to their daily functioning, relationships, or health. Using drugs can change brain structure and functioning, particularly in areas involved in reward, stress, and self-control. These changes make it harder for people to stop using even when they really want to.
Drug addiction is dangerous because it becomes all-consuming and disrupts the normal functioning of your brain and body. When a person is addicted, they prioritize using the drug or drugs over their wellbeing. This can have severe consequences, including increased tolerance to the substance, withdrawal effects , and social problems.
Recovering from SUD is possible, but it takes time, patience, and empathy. A person may need to try quitting more than once before maintaining any length of sobriety.
This article discusses how drug addiction is treated and offers suggestions for overcoming drug addiction.
Over 20 million people aged 12 or older had a substance use disorder in 2018.
