Why Are Drugs So Hard To Quit
Quitting drugs is hard because addiction is a brain disease. Your brain is like a control tower that sends out signals to direct your actions and choices. Addiction changes the signals in your brain and makes it hard to feel OK without the drug.
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Ever hear someone with a drug problem talk about quitting?
And then they try to quit on their own, with no help.
They tell their friends theyve given up drugs forever.
It usually doesnt work.
Eventually, they slip and start using again.
Why are drugs so hard to quit?
Because addiction is a brain disease.
Addiction is when you feel a strong urge to keep taking a drug, even if it is causing harm. To stop, ask for help.
Your brain is like a control tower.
It sends out signals that direct your actions and choices.
When you take drugs, the chemical signals in your brain change. This affects your choices, your actions and even the way you feel.
The part of your brain that lets you feel pleasure can be changed by drugs. Normally, this pleasure center is active when you eat, fall in love or experience something else you enjoy.
After a while, the drug becomes more important.
When someone takes a drug, they first feel a rush or high.
But over time, the high is not as strong. And they need the drug to keep from feeling bad.
This is what happens when you are addicted.
But you dont have to stay that way. Quitting drugs is hard, but it can be done.
If you or someone you love has a problem, get help.
1-800-662-4357
Admit That You Have Issues
Firstly, and most importantly, admit you have a problem. Dont just say that you know you might have exaggerated with trading in the last weeks, but everything is fine. Instead, admit it to yourself that you are truly addicted and that this behavior doesnt represent who you are and that it can be changed. Say that you realize you have a real problem with trading that you need to address.
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S To Stop Doing Drugs
No matter how you choose to get well, there are steps you must take to be able to defeat your addiction. Some of these steps are:
- Admit you are not in control.
- Find a treatment program.
- Commit to a treatment regime.
- Look to family and friends for support.
In some cases other actions may be necessary, but these steps will give you a good, basic plan of action on how to stop doing drugs.
If you need more information on how to stop doing drugs, or you would like to talk to someone about addiction treatment options, please call today.
Different Health Insurance Providers and Coverage Levels
Learn more about insurance companies and coverage levels for rehab treatments for drug or alcohol addiction.
Illicit drug use costs the economy an estimated $181 million per year.
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My Trick For Quitting Sugar And All Other Addictions
Its basically a 5 step process that uses meditation to stop cravings and addictions.
That was my Tuesday. And the first day was brutal, but things would get worse as I continued my journey to a life without sugar alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
Can You Treat Multiple Addictions At Once
- BlogCan you Treat Multiple Addictions at Once?
Many people are grappling with substance use disorder and are addicted to more than one substance or show signs of behavioral addiction. This is sometimes referred to as polysubstance dependence and isnt uncommon considering the nature of the disease and how it alters the reward center in the brain. When a patient with an addiction to three or more substances attends treatment, each addiction is best treated as part of a whole. Using a comprehensive approach with medication and substance use counseling is usually the best course and can even be done in an outpatient setting in most cases.
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Update From A Top Addiction Researcher: People Who Quit Drug Abuse Smoking And Other Habits Do Best If They Do It Themselves
Stanton Peele Morristown, NJ
A man who had been drunk every night for many years arrived home late, bombed once again. The next morning his mother, with whom he was living, found him staring at himself in the mirror. He turned to her and announced: “I’m giving up drinking and, while I’m at it, smoking.” Then he placed a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of beer on the mantelpiece. “What’s that for?” his mother asked. He said: “That’s so I’ll know where to find a smoke or drink if I want one. Then I can just kill myself instead.” He has touched neither cigarettes nor booze for nearly 10 years.
A union official, noting that the price of cigarettes had risen yet again, put the extra nickel in the vending machine. A coworker laughed at him: “You’ll pay whatever they ask.” The smoker thought: “God, he’s right the tobacco company has me where it wants me.” Then and there, he quit his three-pack-a-day habit forever.
Talk-show host Merv Griffin watched a comedian imitating himas a fat man. The comic had stuffed himself with padding and Griffin could not bear the caricature. He put himself on a diet and exercise program, and soon showed off his new, thin self to his audience.
But here’s the irony and the hope: Self-cure can work, and depending on someone else to cure you usually does not.
There is now good evidence for these heretical assertions. The most compelling statistics come from the success of people who cure themselves without therapy:
Ways To Overcome Addiction
Some other strategies for quitting an addiction include:
- Prepare to quit: Before you quit, think about what you will need to do in order to give up your addiction. This might include eliminating triggers in your environment and finding social support
- Consider medications to treat addiction: If you have an alcohol or drug addiction, there are medications that can help you quit safely and successfully. Talk to your doctor about these options when you are planning to quit.
- Consider your environment: Get rid of anything that might remind you of your addiction or trigger a craving. In some cases, you may find that you need to change your routines or social patterns .
- Find distractions: Staying busy can be a helpful way to distract yourself from cravings and temptations to relapse. Plan what you can do when a craving hits. For example, you might go for a walk, read a book, watch a television show, or call a friend.
- Get support: Talk to the people who are close to you about your plan and ask them for support. Knowing that there are people in your corner who are willing to help you cope with the challenges of quitting can help you feel more encouraged when you are facing difficulties.
In addition to medications, psychotherapy can also be effective in helping overcome addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one approach that can help people change their thinking patterns and learn healthy skills.
For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
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Learn Healthy Ways To Cope With Stress
After addressing your immediate problems with addiction and starting treatment, youll still have to face the problems that led to your drug abuse. Did you start using to numb painful emotions, calm yourself after an argument, unwind after a bad day, or forget about your problems?
Once youre sober, the negative feelings that you dampened with drugs will resurface. For treatment to be successful, youll first need to resolve your underlying issues.
Once you have resolved your underlying issues, you will, at times, continue to experience stress, loneliness, frustration, anger, shame, anxiety, and hopelessness. These emotions are all a normal part of life. Finding ways to address these feelings as they arise is an essential component to your treatment and recovery.
There are healthier ways to keep your stress level in check. You can learn to manage your problems without falling back on your addiction. When youre confident in your ability to quickly de-stress, facing strong feelings isnt as intimidating or overwhelming.
Quickly relieve stress without drugs
Different quick stress relief strategies work better for some people than others. The key is to find the one that works best for you.
Movement. A brisk walk around the block can be enough to relieve stress. Yoga and meditation are also excellent ways to bust stress and find balance.
Step outside and savor the warm sun and fresh air. Enjoy a beautiful view or landscape.
Ensure That You Are Accountable To Someone
In the corporate world, one of the strongest motivators of good performance is being accountable to a superior. Your boss ensures that you do your job by spelling out the consequences if you do not. For any type of addiction, it is important to do the same. Identify a figure who you can be accountable to. You already know the consequences are completely destructive. Therefore, pick someone who is addiction-free. They can be a family member, a colleague, your therapist, a doctor or a spiritual leader. They should be someone who you consider to be in authority. In the world of addiction recovery, they are known as a sponsor.
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Are You Often Just Bored And Needing A Way To Fill The Hole
Instead of gaming, try going for a walk and sitting in the park for a while.
Go people watching or observe nature, and see if you can get lost in it the same way you do in video games.
Take up martial arts, surfing, or woodworking.
Books are another great time filler that leaves you with something you may be missing in your games knowledge. Just keep in mind that if youve been overindulging in games and social media for a while, it may take a week or two to retrain your brain again for the pleasures of in-depth reading.
Finally, sometimes it may be a good idea to learn how to be bored again.
In modern society, weve lost the magical ability to just sit and think. Often our greatest ideas come in our moments of downtime.
And often if you just force some uncomfortable boredom on yourself for a while, youll find it much easier to get motivated for other non-gaming activities youve been putting off.
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This article was co-authored by Natalia S. David, PsyD. Dr. David is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and a Psychiatry Consultant at Clements University Hospital and at Zale Lipshy University Hospital. She is a member of the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, the Academy for Integrative Pain Management, and the American Psychological Associations Division of Health Psychology. In 2017, she received the Baylor Scott & White Research Institutes Podium Presentation Award and scholarship. She received her PsyD from Alliant International University in 2017 with an emphasis in Health Psychology.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 13,423,255 times.
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Is It Possible To Stop An Addiction
Yes, addiction and substance use disorders are treatable. Like other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as asthma or heart disease, addiction isnt curable but it can be successfully managed through proper treatment. Addiction has a relapse rate similar to other chronic diseases for example, the relapse rate for asthma or high blood pressure is 50-70%, while addiction has a relapse rate of around 40-60%. Addiction relapse is considered to be a normal part of the recovery process relapse does not mean that treatment has failed, but can mean that your treatment plan or treatment methods need to be re- evaluated.10
Effective treatment plans benefit from being individualized and constantly adjusted to your changing needstaking into account all of your biological, psychological, and social considerations. Your plan may involve a continuum of care, starting from the moment you enter detox, which focuses on treating withdrawal and helping you become medically stable. Once youve completed detox, youll be ready to transition to additional rehabilitation. Though treatment lengths vary, research supports relatively longer periods of treatment for optimal treatment outcomes. As a formal treatment program comes to an end, youll then move on to aftercare, which is designed to promote lifelong sobriety.5,8,13,14
Why Multiple Addictions Work The Same Way
Why do coffee and cigarettes go together like Mork & Mindy? Actually, the truth about that is pretty deep. Caffeine makes your brain significantly more receptive to dopamine .
When you have a coffee and then a cigarette, you get many times the dopamine you get from a cigarette alone. In other words, caffeine makes your smoking high that much higher. Were talking the Everest of highs .
Plus, caffeine makes nicotine leave your system faster than usual. This is why lots of people smoke more after having caffeine because the caffeine depletes the nicotine so they need another fix. That depletion also makes you feel more anxious, which makes you want to smoke even more.
This is why its a good idea to quit smoking and caffeine at the same time.
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Admit You Are Not In Control
The most important step in breaking a drug abuse is admitting you arent in control of it. As you become addicted to a drug, your body becomes used to its presence. Eventually, your body requires the presence of the drug to function normally. Once you are ready to stop using drugs, you must admit that you cant control your dependency and seek the help of others. You must have an open mind and a willingness to follow the advice that others give you.
Factoid:
An estimated 37,485 people died from a overdose or symptoms of long-term drug use in 2009.
How Can I Tell If I Need Substance Abuse Help
If youre asking yourself whether you need help, theres a chance you might be ready to admit to the presence of a problem. If youre not sure, you might consider whether you meet the criteria for a substance use disorder, or SUD, which is the American Psychiatric Associations diagnostic term for addiction. These criteria include:15,16
- Using drugs or alcohol in higher or more frequent amounts than you originally intended.
- Wanting to stop using drugs or alcohol but being unable to do so.
- Spending a lot of time trying to get, use, and recover from the effects of the substance.
- Experiencing cravings, which are strong feelings and urges to use.
- Being unable to meet your responsibilities at work, home, or school because of your substance use.
- Continuing to use drugs or alcohol even though its causing social or relationship problems.
- Giving up or stopping activities you once enjoyed so you can use drugs or alcohol.
- Using substances in situations where it is dangerous to do so .
- Continuing to drink or use drugs even though you have a psychological or physical problem that you know is probably due to your substance use.
- Experiencing tolerance, or needing to use more of the substance to achieve the desired effect.
- Developing withdrawal symptoms, such as irritability or shakiness, when you stop using the substance.
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Find The Support You Need
People going through emotional distress are susceptible to drug abuse if they lack the right coping skills. There might be events or experiences in the past that affect your feelings and make you feel stressed.
If you feel that you have paranoia, depression, anxiety or other mental problems, you should seek social communities or spiritual organizations that can help you eliminate the negative emotions and behaviors in a healthy life-affirming manner. The problem with using drugs with mental disorders is that they only make your problem worsen.
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I Quit Every Addiction What Happened Next Shocked Me
Two weeks have passed since I started quitting all addictions: drinking alcohol, smoking , sugar, and caffeine.
It was on the 9th of August that my journey into madness began. That day, a brilliantly bright and hot Tuesday.
That day was the day I:
- Finally quit cigarettes and nicotine because I found the best way to stop smoking .
- Beat my sugar addiction
- Drank Coca Cola for the last time
It was the painful beginning of my addition-free life. And yes, giving up alcohol, smoking, nicotine, and sugar at the same time was brutal. I only really got through by using meditation to stop cravings. I also learned that what matters, in the end, is how you control dopamine.
Let me share with you the story of my descent into hell. You wont believe what happened.
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Addiction Treatment Center And Recovery Program Options
Think about which option works best for your situation.
You have several treatment options if youre ready to start the recovery process from alcohol or drug addiction. Before you make a decision, think about which option will work best for you. Have tried treatment before and relapsed? Are you able to take time away from work or home? Are you struggling with a mental health issue in addition to addiction? These are all things to consider before choosing a program.
What Are Substance Abuse And Addiction
The difference between substance abuse and addiction is very slight. Substance abuse means using an illegal substance or using a legal substance in the wrong way. Addiction begins as abuse, or using a substance like marijuana or cocaine.
You can abuse a drug without having an addiction. For example, just because Sara smoked pot a few times doesnt mean that she has an addiction, but it does mean that shes abusing a drug and that could lead to an addiction.
People can get addicted to all sorts of substances. When we think of addiction, we usually think of alcohol or illegal drugs. But people become addicted to medicines, cigarettes, even glue.
Some substances are more addictive than others: Drugs like crack or heroin are so addictive that they might only be used once or twice before the user loses control.
Addiction means a person has no control over whether he or she uses a drug or drinks. Someone whos addicted to cocaine has grown so used to the drug that he or she has to have it. Addiction can be physical, psychological, or both.
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