Sunday, March 24, 2024

How To Stop Addiction To Drugs

Talk To Your Kids About Drugs

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In order to prevent substance abuse, it is important to talk openly about drugs and alcohol especially to your children. Talk openly to your children about the consequences of drug use and the difficulties that recovery brings at that age. Having an open dialogue about the dangers of substance abuse greatly minimize the chances your kids will succumb to substance use in the first place.

Reaching Out For Support

Talk to your doctor, health professional, counsellor or drug and alcohol service about your decision to quit. Be honest about your situation. Support from a friend or family member can also help.

You can talk to someone in confidence at Counselling Online see their website for more information and for the phone number for your region.

Addiction is also associated with depression and anxiety. Contact Beyond Blue 24 hours a day on 1300 224 636.

Your doctor can refer you to a treatment service. You can also contact some services directly. Call the Alcohol and Drug Foundation on 1300 85 85 84 to find out about these services.

You Take Excessive Amounts To Get High

When you first take a drug, there is no tolerance present. This is why the first high is often described as the best. Over time, the body adapts to the chemical changes, which is called tolerance. As tolerance increases, the body needs the drug more frequently or in higher amounts to produce the same effects.

As you take more of a substance to increase the desired effects or the high, you put yourself at an increased risk of overdose. Overdosing is often fatal. We urge you not to risk quitting drugs without a proper treatment plan get the help you need today.

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Find Support For Your Addiction Recovery

Don’t try to go it alonereach out for support. Whatever treatment approach you choose, having positive influences and a solid support system is essential. The more people you can turn to for encouragement, guidance, and a listening ear, the better your chances for recovery.

Lean on close friends and family. Having the support of friends and family members is an invaluable asset in recovery. If you’re reluctant to turn to your loved ones because you’ve let them down before, consider going to relationship counseling or family therapy.

Build a sober social network. If your previous social life revolved around drugs, you may need to make some new connections. It’s important to have sober friends who will support your recovery. Try taking a class, joining a church or a civic group, volunteering, or attending events in your community.

Consider moving into a sober living home. Sober living homes provide a safe, supportive place to live while you’re recovering from drug addiction. They are a good option if you don’t have a stable home or a drug-free living environment.

Make meetings a priority. Join a 12-step recovery support group, such as Narcotics Anonymous , and attend meetings regularly. Spending time with people who understand exactly what you’re going through can be very healing. You can also benefit from the shared experiences of the group members and learn what others have done to stay sober.

Join A Solid Support Group

Walk Away from Drugs scheduled for Oct. 17

If you dont already have a few committed and supportive friends and family, a support group will be even more important. Being with other people who understand exactly what you are dealing with is extremely important. These groups will also help you find the right resources and tools to deal with the ups and downs of recovering from a drug addiction.

Even if you have family and friends who help you through the recovery journey, finding a support group will still be vital. Eventually, you may even be able to encourage others in their own recovery. If and when you or your friends deal with relapses, support groups will help you get back on track instead of going deeper into your addiction.

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What To Avoid When Talking To A Loved One About Addiction

When talking to a loved one about getting treatment for their addiction, here are some things to avoid:

  • Preaching, lecturing, threatening or moralizing your loved one
  • Emotional appeals that may increase the feelings of guilt and the compulsion to use drugs
  • Lying or making excuses for their behavior
  • Taking over their responsibilities doing this protects them from the consequences of their behavior
  • Enabling their behavior by covering up the abuse or giving them money for drugs
  • Arguing with your loved one when theyre using drugs during this time, your loved one wont be able to hold a rational conversation and likely wont be open to what you have to say
  • Feeling guilty or responsible for their behavior its not your fault

If you feel that your loved one is abusing drugs, the best thing you can do is to encourage them to seek treatment for their addiction. Be loving and supportive, but also know that theyre likely going to make excuses for their behavior. Be firm in what you want, and keep encouraging them to get help. Although this isnt easy to do, its a critical first step in helping them achieve a healthy and happy life in recovery.

B Avoid Replacement Addictive Behaviors

Instead of finding addictive behaviors to replace your addiction, you should focus more on healthy strategies to support your long-term recovery.

The problem with those replacement behaviors is that they create rewarding feelings and sensations, just like your drug addiction. You will have achieved nothing in the end.

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Keep Drug Triggers And Cravings In Check

Your recovery doesn’t end at getting sober. Your brain still needs time to recover and rebuild connections that changed while you were addicted. During this rebuild, drug cravings can be intense. You can support your continued recovery by avoiding people, places, and situations that trigger your urge to use:

Step away from your friends who use. Don’t hang out with friends who are still doing drugs. Surround yourself with people who support your sobriety, not those who tempt you to slip back into old, destructive habits.

Avoid bars and clubs. Even if you don’t have a problem with alcohol, drinking lowers inhibitions and impairs judgment, which can easily lead to a relapse. Drugs are often readily available and the temptation to use can be overpowering. Also avoid any other environments and situations that you associate with drug use.

Be upfront about your history of drug use when seeking medical treatment. If you need a medical or dental procedure done, be upfront and find a provider who will work with you in either prescribing alternatives or the absolute minimum medication necessary. You should never feel ashamed or humiliated about previous drug use or be denied medication for pain if that happens, find another provider.

Alcohol Tobacco And Other Drugs

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The misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription medications affect the health and well-being of millions of Americans. SAMHSAs 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that approximately 19.3 million people aged 18 or older had a substance use disorder in the past year.

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Can One Get Addicted To Prescription Drugs

Many people think that one can only get addicted to recreational drugs. The truth, however, is that one can get addicted to prescription drugs as well.

For a long time, abuse of prescription drugs has been common among adults than in teenagers.

However, the recent past has seen a drastic increase in the number of teens abusing prescription drugs. The most commonly abused prescription drugs are

  • Anti-anxiety and sedatives

Just like recreational drug abuse, abusing prescription drugs has side effects depending on what one is using. However, some common signs can alert you that a loved one is abusing drugs. These signs include

  • Oversleeping or sleeplessness
  • Looking all revved up than usual
  • Making poor decisions
  • Major Causes of Drug Abuse

If you want to know how to prevent drug abuse, you need to understand the root cause of abusing. Below we look at common triggers of drug abuse risk factors.

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To Improve Concentration And Increase Performance

Some people, and especially those who engage in sporting activities, take stimulants to increase their performance. Others, and especially students, take sleep alleviating drugs, to study for more hours. When these behaviors may give you short term gains, the side effects are worse and long-lasting.

Other reasons people risk getting addicted include

  • Relieve tension
  • Get accepted by their peers
  • Increase alertness
  • Reduce appetite

When there are more than one risk factors involved, the chances of becoming an addict are higher. However, sometimes, one can get addicted, even without any risk factors playing a part.

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Where To Get Help For Drugs

A GP is a good place to start. They can discuss your problems with you and get you into treatment.

They may offer you treatment at the practice or refer you to your local drug service.

If youâre not comfortable talking to a GP, you can approach your local drug treatment service yourself.

Visit the Frank website to find local drug treatment services.

If youâre having trouble finding the right sort of help, call the Frank drugs helpline on 0300 123 6600. They can talk you through all your options.

Why Is It So Hard To Overcome An Addiction

Prevent Overdose
  • 1When you try to stop an addiction, you experience withdrawal. Your withdrawal symptoms can be physical, psychological, or emotional. When youre in withdrawal, it feels like the only thing that can make you feel better is what youre addicted to. Thats not true, though, and your withdrawal symptoms will pass.XResearch source
  • 2Relapses happen gradually as you let your guard down. They tend to happen in phases as you start feeling successful. Most relapses start with you withdrawing from your healthy new habits, like expressing your feelings, going to support groups, or hanging out with your supportive friends. Then, you start having cravings and thinking about your old life. You might even start lying to yourself and telling yourself that the past was better than it was. At that point, you might be tempted to use again.XResearch source
  • You can prevent a relapse. Just make sure you stick to your healthy habits, and youll be able to stay on track.
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    E Get Treatment To Overcome An Addiction

    The next step in your journey towards treatment, depending on how long youve been using and the severity of your condition, is treatment. The treatment includes both medical and psychological.

    Theres no universal treatment for drug and substance addiction. What works for another may not work for you. But some of the treatment options include:

    i) Psychotherapy

    Psychotherapy, coupled with other behavioral therapies, can help you improve your coping skills, develop healthy habits, and change your perspective.

    Examples of this kind of treatment include cognitive behavior therapy, which focuses on changing your thoughts and behaviors mindfulness therapy, which helps you fight anxiety and depression and motivational enhancement therapy, which enables you to increase your readiness for change.

    Of course, family therapy is another option. This is particularly ideal for teens and young adults and is often effective in improving, supporting, and helping you overcome addiction.

    ii) Medications

    Medications are usually best suited for treating withdrawal symptoms. They also help you remain in treatment and prevent relapse.

    The type of drugs the doctor will prescribe depends on your type of addiction and the extent of the damage. For instance, alcohol addiction, nicotine, and opioids have different prescription medications.

    These medications are helpful in both the short and the long term. It is important to talk to your doctor about the available options for better outcomes.

    Reflect On Your Addiction

    Take time to reflect on what is important to you, how addiction has negatively affected you, and how your life will improve with sobriety.

    The easiest way to reflect effectively is to keep a daily journal. With a journal, you can help yourself start a plan to stop addiction to help identify patterns, triggers, goals, and motivators.

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    Distract Yourself From Taking Drugs

    When you want to avoid something uncomfortable like drug use, you desire to distract yourself from doing it. If drug use has become a pattern for you for a while now, you feel like stopping but you cant which is an addiction. You can try distracting yourself by shifting your attention. Its healthier to acknowledge and let go of these negative feeling.

    However, you should transform the distraction into a healthy distraction, rather than into an unhealthy one. Some distractions such as eating junks or taking alcohol are considered unhealthy. Healthy distractions include taking a walk, reading a book, eating a fruit and such. Choosing productive distractions, show that you respect and care for your body.

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    Why Overcoming Addiction Is So Difficult

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    According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a “treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individuals life experiences.”

    People continue to engage in harmful behaviors despite negative consequences because addiction changes the brain’s reward system, which increases the desire for the substances or experiences. These changes in the brain also affect impulse control and judgment, which makes quitting that much more challenging.

    Though addiction recovery is challenging, addiction is treatable. With supportive resources and the right treatment approach, you can overcome the physical and mental challenges you face in order to recover.

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    Build A Meaningful Drug

    You can support your drug treatment and protect yourself from relapse by having activities and interests that provide meaning to your life. It’s important to be involved in things that you enjoy, that make you feel needed, and add meaning to your life. When your life is filled with rewarding activities and a sense of purpose, your addiction will lose its appeal.

    Pick up an old hobby or try a new one. Do things that challenge your creativity and spark your imaginationsomething you’ve always wanted to try. Learn a musical instrument, a foreign language, or try a new sport.

    Adopt a pet. Yes, pets are a responsibility, but caring for an animal makes you feel loved and needed. Pets can also get you out of the house for exercise.

    Spend time in nature. Take a scenic hike, go fishing or camping, or enjoy regular walks in a park.

    Enjoy the arts. Visit a museum, go to a concert or a play, take an art class or write a memoir.

    Get involved in your community. Replace your addiction with drug-free groups and activities. Volunteer, become active in your church or faith community, or join a local club or neighborhood group.

    Set meaningful goals. Having goals to work toward and something to look forward to can be powerful antidotes to drug addiction. It doesn’t matter what the goals are, just that they are important to you.

    How Do They Work

    Although drug addiction and abuse impact a persons entire life from their physical health, to their behavior, thoughts, and feelings, addiction starts and ends in the brain. For example, the drug Naltrexone blocks the brains opioid receptors. These receptors are activated in opioid addiction when someone takes an opioid drug. The chemical compounds of the opioids bind to the brains receptors, flooding the body with a euphoric feeling that is incredibly addictive. But taking Naltrexone means the prescription will bind to the brains receptors.

    Two things happen as a result of this mechanism. For one thing, the receptors are activated, so the user wont feel intense cravings to use opioids, which is what would happen in an addicted person who was attempting a withdrawal. On the other hand, Naltrexone blocks a person from feeling high if they were to relapse and take an opioid drug. Vivitrol is an injectable, extended-release version of Naltrexone, and is used to treat alcohol addiction. While the tablet form of Naltrexone must be used every day or two, Vivitrol can be injected once per month for the same effects.

    Other medications that are used in the fight against opioid addiction include agonist drugs, such as methadone and naloxone. These drugs inhibit the brains opioid receptors from activating. But naloxone takes things a step further. The drug also reverses the effects of opioids, so it can be used to treat an overdose.

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    Tips For Preventing Substance Abuse

    While there is no one way or guaranteed way to prevent someone from abusing drugs and alcohol, there are things that everyone can do to prevent substance abuse.

    Here are the top five ways to prevent substance abuse:

    1. Understand how substance abuse develops. Substance abuse starts by:

    • Using addictive drugs for recreational purposes
    • Seeking out intoxication every time you use
    • Abusing prescription medication

    2. Avoid Temptation and Peer Pressure. Develop healthy friendships and relationships by avoiding friends or family members who pressure you to use substances. Its often said we become most like those we surround ourselves by, meaning if you surround yourself with people who abuse drugs and alcohol you are more likely to as well. Peer pressure is a major part of life for teens and adults. If you are looking to stay drug free develop a good way to just say no, prepare a good excuse or plan ahead of time to keep from giving into peer pressure.

    3. Seek help for mental illness. Mental illness and substance abuse often go hand in hand. If you are dealing with a mental illness such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder you should seek professional help from a licensed therapist or counselor. A professional will provide you with healthy coping skills to alleviate your symptoms without turning to drugs and alcohol.

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