Choice Of Primary Drug
As mentioned above, withdrawal symptoms differ depending on the type of drug. Weed is not as addictive as heroin, for example. So if your pot consumption is excessive, you could realistically quit or reduce your intake without treatment.
But quitting drinking and benzos âcold turkeyâ can kill you. Rehabs offer safe detoxes where medication can reduce discomfort. A medical setting is also optimal if multiple substances are at play.
Form New Positive Habits
Most alcoholics develop a drinking routine. In order to stop drinking, you need to break your old habits and replace them with healthier alternatives. If you always drink at home after work in front of the TV, its time to unplug. Make a commitment to do a different activity to unwind. This can be going for a walk, writing, reading a book or spending time with family.
In the beginning, its a good idea to avoid long periods of free time alone. When youre out in public or with friends , you will find it much more difficult to indulge your old habits.
What Is Samhsas National Helpline
SAMHSAs National Helpline, , or TTY: is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.
Also visit the online treatment locators.
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Come To Reality With Your Addiction And Decide To Take Action
In many cases, drug addiction happens as a result of trauma in your life. However, there are many other cases when it happens almost by accident. An example of this is athletes who get addicted to painkillers. Either way, the first step to coming out of an addiction is facing the truth.
It can be easy to tell yourself that you dont have a real problem or that its not causing any damage, but these lies actually deepen your addiction. Admitting that there is a problem and being willing to reach out for help is the first step to recovery. It takes courage and strength to admit this to yourself and to anyone else, so dont diminish the importance of this first step.
Here are a few more tips to help you come to terms with your addiction.
Reflect on How Drugs Impacted Your Life
Think about the first time you tried drugs and what you were feeling. Ask yourself these questions:
- Have I seen my family recently?
- Have I seen my friends recently?
- Does my drug use make me feel shame or guilt?
- Have I broken the law because of these habits?
- Have I tried to stop and failed?
- Are these habits taking my life in a direction that I want?
You cant outsmart your addiction. But these questions can help you think about the difference between the life that you want to have and the life that you will have because of drugs.
Think About the Positive Changes When You Quit
Benefits Of Professional Treatment
Whether inpatient or outpatient, several hours a day or a few days a week, professional treatment offers a wide range of benefits for anyone trying to get sober.
A treatment center like Michaels House offers integrated and evidence-based treatment methods that address the whole person and their unique needs. Michaels Houses emphasis on co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders allows people to address any underlying issues that may contribute to substance abuse, making the chances for long-term recovery much greater.
We offer both inpatient and outpatient programs for alcohol and drug abuse as well as mental health issues, with personally tailored programs aimed at meeting the specific needs of the individual. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, contact our 24-hour, toll free helpline at to talk with one of our dedicated admissions coordinators about how we can help.
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Tips To Stop Drinking Alcohol On Your Own
Even if you plan to stop drinking on your own, most alcoholics cant simply cut themselves off. People with real drinking problems usually wont be able to resist the cravings or painful withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol withdrawal can also be dangerous and should not be done unsupervised.
However, there are steps you can start taking today to cut back on your alcohol consumption. Following these self-help tips;over time can help you cut your drinking down little by little and, ultimately, break your addiction.
Note: An alcohol rehab clinic is the best route for many people. Rehab clinics have professional alcohol detox programs overseen by trained medical staff who have experience working with substance abusers.
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.
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Follow Medical Advice For Detox And Withdrawal
When you decide to quit drugs, you must remove all the chemicals from the drug that are present in your body through a process called detox. Drug treatment centers offer medical expertise that will make this process go as smoothly as possible. They will offer you the nutritious meals, medication and rest that are required to get off the drug in a healthy way. Following your doctors instructions during and after detox helps get your body off to the right start when you are quitting drugs.
Factoid:
In 2009, around 4.5 million emergency room visits were related to drug use.
Begin Your Rehabilitation Journey
Once youve conquered the dangers of drug withdrawal, youre ready to begin the rehabilitation process. Understand that although you dont necessarily have to enroll in a program, you must still do all of the work that you would have done had you undergone treatment.
It is critical that you begin by identifying the root cause of your addiction. You may be using substances to escape reality, get away from depression or anxiety, or to cope with something in your past.
It will be very difficult to stop using if you dont understand why you started in the first place.
If you believe the problem is related to a separate, underlying mental health issue, then it is imperative that you seek out professional help to guide you through rehab. Co-occurring disorders are extremely difficult for fully trained professionals to treat, let alone an individual performing self-guided rehab at home.
Addressing your mental health via therapy or the right prescription medication, however, may enable you to eventually tackle the rehabilitation process on your own.
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How Can I Help A Drug Addict Quit
Having this sort of knowledge is empowering, and it can help you take the personal hurt and pain out of the equation and move toward taking steps that will help the person get on a path of recovery.
What a lot of people dont understand when it comes to how to help someone quit drugs is also that by enabling them, theyre doing the addict absolutely no favors. Along with learning about the components of addiction, its important to learn what enabling is, and eliminate those actions from your life.
An addict is going to be more motivated to receive help if theyve hit rock bottom, which means theyve felt the full weight of the consequences of their actions and drug use. If youre enabling them, youre taking away or lessening some of these consequences, and youre then making it less likely theyll seek help.
Other tips for how you can help someone who is on drugs include:
- Express how their addiction is impacting you but dont be judgmental
- Show compassion and empathy without enabling them
- Set personal boundaries of behaviors and actions you wont tolerate, and stick to them
- Be consistent in your words and your actions. For example, dont one day tell your loved one you wont be around them when theyre high, and the next day allow them to use in your home. Consistency is key if you truly want to help someone who is on drugs.
Seeking addiction treatment can feel overwhelming. We know the struggle, which is why we’re uniquely qualified to help.
Find The Motivation To Quit
If youre struggling with drug abuse and seriously want to turn your life around, you must develop the motivation to help yourself succeed. Realize that living a healthy, prosperous life depends on your ability to stay sober, and if you have a family, they rely on your sobriety, too.
Though motivation can be difficult to come by when youre living in the depths of drug abuse, its not impossible to build. If the people you normally associate with also use drugs, try taking a step back from your social circle. If your children would like you to attend a special event, realize that theyre only young once, and if you miss out now, those are precious moments youll never regain. Take stock of your life and ask yourself: Am I living the life I want to live?
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I Can Quit Drugs On My Own: I Dont Need To Go To Rehab
If you live with substance use or addiction, youve probably thought, at some point, that you can quit using drugs on your own. Whether its addiction to marijuana, alcohol, amphetamines , prescription painkillers , hallucinogens, cocaine, heroin, or any other type of drug, you might think you can stop anytime.
However, were here to break the news to you:
This is easier said than done.
Quitting drug use on your own, without seeking professional treatment, is very, very difficult. Professionals do not recommend doing it alone, especially if you know you have an addiction problem. You might have already seen this in your life. Think about how many times you told yourself that youre going to quit. If youre like most teens with addiction issues, youve probably already been down that road a bunch of times. And if youre still reading this, that means it probably didnt work.
If you have an addiction problem, the best way to solve it is with professional teen substance abuse treatment.
For most teens with substance use problems, quitting without the help of professional treatment just doesnt work. Even if you have loads of will and determination even if you recognize the damage drugs cause and make a firm, internal decision like Im never going to take drugs again; you might have found that you cant stop using, despite your best intentions.
Five Steps To A Sober Lifestyle
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Most People With Addiction Simply Grow Out Of It: Why Is This Widely Denied
1 November 2014
3 years old
The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the ageing out experience of the majority is ignored by treatment providers and journalists. So argues Maia Szalavitz in this article originally published by Substance.com
When I stopped shooting coke and heroin, I was 23. I had no life outside of my addiction. I was facing serious drug charges and I weighed 85 pounds, after months of injecting, often dozens of times a day.
But although I got treatment, I quit at around the age when, according to large epidemiological studies, most people who have diagnosable addiction problems do so without treatment. The early to mid-20s is also the period when the prefrontal cortex the part of the brain responsible for good judgement and self-restraint finally reaches maturity.
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. However, thats not what the epidemiology of the disorder suggests. By age 35, half of all people who qualified for active alcoholism or addiction diagnoses during their teens and 20s no longer do, according to a study of over 42,000 Americans in a sample designed to represent the adult population.
Maia Szalavitz is a leading neuroscience and addiction journalist and a columnist at Substance.com.
Journal About Addiction Recovery
The benefits of journaling are incredible! Besides meditation, there are few things on this earth that can help expand and heal your mind like journaling can. The benefits of journaling are practically endless; with everything from increasing intelligence, happiness, memory, creativity, and confidence to just name a few.;
Journaling can be anything youd like. Many people write down their current state of mind, their goals, current experiences, and what they are thankful for. The goal of journaling is just to write down whatever you like. Often times this process naturally aligns your thoughts in a clear way, much like meditation. The bonus about journaling over meditation is the power to look back and see where you were months or years before. This helps you both measure your journey but also gives you a chance to always remember your life with greater details than memory ever could.;
Journaling should be done every day, but this is the hardest part of journaling. To start, always journal at a particular time during the day. Without having a dedicated time, it can be easy to push it aside until you find yourself already in tomorrow without having written anything. A good time can be when you come home from work or school. Mornings are a typical time for most journalers but mornings can often be rushed. Your journaling time should be calm and natural. In the beginning, it might help to set a phone alarm as a daily reminder.;
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Draw A Line At Their Unacceptable Behaviors And Compromises You Are Unwilling To Make
Cutting someone slack is not doing them any favors when they are needing to turn their bad habits around. Its not going to be an easy road to transformation, but its going to be even harder if those bad habits are still getting supporthowever indirect or unintentional that support might be. Stay honest about what youre unwilling to tolerate, and commit to those boundaries. Once your loved one is in treatment, you will have support for these positive boundaries on various levels through family programming and new habit building.
Alcohol Addiction Treatment Options
Some people are able to stop drinking on their own or with the help of a 12-step program or other support group . Others need medical supervision in order to withdraw from alcohol safely and comfortably. Which option is best for you depends on how much youve been drinking, how long youve had a problem, the stability of your living situation, and other health issues you may have.
The first step is often to consult your primary care doctor or GP. Your doctor can evaluate your drinking patterns, diagnose any co-occurring disorders, assess your overall health, and offer treatment referrals. They may even be able to prescribe medication to help you quit.
Examples of alcohol treatment programs |
Residential treatment involves living at a treatment facility while undergoing intensive treatment during the day. Residential treatment normally lasts from 30-90 days. |
Partial hospitalization;is for people who require ongoing medical monitoring but have a stable living situation. These treatment programs usually meet at the hospital for 3-5 days a week, 4-6 hours per day. |
Intensive outpatient programs focus on relapse prevention and can often be scheduled around work or school. |
Therapy can help you identify the root causes of your alcohol use, repair your relationships, and learn healthier coping skills and how to deal with triggers that could cause you to relapse. |
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Rehab Is The Best Chance For Recovery
If you have an addiction and want to get sober, treatment may be your best option. Beating an addiction to drugs or alcohol requires not only eliminating the physical dependence but also addressing the behavioral issues. Simply quitting cold turkey will not change the psychological aspect of addiction. Recovery from addiction involves changing the way you think, feel and behave. Its difficult to address the psychological side of addiction without help from a professional.
To eliminate the physical dependence, youll need to detox or eliminate the drugs or alcohol from your system. Medically assisted detox is much safer than trying to detox on your own. If you detox in a medical environment, youll have professionals there to help with any withdrawal symptoms, which can be life-threatening in some cases. Not all rehabs offer medically assisted detox, but its important to find one that does if youre physically dependent on the substance.
Addiction is a lifelong disease. Going through the treatment process will teach you to beat it time and time again. You will also gain a support network to help you in the battle for years to come.
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All of the information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional.