Drug addiction is a mental health condition when a person can’t resist the urge to use both legal and illegal drugs despite the consequences. Such consequences may affect their health, daily activities, relationships, and overall lifestyle.
Continuous drug usage may alter the brain’s mechanisms and functions, especially in areas related to self-control, stress, and reward. This is why everyone often has a hard time overcoming drug addiction, even if they want to.
Also, drug addiction is highly dangerous and catastrophic. When someone has fallen victim to drugs, they’ll prioritize drugs more than their overall well-being. This may cause severe consequences, such as high drug tolerance, social problems, and withdrawal symptoms.
This is why learning how to overcome and recover from addiction is crucial. However, keep in mind that the journey to sobriety takes time, patience, and effort. In most cases, some patients may need to quit more than once before they’re able to become completely sober.
If you or a loved one are having difficulties with drug addiction, call your local support and rehabilitation facilities for professional mental health treatment.
This article will guide you through some ways to recover from drug addiction and bring back the life you previously had.
Contents
1. Admit That There’s A Problem
Recognizing the problem within is one of the hardest parts of the recovery process. This is because the drugs force the mind to make up justifications and excuses to continue using them.
When you admit that there’s a problem you have to recognize, you’ll have the courage to face your condition and what causes it. In addition, it’ll be easy for you to seek help from the people around you.
But if you’re not yet ready to face your family and friends, you may consider seeking professional mental health experts, such as psychologists and psychiatrists.
2. Decide To Change
Deciding to change is a crucial process to recovering completely from drug addiction. At this point, it’d be helpful to start with a goal in mind. Also, stay away from ambitious goals, such as reaching sobriety in a couple of weeks, which may only lead to unfortunate consequences.
In addition, it’d be best to set a goal that you can achieve than quitting ‘cold turkey’. Cold turkey means sudden complete cessation of using an addictive drug. Why is it bad and not advisable? Because it may lead to relapse, which can be more dangerous.
At this stage, seeking help from therapists, doctors, and psychologists is most helpful. They’ll help you understand the possible risks throughout the recovery process and how to alleviate them.
3. Prepare Yourself To Change
Once you have a clear goal, it’s time to make some necessary preparations for your recovery. These include eradicating all substances that may cause addiction, including alcohol, as well as the potential triggers that may force you to relapse.
It also means destroying and eliminating all the paraphernalia that may trigger your cravings and push you to use drugs or engage in violent and harmful behavior. In addition, changing your daily routine may be necessary to help you reduce the interaction with people, objects, and environments that may trigger your cravings.
On the other hand, a part of the preparation stage is deciding the right approach to overcome and recover from addiction and the essential resources you might need in order to succeed.
For example, a smoker who wants to quit may decide whether to stop smoking abruptly or reduce their use of nicotine little by little. Then, they’ll need additional resources to quit completely, such as looking for a support group, purchasing nicotine replacements, or consulting a medical expert for smoking cessation medications.
4. Seek Social Support
Seeking social support is an important step in the recovery process. It helps you stay connected with the people you care about and avoid the feelings of loneliness that may push you to use addictive drugs again.
So, take your time to connect with your family and friends willing to support you in achieving your goals. Also, you may consider letting some of your friends who still use drugs and participate in addictive actions know that you want to change for the best.
Of course, some of them may be surprised or may not understand your point. However, it’s best to let them know what your goals are and what are the things they can do to help you.
5. Attending Support Groups
When you’re having a hard time, having family or friends around you may help. However, they don’t always know the right words to comfort you. Medical professionals may offer emotional support, but they’re focused on providing medical needs. That being said, you may consider attending a support group that fits your needs.
A support group is a social gathering of people who are facing similar experiences to share their struggles and troubles in life. In this process, they’ll be able to provide support, consolation, comfort, and encouragement to one another.
Support groups are developed to connect people who are going through the same circumstances. Sometimes, the voice of other people who have walked through the same path is the best form of help you can get.
Here are some support groups you may attend to:
12-Step Program
12-step programs are one of the most popular and effective ways to combat addiction. This program is primarily developed to address alcohol addiction. But because of its success, many groups have adopted their 12-step guidelines to overcome other forms of substance abuse, including drug addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
Narcotics Anonymous is a group of people who are trying to recover from drug addiction. It’s developed based on the principles of Alcohol Anonymous (AA), a support group for people suffering from alcohol addiction.
NA members help, motivate, and encourage others to stay on the path to sobriety. Like other support groups, meetings usually involve sharing stories, including other people’s journeys to success.
SMART Recovery
Self-Management and Recovery Training, or SMART Recovery, is a common alternative to 12-step groups. It educates people who are recovering from addiction to manage their addictive behaviors by resolving the feelings and thoughts connected to drug misuse.
Unlike 12-step support groups, SMART Recovery uses a 4-point program that can be accomplished in any order you prefer. These include:
- Maintaining and building motivation
- Coping with cravings
- Managing underlying behaviors, feelings, and thoughts
- Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle
Furthermore, people participating in SMART Recovery learn the right tools and resources for their change. These include the Cost/Benefit Analysis, Hierarchy of Values, brainstorming, role-playing, and ABCs of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.
Nar-Anon
Nar-Anon is a support group for the loved ones and friends of individuals suffering from drug addiction. This group was developed to show people addicted to drugs they’re not alone in this battle. It teaches family members effective strategies to cope and communicate with their struggling loved ones.
6. Seek Professional Treatment
It’s always a good idea to consult a doctor or your local rehabilitation facilities when trying to quit and recover from drug addiction. They’ll help you understand various treatment options for your condition.
Here are some effective treatment programs that may help you completely recover from drug addiction:
Inpatient Rehab
Inpatient rehab is an intensive, structured treatment program developed to address all aspects of addiction. During the treatment process, patients temporarily reside in a medical facility 24/7, where they can receive timely medical care and support. In addition, it’s the best option for people suffering from chronic addiction, dual diagnosis, and behavioral disorders.
Outpatient Rehab
Outpatient rehab is another intensive addiction treatment program and offers the same treatments provided in inpatient rehab. In addition, it allows patients to live in their homes during the treatment process. With this, they can continue working and studying while attending treatment sessions every day.
Detoxification
Detoxification allows people to withdraw from drug addiction safely until drugs have been completely eradicated from their systems. Usually, it’s the primary step of any treatment process, helping individuals overcome mild to severe levels of addictions.
In other cases, medications may be prescribed in conjunction with detoxification to alleviate potential withdrawal symptoms. Such medications are only prescribed until the patient no longer depends on the use of drugs.
7. Seek Counseling Therapies
Therapies are often facilitated by a clinical psychologist with the purpose of helping patients improve their conditions, develop their coping mechanisms, and change behavioral patterns that may contribute to addiction.
Here are other types of psychotherapies that may help you achieve complete sobriety:
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavior therapy is one of the most effective psychotherapies when treating drug addiction. It focuses on helping people identify and change inaccurate and destructive thinking patterns that negatively affect their feelings and behavior. Then, they’ll be replaced with more realistic concepts.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
This type of psychotherapy allows individuals to process their thinking and emotions without judging them. It makes use of the elements of cognitive therapy to replace destructive thinking patterns and replace them with more realistic and positive thoughts. And it promotes clear thinking and provides the tools necessary to eradicate your negative thoughts.
Final Words
Drug addiction is a serious case that needs immediate help before it causes severe and devastating consequences, such as depression and suicide. If you or a loved one are struggling with drug addiction, ask for help and consult a medical provider or your local rehab facility as soon as possible.
Furthermore, this article is only a guide to help you understand the following techniques that may be used to recover from drug addiction. It’s always best to seek professional help to determine the right treatment program for your condition.
