If you’re battling a substance abuse addiction like illicit or prescription drugs, you likely know how these substances can wreak havoc with your life and health. Too often, people suffering from addiction deny the severity of their problem or believe they can combat the disease of addiction themselves. Seeking out viable treatment, however, is the first step in the recovery process. Addiction can be managed, but it requires drug addiction counseling services and drug rehabilitation.
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Getting Help: Where Do I Start?
When you’re ready to face your addiction, the first vital step is to seek out a drug rehabilitation center. The moment you enter treatment, you begin your path toward long-term recovery. The key is to choose substance abuse therapy that can meet your needs. Many suffering addicts will initially need medical detox and then subsequent treatments to address other aspects of their addiction. Once you enter rehab, addiction specialists will help determine what the best treatment plan is for your particular needs.
What Happens When I Enter Substance Abuse Therapy?
When you enter a treatment center, the first phase of treatment is actually thorough assessment. Addiction specialists need to understand the state of your mental and physical health as well as the nature of your addiction. Addiction specialists will be able to recommend a course of treatment that is specifically tailored to address your addiction and health needs. Caregivers can also address all of a sufferer’s questions about the addiction recovery process and what they can expect during each phase of treatment.
Key Aspects of Substance Abuse Therapy
Drug addiction treatment invariably targets the physical, psychological, and behavioral aspects of addiction. Medical detox is the careful weaning of an addictive substance. This process may take days or even weeks, but it is managed by medical professionals who monitor each inpatient’s health as they are undergoing detox. They also treat withdrawal symptoms in order to reduce their intensity, which enhances the addiction sufferer’s comfort.
While detox addresses addiction’s physical dependency, other therapies are needed to address the psychological aspects of addiction, which can be quite as powerful as the physical dependency on drugs. Therapy that addresses the behavioral aspects of addiction is required to help recovering addicts break their negative patterns of behavior that have led them to abuse drugs.
Aftercare Therapy
Once the intensive portion of therapy is complete, many recovering addicts still need support as they transition back to their lives. Some may still feel vulnerable to past triggers and might need to develop strategies for the long-term management of negative emotions, which often act like triggers for drug abuse. The risk of relapse is high upon leaving intensive treatment, so aftercare therapy often addresses the risk factors for relapse in order to help sufferers achieve their goal of long-term recovery.
It’s important to remember that addiction is a disease–a medically defined disease that requires medical treatment. You can’t overcome addiction on your own, but you can seek help right away to end your cycle of substance abuse.
Tiffany is a Medical Student and also works as a fitness coach in part-time. She is also a writer and writes on health and fitness articles. Tiffany loves to engage with users and help them provide various useful information on General Health. She provides researched-based information and also featured on various blogs and magazines.