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Drug de-addiction is possible. It’s a process that takes time. But before that one should understand addiction better. This helps to get at the root of the problem and overcome drug addiction. Here’s some information on what you need to do to understand addiction better and beat it. ~ Ed.
Being an addict isn’t a flaw in a person’s character, it’s a disease.
Whether it’s an obsession or a habit that we can’t get rid of; removing it disrupts the quality of life that we are used to.
However, some people have the tendency to get addicted to some substances more than others. Suffering from mental illnesses and severe stress can drive someone to start looking for ways to escape their horrible lives and issues they simply cannot confront.
Abusing alcohol, certain prescription drugs, and other substances can change the chemical balance in our brains, and this alone makes it seem that sobriety is an impossible goal to achieve. However, no matter how deep in you think you might be, there is always a way out.
Regardless of the substance, many addicts lived to tell their recovery stories and how they fought urges every day to make the dream of sobriety seem more real than you would have ever thought.
How to Beat Drug Addiction
There are many ways that you can beat your addiction. The first vital step in your way to recovery is realizing that you have a problem.
Addicts usually view themselves as if they are in control of the whole situation. You might have told yourself that you are capable of stopping whenever you want.
Without waiting for the big tragedy that will open your eyes to the problem you are suffering from, you need to ask yourself one question, when was the last time you spent a whole day without using or drinking? That’s how you will be able to realize the truth of the situation and start your journey to a better life.
Treatment Options
It may seem that there are two ways of quitting drugs; you either go cold turkey and stop using all at once, or gradually. While the cold turkey method might work with smoking, drug abuse can alter the balance of chemicals in your brain.
Cold turkey in these cases is not only impossible, but it can be quite dangerous. Medical supervision is critical through the first stages of withdrawal.
The rate of drug addicts around the world is increasing, but so is the availability of help. Rehab centers are becoming less of a taboo and more accepted as a goto option because of their professionalism and positive long term outcomes.
If we have a look at the services in Texas, for example, where plenty of addicts have the option of rehab, you’ll find that specialists at the Texas drug rehab center believe that cases of dual diagnosis, when patients are suffering from both drug addiction and behavioral or mental issues, are best treated in residential treatment centers, at least during the first 30 to 90 days.
The best thing about residential treatment is getting away from all the stressors in your life that could drive you to start using again. Being away from all the possible triggers gives you a clear mind to start identifying your triggers and finding healthy solutions for your troubles instead of just running away.
Counseling
It might seem that withdrawal and quitting using are the hardest part. While that might be true, working on yourself to stay clean is what matters the most.
It’s best to seek behavioral counseling to work on your issues. Seeing a good therapist to help you with any mental issues, past traumas, or any stressors you might be suffering from is the best next step after the treatment.
Dealing with your problems and finding healthier ways to solve them will ensure that you won’t go look for solutions at the bottom of a bottle. Your doctor may suggest that you start CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to learn how you can cope with cravings and urges.
How to Overcome and Fight the Urges
You are not a bad person for having cravings or for yearning after the high you once felt. The important thing is to not give in to them. There are different ways that you can learn how to control yourself so you wouldn’t lose the progress you were able to achieve so far.
Use logic and reason. Finding distractions by working harder, adopting new hobbies, or even starting a new project is fine.
However, at the end of the day, there will be some free time where you will have urges. The best way to deal with them isn’t by shutting them out, on the contrary, acknowledge these cravings.
Acknowledging will give you a fighting chance to sit down and think logically. Do you want to throw everything you have done and accomplished over a few hours of high that will soon have you crashing down?
List all your reasons to quit. You can even make a list of the pros and cons of acting on your urges. Sooner or later, an urge always goes away.
Understanding Addiction
A lot of people are under the wrong impression of how drugs and addiction intersect; they believe that a drug has an inherent magical capability to convert any person using it to an addict constantly looking for a fix.
This may be the case in a very low percentile of the population of addicts around the world, but the major reason for addiction always was a mix of personal, political, and economic factors.
Have you ever asked yourself why a grandmother past 65 never turned into a junkie despite being administered loads of diamorphine, the purest form of heroin, for weeks after her hip replacement surgery?
It’s not because she is strong-willed, but it’s because the core of addiction was never about the drug, but more about what kind of feelings and their precursors that make the person crave a drug.
You’ll need to go down the memory lane, whether through therapy or alone, to see why you first started taking drugs and if that reason is still the same one which makes you crave the drug.
Final Thoughts
Don’t let media outlets screaming into people that they’re inherently bad for taking drugs to get to your self-esteem.
That was never the truth; the human relationship with drugs is extremely complex to be watered down by such a tone.
You need to understand that it’s not the availability of drugs that make you do them, the demand never goes down when the supply does, it’s because you’re looking to drugs to be a way out of certain feelings, memories, traumas, or many other things.
It sounds easier said than done, but the core of drug addiction therapy and many others is to love yourself.
“The opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety. The opposite of addiction is a connection”.
Over to you
Have you or your loved ones every fought to overcome drug addiction? Share your thoughts and tips to beat addiction in the comments so it helps others.
This article is very good and informative and helps many people to beat their drug addiction. Thank You for publishing this type of article to help the youth.
Very Useful Article for drug addiction. I like all Treatment Options mentioned in this article.
Thanks
Hello Emily,
Stating a problem is easy. Finding a solution is not. This is the major issue that many drug addicts face. In my opinion – Ending your addiction is hard but not impossible.
Experimenting with drugs and alcohol can lead to addiction that may ruin the physical and mental health of an individual. Staying away from drugs and alcohol is the only way to positively prevent drug addiction.
Clearly, not every person that tries alcohol or drugs will become addicted to them. Many people drink alcohol socially without having a problem with it.
The same goes for recreational drugs but some people have underlying factors such as genetics, mental health disorders and other issues – that serve as a stimulus for relying on drugs or alcohol to get them through the day.
Eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is great way of preventing drug and alcohol addiction.
Eventually, thanks for sharing your healthy experience with us.
With best wishes,
Amar Kumar