Author: Gary Jackson

Choosing a Drug Rehab Addiction Program

The evidence shows that every day, people choose to recover from addiction on their own. One way or another, they learn and deploy a set of skills that help them get through the strong cravings and urges of the difficult early stages of recovery. Some of the most helpful strategies for dealing with cravings are summarized in the acronym DEADS. The first step in the recovery process is stopping drug use. The endpoint is voluntary control over use and reintegration into the roles and responsibilities of society.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) focuses on acceptance and change. Started in the 1970s to treat people who were suicidal, DBT has been adapted for other uses, including substance use disorders. In treating substance use disorders, the emphasis is on curbing substance use and behaviors that lead to it and boosting healthy behaviors (like starting positive relationships) that help the person avoid using. Studies of outcome of addiction treatment may use one term or the other, but they typically measure the same effects. Still, some people in the addiction-treatment field reserve recovery to mean only the process of achieving remission and believe it is a lifelong enterprise of avoiding relapse.

Peer support groups for drug addiction

Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear of some new high-profile actor, singer, or politician checking into a center to treat a drug or alcohol problem. And when a celebrity goes to rehab, it’s often to an exclusive facility with marble baths, ocean views, and a full spa. Vouchers for goods and services, or privileges in a more rigid treatment setting, are common. Withdrawal from different categories of drugs — such as depressants, stimulants or opioids — produces different side effects and requires different approaches. Detox may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, buprenorphine, or a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. • Connection—being in touch with others who believe in and support recovery, and actively seeking help from others who have experienced similar difficulties.

The uncertainty of a person’s behavior tests family bonds, creates considerable shame, and give rise to great amounts of anxiety. Because families are interactive systems, everyone is affected, usually in ways they are not even aware of. When a person goes into treatment, it isn’t just a case of fixing the problem person. The change destabilizes the adaptation the family has made—and while the person in recovery is learning to do things differently, so must the rest of the family learn to do things differently.

Staying Social When You Quit Drinking

Medicine has not found a way to “cure” these diseases with a pill or an operation. Instead, they require a lifetime of treatment, coupled with lifetime behavioral changes. Outpatient treatment has proven to be equally effective for many addicts, experts say. Either way, not even the fanciest program can guarantee successful treatment.

Recovery suggests a state in which the addiction is overcome; clinical experience and research studies provide ample evidence. Although there’s no cure for drug addiction, treatment options can help you overcome an addiction and stay drug-free. Your treatment depends on the drug used and any related medical or mental health disorders you may have. Recovery from addiction is not a linear process, and increasingly, relapse is seen as an opportunity for learning. Such triggers are especially potent in the first 90 days of recovery, when most relapse occurs, before the brain has had time to relearn to respond to other rewards and rewire itself to do so. Learning what one’s triggers are and acquiring an array of techniques for dealing with them should be essential components of any recovery program.