Addiction is a harmful habit and not one that is easy to get rid of. It is harmful to not only the people with addiction but the people around them as well. Recovering from addiction can be extremely difficult and stressful, and many addicts relapse within the first year due to various reasons like the extremity of withdrawal symptoms, a lack of proper support, and being exposed to personal triggers. When it comes to providing help to someone you love and care about, it may not always be easy to get through to them as they might resist or refuse help, might become irritable, or might even isolate themselves from you.
Recovering from addiction or helping someone recover from addiction may be difficult, but it is not impossible. Fortunately, there is a lot of professional help available nowadays, along with options of what kind of treatment or support you want in your journey to recovery. Here are some important treatment or support options that you should know about.
Detoxification
Detoxification is the process of removal of harmful toxins from your body. Detox is the most important step for any recovering addict, as the toxins need to leave the body before one can actually start recovering. Detox causes people to feel withdrawal symptoms, and depending on your physical health, these symptoms may vary from mild to severe, which is why it is recommended to seek professional help for detox such as Alcohol rehab west palm beach.
Once the toxins start leaving the body, the withdrawal symptoms start, and so most addicts need constant supervision to help them remain clean. In some situations, a medicine may also be prescribed to help through the process. The process is difficult and taxing, and anyone going through it alone might not be able to complete their detox and relapse.
You can seek professional help from various substance abuse facilities present all over the country, which can offer a variety of services like Inpatient Detoxification – followed by Inpatient Rehab – or even Residential Detoxification, which is especially relevant in the post-pandemic world.
Therapy
For most addictions, detoxification may not be enough. Even once the initial treatment period is over, there is always a chance that a recovering addict might relapse. To manage the disease effectively, it is recommended that you seek professional counselling or join therapy. There are different types of therapies available to treat and manage addiction, the most popular of these being cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), but also include family therapy, dialectal behavioural therapy (DBT), and the 12-step facilitation.
Support system
At the end of the day, no addiction treatment is complete without a strong support system. If you are someone who is helping out a recovering addict, please make sure you do all your research and be aware of how you can help, rather than jumping in blind. Recovering addicts are also recommended to join support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon, etc., as being around people who can relate to you and understand your problems at a deeper level is an important part of your journey to recovery.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
