In the materialistic world of today, the common approach to many situations is one of compartmentalization. We think of things in how they affect our health on a bodily basis, but not always in how it might affect us mentally or spiritually. Yet the divide between these aspects is often paper-thin, and what can impact one will have some sort of impact on the rest, as well. This is especially true of addiction, which can have negative effects on every aspect of a person. This means treatment for substance abuse must have a similar approach to be truly effective.
The successful program will offer the patient holistic approaches to drug recovery, focused equally on mind, body and spirit.
Despite the rationalistic urge to separate the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of one’s life in today’s secularized world, the three are often intertwined in inseparable ways, meaning that major events and issues will have an impact on all sides of one’s personality and everyday routine.
This is true of substance abuse and addiction in particular, a disease and overall problem which can have devastating effects on a person in every way. While it may start on one front, it slowly grows to encompass all three aspects, with negative effects on each front.
We tend to focus, in the popular imagination, on the physical effects of addiction over all. We know that addiction has distinct physiological markers, that it creates a chemical dependency that affects the body if cravings are not met and that, if one does not continue to feed their addiction, they will feel distinct pains and negative health effects.
Yet it does not stop there. If addiction was solely a physical ailment, then no one would ever relapse once they went through the detox process and no longer had the chemical dependency dwelling within their bodily systems. Addiction is also a mental problem; cravings that begin as physical demands soon become psychological burdens, too. The addict grows to depend on their substance abuse for peace of mind, to deal with stress or mental strain. Even quitting using does not put an end to the mental desire to return to the perceived benefits of substance abuse, despite knowing all the negative effects it had, as well.
And addiction can be a spiritual scourge, too. While many discount spiritual effects of any sort in their lives, the fact remains that addiction can eat away at the soul, harming the addict’s connection to their faith, if they have one, and causing devastating effects in their overall spiritual makeup, whether they admit it or not.
Given all this, an addiction treatment that only focuses on one or even two of these three aspects of substance abuse will often have less than stellar results. What is needed is a holistic approach to drug recovery, one that encompasses all three aspects in the treatment and recovery process, that acknowledges that a person needs help on all three fronts for a full recovery.
At Good Landing Recovery, treatment makes sure to focus on all three parts of the patient, treating the physical symptoms of addiction, the mental strain of substance abuse and the spiritual anguish it can cause. This faith-based approach at the Christian rehab facility can provide better results and lead to lower chances of relapse.
We are not all body or all mind or even all spirit. We are a complicated mix of the three and addiction can cause problems for all three. So recovery must treat all three, as well.