One of the stumbling blocks for addicts seeking help for their substance abuse is a lack of knowledge about how that process works. Even the most sincere of addicts looking for assistance with their addiction can be leery of entering a situation they do not comprehend. From the outside, rehab and recovery can look like a complicated, painful process at times, which can be discouraging.
The best way to address this issue is in helping addicts in understanding drug recovery with a comprehensive guide to the process.
It’s important to remember that recovery IS a process, for one thing. Rehab is not a simple on-off switch where you come out with your addiction turned off and move on to other things. No, rehab and recovery is a long-term situation, one that will be ongoing for an addict’s entire life. You go in to get help ending drug and alcohol dependence but you come out with a set of learned behaviors and aides to help you resist returning to substance abuse.
The first step, as all the jokey pop culture references tell you, is to acknowledge you have a problem with addiction. Until you accept you need help, you will continue to resist entering treatment and continue to struggle with substance abuse.
Once you do accept that need, you will enter a rehab program. This can take many forms at many places. There is no universal rehab experience on a granular level — program guidelines, clinical procedures and therapeutic tools can vary wildly across the field — but the overall process is roughly similar.
There will be a detox process, if necessary, as the addict cannot begin working to end addiction until they have flushed their substance abuse drug of choice out of their system. In an in-patient scenario, the patient will be temporarily cut off from the world, undergoing therapies and counseling sessions to focus on the source of their addiction problem, how to counteract it and, most importantly, how to resist returning to addiction after treatment.
Because rehab is only the first step of a long journey. Recovery begins when the patient leaves rehab and recovery never really ends. The recovering addict will spend their life working on themselves, resisting cravings and triggers that could lead to relapse.
Dealing with addiction in recovery requires constant vigilance. The recovering addict must work around their addiction — avoiding situations that might lead to relapse, cutting things, places, even people out of their life that are too interconnected with substance abuse to risk exposure, working their schedule around their needs — to avoid falling back into addiction.
They may need to continue to go to therapy sessions, whether individually or in a group setting, for mental and moral support. They may need to create a support network of friends and loved ones to help them in times of crisis. New habits may need to be formed to address cravings. And more.
It’s impossible to fully comprehensive about recovery in a short time. But it’s a start.
At Good Landing Recovery, their fully trained and accredited staff are there to help you navigate the unfamiliar landscape of recovery to ensure your rehab journey is a success. And they will provide you with the tools needed to avoid relapse and make a lasting recovery possible.