Addiction recovery is never easy. However, it can prove far more challenging if you attempt to do it on your own. Although many addicts believe that quitting drugs is just a matter of willpower, substance use disorder (SUD) is far more complex. In fact, it’s currently recognized as a chronic mental health issue. SUD affects your brain’s chemistry and how your brain works. With most substances, addiction has an especially profound impact on the brain’s reward center and its processes. Abusing addictive substances for a prolonged period of time causes the brain to recognize drug use as a reward-worthy behavior. Thus, most people find themselves absolutely powerless to stop using drugs when willpower is their lone tool. Attending a drug treatment center is the best way to gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of what addiction really is and learn how to successfully manage it. It’s also an opportunity to establish better coping skills, improve your tolerance to distress, and devise a plan for avoiding relapse over the long-term.
Drug treatment centers help their patients establish stable foundations for sobriety to increase their likelihood of success. In treatment, you’ll learn how to replace old, self-harming behaviors with life-affirming and healthy ones. You’ll learn more about the underlying causes of your addiction, and you’ll discover ways to mitigate these and countless other risk factors. Best of all, choosing to attend a drug treatment center can mean many different things. When you start shopping your options in drug rehab, you’ll find inpatient and outpatient programs, partial hospitalization programs, medically assisted detox programs, and more.
Signs You Need Professional Addiction Treatment
Addiction rarely forms overnight. Most people walk an increasingly dangerous path by first experimenting with addictive substances and then using them recreationally. Recreational drug use is commonly followed by regular or daily use which eventually becomes drug abuse. You’re likely abusing your drug of choice if you:
- Are experiencing social, financial, or professional problems as a result
- Continue using your drug of choice despite unpleasant consequences
- Regularly lie about or conceal how much drugs you’re using
- Have positioned your drug of choice as your top priority
Full-blown dependency or full-blown drug addiction is the final step in this process. Sadly, it represents the stage at which people no longer have the ability to choose. Even when people who are addicted to drugs desperately want to quit, they cannot stop:
- Constantly thinking about using
- Engaging in obsessive, drug-seeking behaviors
- Using drugs without becoming seriously ill
Each addictive substance affects the brain and body in different ways. However, most substances affect how the body functions by altering the production of important chemicals known as neurotransmitters. These chemicals are responsible for the feelings of euphoria, intense relaxation, and heightened confidence that people experience while intoxicated or “high”, but they also control essential functions such as respiration, body temperature, nausea control, balance, coordination, and more. When an addictive substance is suddenly taken away and no medical assistance is provided, it’s not uncommon for addicts to experience:
- Sweating
- Chills
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Confusion
- Fatigue
Physical withdrawal symptoms are often accompanied by equally unpleasant psychological withdrawal symptoms. When going “cold turkey” or detoxing alone, a person might deal with overwhelming anxiety or depression, or they may have insomnia, disturbing dreams, or other sleep troubles. Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when abstaining from your drug of choice is a sign of physical addiction. It is also an indication that you should attend a drug treatment center.
Co-Occurring Disorders and Professional Addiction Treatment
Another sure sign that professional addiction treatment is needed is the existence of one or more co-occurring disorders. These are mental health issues that simultaneously exist along with SUD. They include:
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Major depressive disorder
- Panic disorder
- General anxiety disorder
Untreated co-occurring disorders complicate the recovery process. This is because most addicts start using drugs as a way of self-treating the mental anguish that these conditions create. Attending a drug rehab center will allow you to receive treatment for both SUD and any underlying mental health disorders that you have at once. When co-occurring disorders are properly managed, the temptation to abuse drugs is greatly minimized.
You Want This Time to Be the Very Last Time
If you’ve tried to quit using drugs before and have relapsed due to lack of support, now is the time to get the help you need. Having multiple relapse events in your past is a sure sign that you require professional addiction treatment. Addiction recovery is always easiest when people have adequate and needs-specific help. To find out more about your options in drug treatment centers, give us a call today at 833.970.2054.
