To start on the road to recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction, you should go through a detox program that includes drug counseling. The detoxification process is crucial because both the mind and body become dependent on your substance of choice. This can cause a variety of symptoms of withdrawal that can be uncomfortable, painful and dangerous. Depending on your substance of choice, there may be mental and physical symptoms as well. Drug counseling focuses on the mental symptoms while detox handles the physical.
For anyone who has detoxed before and relapsed, they’ve realized that staying sober is much harder than getting sober. Losing the physical dependency to a substance is the first step, but long-term recovery takes some work. Alcohol and drugs are only a part of the disease of addiction, so there’s more healing that must happen. Drug counseling is the step where you’ll understand more about your addiction and ways to avoid relapse.
Detox is Necessary Before Drug Counseling
Many people don’t realize how much is going on in their body to maintain balance throughout the day. Whenever a person begins using a substance in excess, the body’s balance changes and must adjust. This can happen with different substances like nicotine and caffeine as well, but it’s much more noticeable with drugs and alcohol. The absence of drugs and alcohol in the body can cause a variety of symptoms of withdrawal such as:
- Irritability
- Nausea
- Flu-like symptoms
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
The symptoms of withdrawal depend on what type of substances you’ve been abusing, but these are the most common. The body must be free of these substances before you begin drug counseling so you can focus clearly on your issues. Many people make the mistake of seeking therapy before getting detoxed, which can cause major confusion and relapse. The drugs or alcohol that you’re abusing may be the source of some of your problems, but underlying issues also have to be addressed.
Alcohol and opiates are commonly abused substances, and they can create symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. Other substances and drug addictions can also create symptoms of anxiety and depression. Life becomes so unmanageable in active addiction that a person feels like they’re losing their mind, so they’ll see a mental health professional. Without using detox programs first, a therapist or psychiatrist cannot properly diagnose a co-occurring mental illness.
Mental illness is one of the leading risk factors of drug addiction, but it’s not always the source of a person’s problem. There are some people who go through the detox process and their symptoms clear up. Once detox is complete, a mental fog lifts from the brain, and a person may begin to see a change in their thoughts. For those who still experience the symptoms of mental illness, dual diagnosis treatment and counseling are available.
Education Through Drug Counseling
A key portion of counseling educates people in treatment about the disease of addiction. Throughout a person’s addiction, they may have felt lost, confused and hopeless because they could not stop drinking or using. What many people don’t realize is that addiction is a legitimate mental disorder that’s too much for a person to overcome alone. Learning about the disease of addiction brings a level of acceptance and can empower the person.
Once you realize what’s happening in your mind and body when you take a drink or a drug, you’ll also begin to accept the problem. There are thousands of people each year who never get the help they need because they don’t accept that they have an unmanageable problem with drugs or alcohol. Many people struggling with an addiction chase the idea that they can drink or use in moderation. Education about the disease of addiction will show you that your body reacts differently than others to these substances and moderation will not work.
Education about the disease of addiction helps empower people struggling with addiction because they’ve located the problem. The first step towards solving any problem is acknowledging that there is one. For someone to move forward with quality treatment, they need to accept that they’re suffering from addiction. The great news is that there are solutions to overcome this seemingly hopeless situation.
Drug Counseling Finds the Source
Beginning the healing process and moving forward starts with discovering what made you turn to drugs and alcohol in the first place. Each person is different, and everyone found a different path towards substance abuse. For some, they had a traumatic childhood, parents who abused substances or were using substances to cope with life. There are others who have a genetic predisposition to the disease of addiction as well.
There are also those who suffer from a mental illness, and they may have never known they had one. Symptoms of mental illness can arise at any point in a person’s life, but primarily appear during the teen years to early 20s, the same time that experimenting with drugs and alcohol typically occur. These symptoms can be scary and confusing and make a person feel different, and substances can become a short-term solution. Dual diagnosis therapy can help discover any mental illnesses so they can be looked at in conjunction with the addiction issue.
What started you on the path of addiction may not be why you’re drinking and using today. In drug counseling, you’ll also reflect on what your life is like now so you can make changes. Some people are in toxic relationships that are fueling their addiction, and others have issues with everyday stresses. When you get sober, life still happens, but you must develop new coping mechanisms. Counseling will help you find new strategies for dealing with life.
Serenity House Detox & Recovery Helps with Starting Your Recovery
Here at Serenity House Detox & Recovery, we’re dedicated to providing you with a strong foundation of recovery. We’ll help you through the detox process and prepare you for ongoing drug counseling that you can use to stay sober. We have a facility that will support medically monitored detox to help you lose your dependency to drugs or alcohol. We’ll also introduce you to some forms of therapy so you can easily transition into a new program.
Before your discharge, we’ll assist you with finding a long term rehab program that can provide you with additional treatment. We work with different facilities that provide inpatient treatment as well as intensive outpatient programs. If you’re struggling with symptoms of mental illness, we’ll be sure to find you a facility that provides dual diagnosis treatment. We want you to feel confident that you’re getting the best care possible when you leave.
By coming to Serenity House Detox & Recovery, you’ll be taking the first step towards living a better life. We’ve helped many people take back control and start healing. Through sober recovery from active addiction, you’ll see that you can repair relationships with the people you care about, and with yourself. We can help if you give us a call at 866-294-5306.