While more than one-third of Springfield’s residents are educated to degree level or higher, this is no protection against unemployment with rates in the town around 8%. If you are struggling to find work this is a worry, particularly if you have a family to support. Although services are available locally to help you in your search for employment and others if you find yourself suffering from anxiety or depression, you may take your own measures to help yourself during this difficult time. Turning to family and friends is one option, but if you feel that you don’t want to burden your loved ones, you may use alcohol as a means to blank out your troubles. After a glass of wine or bottle of beer you feel more relaxed, but it is all too easy for one drink to become several and this to become a nightly habit. Once you develop a dependency on alcohol it is very difficult to give up drinking without the help of an alcohol addiction recovery program. Enrolling at one of Steps to Recovery’s alcohol treatment centers near Springfield PA can put you closer to giving up your addictive habit and preventing the long-term consequences of alcohol abuse.
Negative Effects of Alcohol Abuse
While a small amount of alcohol may offer you health benefits, drinking more than one alcoholic beverage daily if you are a woman and more than two daily if you are a man can have the opposite effect and put you at risk of a range of medical problems. Just some of the negative health consequences of heavy drinking include:
- Damage to your liver. As well as cirrhosis of the liver, you can develop alcoholic hepatitis, the formation of scar tissue in your liver and liver cancer.
- Cardiovascular disease. Drinking heavily raises your blood pressure, making a heart attack or stroke more likely, but large quantities of alcohol can also damage your cardiac muscle and make your heart beat with an irregular rhythm.
- Brain and nerve damage. You may experience difficulties with your memory, problems with your co-ordination and feelings of numbness.
- Digestive problems. As alcohol is an irritant it makes you susceptible to inflammation of your stomach lining and stomach ulcers. Alcohol can also inflame your pancreas, which usually plays a crucial role in digestion, causing severe abdominal pain and difficulty digesting your food.
- A weaker immune system. Your immune system is suppressed for 24 hours after drinking, so if you drink heavily every day your immune function stays impaired, putting you at risk of infections like TB and pneumonia.
- Increased risk of injury. As you can’t think clearly after heavy drinking you are more likely to take risks that increase the likelihood of you having an accident.
- Drug dependency. When you abuse alcohol there is a greater chance that you will abuse drugs too. Whether you smoke marijuana, snort cocaine, inject heroin, take ecstasy pills or misuse prescription painkillers, these cause additional damage to your body and are all just as addictive.
- Mental health problems. A daily drink can make you feel brighter and less anxious, but more than this makes you vulnerable to low mood and anxiety. With a history of mental illness alcohol abuse may also trigger a relapse.
It isn’t just your health that suffers when you are dependent on alcohol; an addiction to alcohol can destroy your life in other ways. For instance, if you are in work you may find you fall behind, need to take increasing time off due to hangovers and may even lose your job. At home drinking heavily can strain your relationship with your partner and other family members, especially if you refuse to accept their concerns about your drink habit. You may also find that you socialize less and give up on your usual interests, spending increasing amounts of time on your own, which can worsen poor mental health. Then there is the financial impact of your alcohol dependency, which is most notable when your budget is already stretched. Finally, if you are caught driving after drinking or you become aggressive when you drink heavily this can lead to legal issues.
Recognizing You Need Help with Alcohol Dependency
Even if you don’t notice the havoc that heavy drinking is causing in your life, there are other signs that you should consider signing up to an alcohol treatment program Springfield PA. These include:
- Waking up and needing an alcoholic drink to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay
- Finding you need to drink more alcohol than previously to give you the same feel-good effects
- Wanting to give up drinking, but finding you can’t cut down or stop your habit
- Realizing that alcohol is your main focus and you put all your energy into getting the next drink
- Feeling that your drinking has become uncontrollable
- Continuing to abuse alcohol even though you are aware of the impact it is having on your health or other aspects of your life
Identifying with just one of the above is a clear indication that you need help with your problem drinking and Steps to Recovery can offer you the support that you need to escape the grip of alcoholism and get your life back on track.
Selecting an Alcohol Addiction Program Springfield PA
Once you make the decision that you want to get help to withdraw from alcohol and stay sober, you will need to think about which style of addiction recovery program would best suit you. This will depend on your needs and some of the factors you will need to consider are:
- Do you need an alcohol detox? If you are drinking heavily you will need a supervised withdrawal from alcohol, as this keeps you safe and comfortable while you remove alcohol from your body.
- Do you need intensive therapy? If you have previously tried but failed to give up alcohol then the answer is probably yes. To receive intensive addiction therapy, enrolling for a course of inpatient treatment is recommended, as this gives you a real chance of quitting alcohol use for good. For some clients partial hospitalization is another viable option, as this also offers daily therapy sessions, but the difference is you do not stay as an inpatient. The close proximity of our alcohol treatment facilities to Springfield PA means that commuting each day for treatment is possible.
- Do you have support at home? If you are well supported by family and friends, you can stay in your own home while you receive addiction treatment on an outpatient basis. However, with limited social support, you will likely achieve better results from a residential program of therapy where support staff are on hand 24 hours a day.
- Are there temptations in your home environment? If you feel that there are too many triggers for drinking at home, this is another reason why you might be better suited to an inpatient stay at an alcohol treatment center.
- Do you have other commitments you need to keep up with? If you wish to maintain your employment or you have family responsibilities, outpatient care is more appropriate, as you can fit your other commitments around your addiction therapy sessions.
If you are still not sure which option for alcohol dependency treatment would suit you best, our friendly staff are always on hand to offer you further details to help guide your decision.
Therapy for Alcohol Dependency Springfield PA
While the intensity of therapy is greater with residential alcohol treatment and partial hospitalization, when taking part in an outpatient recovery program you will still receive the same high quality therapy; the only difference is you receive fewer sessions each week. On both inpatient and outpatient schedules you will participate in counseling on your own and as part of a group. Family therapy is also available for our clients to take advantage of.
When you work on a one to one basis with a specialist addiction counselor this allows talking therapies to be tailored to your individual needs. During these sessions you will pinpoint the triggers for your alcohol abuse and also discuss other issues that may act as a barrier to you achieving lasting abstinence. With these problems identified your therapist will then help you figure out how you can effectively manage these issues to keep you away from temptation.
By taking part in group therapy this is a chance to interact with your peers and discuss issues that are significant to many of you. You’ll then work as a group to find solutions to these problems. Working together in this way allows you to draw on each other’s ideas, so you’ll find that you learn a lot and also that other members of the group offer valuable support, adding to the immense support provided by our therapists.
Family counseling is meanwhile offered to help you reconnect with your loved ones. You may have found that your relationship with your family is no longer as good as it once was and that is not surprising as alcohol dependency can test even the closest families. During these therapy sessions you will learn the impact that your heavy drinking has had on your family, but it is also an opportunity for you to discuss the struggles you have faced. By reforming bonds with your loved ones, this helps to build your support network so that you have an additional source of encouragement waiting for you once you complete alcohol addiction treatment Springfield PA.
Embracing Rounded Therapy for Alcohol Abuse
Although talking therapies are the only treatments on offer at some alcohol recovery centers near Springfield PA, this is not the case at Steps to Recovery. We like to offer our clients a range of evidence-based therapies and that includes complementary treatments. There is no need to be skeptical of the value of acupuncture or attending yoga classes, as there is good evidence that complementary therapies are a useful addition to treatment when in recovery from alcoholism. These therapies help you to feel more positive and less anxious, which can make it easier for you to fully participate in talking therapy sessions. You may also find that through these treatments you also learn to manage your cravings for alcohol better.
Developing Your Skills During Treatment
If one of the factors standing in your way of securing employment is a gap in your skill set, we can help you to fill this gap while you attend one of our alcohol treatment facilities Springfield PA. During therapy sessions you will naturally build on your communication skills and group activities allow you to enhance your skills in team working. Both skills are favored by employers, so this will stand you in better stead in the job market. However, we can also help you with other skills that will enable you get a job, such as how to complete an application form well, create an appealing resume and make a good impression at an interview. With these abilities you are a step closer to attaining work and if unemployment contributed to your reliance on alcohol, this can help you to stay sober after rehab.
Making Time for Recreation
As an inpatient you will take part in a weekly program of leisure activities that are designed to not only help you to unwind, but offer another chance to connect with your peers. You’ll also see that through social activities there is no need to turn to alcohol to boost your mood, as taking part in enjoyable activities with friends does this job well. On top of the varied recreational activities that change each week, you’ll also attend the gym on three days weekly. While this is a chance to improve your fitness that may have suffered due to your excessive drinking, it is another opportunity to naturally lift your spirits. You’ll also find that when you build healthier habits into your life you are less likely to resume your old ways after you complete alcohol rehabilitation Springfield PA.
Charities and Meetings Springfield PA
- The Church of the Redeemer: 145 West Springfield Road, Springfield, PA 19064
- Mom’s Club of Springfield: 133 Broadview Road, Springfield, PA 19064
- Springfield Athletic Association: PO BOX 168, Springfield, PA 19064-0168
