Whoever said that addiction recovery is a journey was right on the money. While you can pinpoint the starting date, it’s impossible to project an end date. As a lifelong process, it’s as much about physical healing as it is about emotional growth. But what are the steps along the path?
Addiction Recovery Begins with Detox
You recognize that you’re struggling with a substance abuse problem. You’ve reached the point where you don’t want to live like this any longer. Maybe you got there because of a conversation you had with a loved one. Perhaps you reached the point because you lost a job, lost someone close to you, or woke up in a jail cell.
The bottom line is that you’re ready to quit using drugs. Medically supervised detox is the safest method of getting the drug out of your system. Detoxing at home is a bad idea since it can be dangerous depending on the drug. Moreover, in a detox facility, experts keep you comfortable while dealing with withdrawal symptoms.
Next in the Timeline–Rehab
Some people make the mistake to put off rehab after undergoing detox. This error in judgment typically creates the first roadblock and subsequent relapse. Instead, make a rehab facility your next destination in addiction recovery. While detox breaks the physical dependence on a drug, rehab deals with the psychological aspects.
Consider that for every addiction there’s a corresponding reason. Call it the “why” for using your drug of choice. Everyone’s different and has varied reasons for looking to drugs or alcohol as options. Dealing with your personal rationale behind using makes it possible to break the cycle.
Rehab facilities offer a variety of settings to make addiction recovery possible and suitably flexible for everyone. Programs include:
- Residential treatment, which benefits program participants with uncertain living situations or those with severe addiction
- An intensive outpatient program (IOP) provides individuals with an individualized treatment plan but features less supervision
- A partial hospitalization program (PHP) offers more structure but less in terms of active supervision
- Outpatient rehab assists those who have successfully made it through the earlier stages of addiction recovery
- Sober living is the next step down and provides transitional living options for people are almost ready to move home
The goal of these steps is the opportunity to begin with intensive care and ease gradually out of it. Because recovery is a progression, the length of time individuals remain at any given stage depends on them. It’s impossible to hurry personal growth, and some folks speed through the stages while others go slowly. There’s no right or wrong way or speed.
Relapse Prevention in Recovery
The stated goal of any rehab program is lifelong abstinence and relapse prevention. However, remember that addiction is a progressive, chronic brain disease. Because of its chronic nature, the regression potential is about as high as for other persistent conditions. Examples include heart disease or diabetes.
Relapse is often a part of recovery. Although you do everything you can to prevent it, there’s a possibility that it’ll happen. The trick for continued recovery success is to carry on with the healing. For some, this means returning to a previous stage in the process and starting again from there.
Others decide to start over at the detox level. Once again, there’s no wrong place to return to as long as you keep moving forward. Relapse may be a bump in the road, but it doesn’t have to be a failure.
Do You or a Loved One Need Addiction Recovery?
If you or a loved one struggles with a substance abuse problem, there’s help. You don’t have to suffer any longer and make promises that you later break. Instead, discuss your case with the compassionate therapists at Steps to Recovery. Call267.719.8528 today and find out that Steps to Recovery will meet you where you are in your addiction recovery.