Are you looking to overcome your drug addiction?
Over 19 million American adults struggle with substance abuse disorder. While most intend to overcome their addiction, they have trouble staying on track. This is often because most have no idea how or where to start.
Without proper guidance, people are often doomed to relapse and go back to this dangerous habit. We’re here to make sure that this isn’t the case for you any longer.
Read what’s below to know the 6 steps you need to take to overcome drug addiction. We’ll help you through this by giving you a clear path to take.
1. Identifying the Signs of Addiction
The first thing you can do to help yourself overcome your addiction is to identify if you’re exhibiting any of the common signs. Doing this is important to see if you’re in danger of falling further into the rabbit hole. It’s also important to do so because some people aren’t susceptible to substance abuse.
There are many red flags that you should look out for that are a telltale sign of substance addiction. Among the most noticeable are having a sudden change in your sleep pattern and a sudden disappearance in motivation. If you feel like doing nothing but lay in bed all day, it can be because the substances are already influencing your brain.
This is dangerous as it means that you’re among the people susceptible to addiction. It may even have an impact on your physical appearance. This is often exhibited by a sudden change in your weight.
Your mind may also become influenced by substances. Lapses in your memory and sudden mood swings are also signs of addiction. Being secretive about different things can also be among the possible signs.
2. Accepting You Have a Problem
If enough of these signs point to you having an addiction, the next step is to admit that you have a problem. What’s important is that you shouldn’t blame yourself for it. This can lead to self-loathing, which can then lead to more substance abuse.
You should learn how addiction comes to be and where it comes from to avoid this. A good way to do this is by looking at it from a scientific standpoint. Your genetics can be the reason why you’re addicted.
There’s a link between addiction and your family line. Genetics account for 60% of a person’s likelihood of developing an addiction. So, if one of your parents had problems like this in the past, it may also cause you to have the same problems.
The likelihood of developing an addiction also increases if you have a history of mental illness. It’s known that people who struggle with disorders like depression or anxiety have a higher chance of getting addicted.
This makes it important for you to take care of your mental health, especially during this pandemic. Doing so decreases the chances of substance addiction.
3. Knowing Whether You’re Addicted or Dependent
Now that you’ve accepted that you have a problem, it’s time to find out what the problem is. This is important as people can be either addicted or dependent on substances. Most people often interchange these terms, and there’s a big difference between them.
Dependence is the lesser among the two evils. It means that you only have a physical tolerance for the substance. You will experience withdrawal symptoms, but overcoming it shouldn’t be a problem.
Addiction is the worse among the two. This means that the substance already has a major influence on your brain chemistry. Stopping the intake may cause a person to have serious side effects like seizures or high fevers.
The best way to overcome an addiction is through treatment. Before you get to that, though, it’s best that you talk to some important people first. This leads us to the next step.
4. Talking About it to the People Who Matter
It’s time to tell your family and close friends about your problem. We know it’s scary to do so since you have no idea how they’re going to react. Most will likely show anger towards you, but it will only be for a moment.
Their anger shows how much they care about you. Others will be able to manage themselves and show you support. Regardless of their possible reactions, doing this is paramount.
You must do this to know who you can depend on as you recover. As mentioned above, going through this alone isn’t ideal. Knowing that you have people supporting you will help you through this.
5. Looking For Solutions
Now that you have the support of people who matter the most, it’s time for you to go looking for solutions. What’s great is that there are tons of ways for you to overcome your addiction. The best way is to get treatment from established help centers.
Treatment centers have tons of methods for treatment that can help you. They understand that people respond to different treatments, so they are thorough in helping you. What’s great is that you can choose to stay in their facilities or be in the comfort of your own home.
There’s even a partial hospitalization program to go for. This rehab solution can be what you’re looking for to help with your treatment.
6. Maintaining Cleanliness and Discipline
Now, all that’s left to do is to overcome your addiction. You need to do your part to cleanse your body of every trace of the substance. Detoxing in different ways can help with this.
You should also do what the treatment program needs you to do. These all have a purpose, and it’s to help you resist the urges and cravings.
Once you’re done, it’s up to you to avoid falling back in. A good way to do this is to have someone help you avoid these things during your first months. This is when you’re most likely to fall back into relapse.
Overcome Your Drug Addiction
If you’re addicted to drugs and want to overcome them, you need not fight that fight alone. Let us help you in overcoming your drug addiction to ensure success. You have nothing to risk by letting others help, so allow us to help today.
Do you want to learn more about substance abuse? Keeping yourself informed on the common substances people get addicted to and the common signs of drug abuse will help you identify if someone’s going through it, too. Check out more of our guides to learn all you need to learn about substance abuse today.