Approaches To Drug Addiction Recovery

When Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, they changed the approach to dealing addictions forever. They did it some forty years before the term “substance abuse” was even coined, and they did it in the firm belief that those suffering from addiction cannot recover on their own. Drug addiction recovery, in their philosophy, demands that a very personal, painful failing cannot be eradicated until it has been brought into public view.

The Twelve Step Program which is the foundation of AA has now become the foundation of thousands of drug addiction recovery programs which treat dependency on every sort of drug, from prescription medications to speed, heroin, nicotine, and cocaine.

The AA program, and drug addiction recovery based on it, require that addicts admit their helplessness in the face of their addictions and that there is a higher power on whom, or which, they rely to help them struggle against their addiction and to forgive them for the harm it has caused.

Twelve Step Alternatives For those addicts who have little religious sentiment, however, this approach to drug addiction recovery can be discouraging. Some addicts believe that a physical and emotional addiction requires physical and emotional, but not spiritual, intervention.

Another approach taken by some drug addiction recovery programs it to bring their patients, through a period of intensive counseling, to the understanding that having become an addict in no way diminishes their value as human beings.

This approach will work as long as the addicts have family and friends ready to embrace them when they finish their drug addiction recovery process, and to give them the support they need to stay off the drugs and rebuild their lives.

It also demands that the addicts be ready to walk away from the destructive friendships which led them into addiction, but getting to that point can be the most frightening part of their drug addiction recovery. Being able to say no to relationships base solely on mutual substance abuse, however, is essential if they hope to stay off drugs for good.

Behavior Modification Behavior modification is also a big part of many drug addiction recovery programs. Behavior modification allows the addicts to understand that their addictions are not only physical but emotional, and that their drug use was driven by an emotional pain before it led to physical dependency.

Addicts learn that addiction is rooted in attitudes and emotions, and that recovery is the journey they must undertake, first to the place where they want to stop using, and finally to the place where they can actually welcome the idea of never using again.

You can also find more info on Drug Addiction Recovery and Drug Addiction Rehabilitation. Drugtreatmentinfo.org is a comprehensive resource to known more about drug addiction.

Drug Addiction Programs - Doing What Nothing Else Can

No matter what means they employ, drug addictions programs all have the same end in mind: the safe arrival of their participants at an emotionally healthy and substance-abuse free life. It’s a noble goal, but not one easily achieved.

Substance abusers become addicted both mentally and physically to their drugs of choice; so their recovery requires not only that the physical cravings for the drug be eliminated, but that reasons for their emotional dependency on it are uncovered and eradicated as well. Treatment centers offering drug addicting programs must not only help the addicts withdraw from their drugs; they must offer behavioral therapy which will allow the addicts to choose for themselves sobriety as their preferred way of life.

Because drug addiction programs must be also prepared to deal with those who have been medically ravaged by their substance abuse, they need staff capable of performing medical examinations. Hepatitis and HIV tests are a given for anyone entering a drug addiction program.

Approaches To Withdrawal

Drug addiction programs must, of curse, have a way of monitoring their patients during the period of physical withdrawal from their drugs or alcohol. There are programs which require a complete cessation of the drug, and no use of non-addictive pain medication to help them through the withdrawal symptoms.

This approach is based on the philosophy that if the withdrawal is painful enough, it will serve as a deterrent when the addict had future cravings. It may also be necessary for those addicts whose systems have been so ravaged by their substance abuse that they simply cannot tolerate further chemical intervention of any kind.

Other drug addiction programs will allow those in withdrawal access to pain medication or sedatives until they can function n their own again. Many experts, however, take exception to this approach, feeling it does nothing but switch one dependency for another.

Learning New Behaviors

Another prerequisite of drug addiction programs is that they require their patients to participate in counseling. Without counseling, addicts will find it very difficult to pinpoint the reasons and deal with their addictions. Unless they understand why they became addicted, they will fid it very difficult not to return to substance abuse.

In drug addiction programs, addicts are able to discuss with others in their situations the depression, pressure to conform, sense of isolation, or any other reasons which have made them turn to substance abuse. They will be offered other healthier behaviors with which they manage negative feelings in the future.

Regardless of the details of various drug addiction programs, they are all intended to bring redemption and healing to those broken bodies and minds which can find them nowhere else.

You can also find more info on Drug Addiction Rehabilitation and Drug Addiction Statistics. Drugtreatmentinfo.org is a comprehensive resource to known more about drug addiction.