How to Overcome an Addiction: 16 Tips for Recovery

Because addiction can affect so many aspects of a person’s life, treatment should address the needs of the whole person to be successful. Counselors may select from a menu of services that meet the specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of their patients to help in their recovery. For people with addictions to drugs like stimulants or cannabis, no medications are currently available to assist in treatment, so treatment consists of behavioral therapies. Treatment should be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and drug-related medical, mental, and social problems. But attention to the addiction is only one facet of recovery.

They may mistakenly think that those who use drugs lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop their drug use simply by choosing to. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives.

In addition, immediately attending or resuming group meetings and discussing the relapse can yield much advice on how to continue recovery without succumbing to the counterproductive feeling of shame or self-pity. Nevertheless, experts see relapse as an opportunity to learn from the experience about personal vulnerabilities and triggers, to develop a detailed relapse prevention plan, and to step up treatment and support activities. More good news is that drug use and addiction are preventable. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective for preventing or reducing drug use and addiction. Although personal events and cultural factors affect drug use trends, when young people view drug use as harmful, they tend to decrease their drug taking. Therefore, education and outreach are key in helping people understand the possible risks of drug use.

Detox Is Not Stand-Alone Treatment

If you’re someone who engages in substance use and you’re concerned about the direction your engagement has taken, you have options. You can always reach out to a mental health professional, or attend a local or online support group with individuals who are navigating similar thoughts and feelings. Do you need comfort or to cope with something that happened? Often folks turn to substances to mask emotions they may need to cope with holistically. For many, access to substances to manage mental health or pain symptoms may be easier than accessing healthcare services. It’s common for a person to relapse, but relapse doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work.

Ongoing treatment

The important thing to remember is that central nervous system depression relapse doesn’t mean drug treatment failure. Call your sponsor, talk to your therapist, go to a meeting, or schedule an appointment with your doctor. When you’re sober again and out of danger, look at what triggered the relapse, what went wrong, and what you could have done differently.

Skipping doses to take other substances can have negative outcomes as well. For example, Cannabis can spur episodes of psychosis in some mood disorders. Perhaps you’ve long used prescription meds to manage a chronic condition or you’re prescribed pain medication after surgery. You could even use some drugs socially or recreationally to help calm your mood. Millions of readers rely on HelpGuide.org for free, evidence-based resources to understand and navigate mental health challenges. Please donate today to help us save, support, and change lives.

Cope with drug cravings

Peer or mutual support is not restricted to AA or NA; it is available through other programs that similarly offer regular group meetings in which members share their experiences and recovery skills. SMART Recovery is a secular, science-based program that offers mutual support in communities worldwide as well as on the internet and has specific programming for families. All Recovery accommodates people with any kind of addiction and its meetings are led by trained peer-support facilitators. Women for Sobriety focuses on the needs of women with any type of substance use problem. People can learn to resist or outsmart the cravings until they become manageable.

1. Treatment approaches tailored to each patient’s drug use patterns and any co-occurring medical, mental, and social problems can lead to continued recovery.
2. S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 75 percent of people addicted to alcohol or drugs recover—their condition improves and substance use no longer dominates their life.
3. Return to use is most common during the first 90 days of recovery.
4. Seek treatment for any mental health problems simultaneously.
5. Shift perspective to see relapse and other “failures” as opportunities to learn.

Some of the most helpful strategies for dealing with cravings are summarized in the acronym DEADS. Diagnosing drug addiction (substance use disorder) requires a thorough evaluation and often includes an assessment by a psychiatrist, prednisone can i drink alcohol a psychologist, or a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Blood, urine or other lab tests are used to assess drug use, but they’re not a diagnostic test for addiction.

They may know something about the person’s deepest aspirations and voice them as a reminder that can help the person remain on the road to recovery. And they can help plan healthy joint activities to ensure that there are good days. Only 1.0 percent of people receive substance abuse treatment as an inpatient or outpatient at a specialty facility. The single most popular path is how long does cymbalta withdrawal last the use of peer support groups in the community. Recovery from addiction is not a linear process, and increasingly, relapse is seen as an opportunity for learning.