The choice to enter detox and rehab can set you up for some tough times, but the outcome can greatly improve your life. Getting into the right program is critical. Consider these 14 things you must know before getting involved with a drug treatment program.
Choosing the Program
1) Monitored Detox is Key
Detox can be deadly. If you’re considering entering treatment, you need to go through a monitored detox to avoid the risk of physical harm during your detox process.
2) Inpatient Rehab May Be Most Effective
Depending on the drugs in your system, an inpatient rehab may be most effective. Your physical condition will be fragile following detox and careful monitoring of your
- pulse and respirations
- intake and output
- nutritional status
3) Outpatient Options
Depending on your situation, you may need to participate in an outpatient rehab. Any rehab process will likely include regular drug testing, group and individual counseling as well as a review of your underlying mental health status.
Guarding Your Mental Health
4) Individual Therapy
Addiction is an extremely complicated disease. Depending on what you’ve been using, you may need assistance in rebuilding your dopamine receptor network. Reward therapy may be effective.
5) Group Counseling
Addiction can also be extremely isolating. If you have suffered a loss of family connections, you may be able to find community and support through your fellow rehab clients.
6) Mental Health Care
Many people who abuse drugs, whether legal or illegal, do so in an effort to control symptoms of mental illness that they can’t control. Once the drugs are out of your system, your symptoms of mental illness may rebound.
Rebuilding Community
7) Self-Management
Part of an effective drug treatment program is to know your own triggers. Do you reach for drugs when you are stressed, despondent, or lonely? Learning to manage these feelings, as well as getting a proper mental health diagnosis, is critical to moving forward into a life that doesn’t include drug use.
8) Family Care
Addiction seldom impacts only one person If you have a family history of addiction, it may be extremely difficult to talk to your family about your condition and your struggles. Guided family counseling can help you and your family better understand both your condition and the underlying issues around addiction in general.
9) Understanding Barriers
One of the great challenges of addiction is that we often tend to judge or abuse ourselves. However, guilt is both corrosive and ineffective in building a healthy life. Counseling and group therapies can help you define boundaries, should you need to avoid anyone who is unsupportive.
Moving Forward
10) Choosing Yourself
As your body and brain begin to heal fully following detox and while working through rehab, you may notice that your focus finally shifts away from cravings and towards your wants and wishes. The ability to see your future is critical in building it.
11) A Return to Physical Health
The early days of detox and rehab are about protecting your body while the drugs leave your system. Once your body is out of crisis mode, rebuilding your physical health can help you bring your brain back online.
12) Dopamine: Production and Reception
Many legal and illegal drugs flood the brain with dopamine, which can both lower your own production and overload your receptors. It will take time for these receptors to come back online. Your ability to take pleasure in daily life will take time; your focus will need to be on wellness and the joy it gives you.
13) Maintenance
Addiction is a disease that never goes away. You may be shocked to find that cravings can come back when you’re not feeling at all stressed or under pressure. Your maintenance tools will need to stay ready, sharp and strong.
14) Giving Back
As you maintain your health, you may find that you can serve as a sponsor or a mentor for someone who is also working through the rehab process. As you grow in sobriety, you will be able to support others working through issues you have successfully managed.
To begin your detox and rehab process will take strength and determination. Your future relies on making the best choices for yourself and your loved ones. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day. Call 833.970.2054.
