Choosing to get into addiction treatment is probably one of the best decisions a person could ever make. However the path to recovery will be a long and tough one.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the addiction healing process has four stages, all which will be experienced when trying to live a drug-free lifestyle. Below we’ll explain them all to you.
Stage One: Getting Treatment
The first stage of addiction healing begins by getting treatment in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation centre, whether it be through a mutual agreement or by force.
In the first few days, addicts might think that their addiction isn’t as bad as others, but this is denial, which should be carefully monitored as it can affect the healing process.
Stage Two: Learning to Live Clean and Sober
The second part of addiction healing involves sticking to the promise made to finish addiction treatment and this period, addicts will be taught how to live clean and sober.
This is a tough stage as addicts will suffer withdrawal symptoms and cravings for the drug, all of which can make patients suffer a relapse.
The addiction counsellors at the rehab clinic will teach recovering addicts how to live without the drug and how to handle their cravings, which are important in trying to maintain sobriety.
Stage Three: Staying Clean and Sober
Once three months of sobriety has been achieved, recovering addicts will now be move out of the rehab centre and into outpatient treatment, which involves staying at home or in a sober living environment and attending regular counselling and therapy meetings at the clinic.
The main aim of this stage is to prevent a relapse occurring, and patients will be taught how to do this including putting all the skills that were taught in the rehab centre into practice.
Patients will also be trained how to develop new and healthy relationships with others, dealing with anger, sorting out issues from their past, living and eating healthier, financial management and finding other interests to replace the addiction.
This stage would have begun while residing in the rehabilitation centre and will last for anything up to five years of sobriety.
Fourth Stage: Using the Skills Learned To Live Drug-Free
Once recovering addicts have reached five years of clean and sober living, patients will now leave all forms of treatment and begin to use what they have been taught in counselling and therapy by themselves.
The person should now be able to live healthier and happily without using the addictive substance again. Remember, recovery isn’t just about abstinence, it involves the full package.