Entering addiction treatment can be a very tumultuous time. Often, by the time an addict has decided to enter a treatment facility, they have hit “rock bottom” and endured several painful and emotional moments. Addiction is a dangerous and destructive disease that has a disastrous impact on all aspects of an addict’s life.
When a person is addicted to drugs or alcohol, their brain becomes hardwired for addiction, meaning that their reward receptors become so accustomed to consuming more of a drug that they place finding and consuming drugs above any other life activity, such as holding down a job or maintaining important and meaningful relationships.
These destructive behaviors can only continue for so long before an addict realizes that their life cannot continue as is. This is frequently the time when an addict makes the life changing decision to enter a treatment center.
Initial Stage of Treatment
The first thing that an addict must do upon entering a treatment facility is to detoxify from the substance they are addicted to. In treatment, there will be a team of medical professionals and addiction specialists available to help make sure that as an addict detoxes, their physical condition is monitored and treated safely and effectively.
This is by no means an easy process, because when a person is addicted to drugs or alcohol, their brain becomes so used to receiving more of the substance they are addicted to that it fires off severe withdrawal symptoms when it does not receive the substance it is addicted to.
Withdrawing from drugs or alcohol may not be easy, but a recovering addict can hold onto the knowledge that at the other end of this discomfort is health and the beginning of a new life.
Life Changes In Treatment
Once an addict has detoxed from the drug they are addicted to, they will have the mental and physical clarity to begin work on building the tools they need to regain a happy and sober life.
Being newly sober and removed from the life in which they used may come as quite a shock to an addict, as while they were using, their emotions were likely dulled by drugs. Newly sober, a recovering addict may face very intense and severe emotions.
Like withdrawal, the sensations behind these emotions may not be pleasant or easy to handle, but they are also very important and in many ways the key to finding real and lasting emotional growth. Without experiencing these strong emotions, no major or lasting change can be made.
Hard Work Leads to Major Transformation
It is important to remember that sobriety, like anything of worth, takes work and discipline to achieve. Recovery is by no means an easy process, nor is it as fast one. There are challenges throughout the way, and there is no cure for addiction. A person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol must continue the process of recovery throughout their entire life.
The hard work and challenges that recovery and treatment, present, however, also offer tremendous rewards. No matter how damaged or troubled an addict’s life has become because of drugs and alcohol, there is always a chance to find a new life, free from the chains of addiction.
With the right treatment and a willingness to work through the necessary steps to change the way one thinks, an addict can hope to once again have meaningful relationships and a full and rich existence. With sobriety comes a wealth of things that could not be possible when an addict was helplessly tied to the dangerous and destructive chemical that they were dependent on.
