You Are Worth Loving Yourself Enough to Ditch Drugs And/Or Alcohol

Drug and alcohol addiction is an issue we have all heard about. We’ve seen celebs skirt the consequences time and time in court, or in the worst case scenarios die in the primes of their lives due to the perils of drug and/or alcohol addiction. It’s not just the beautiful faces of Hollywood that battle addictions. It’s the retired grandpa down the street that can not stop binge drinking whisky and the soccer mom at PTA meeting that pops multiple prescription Xanax anti-anxiety pills to get through the hectic, stressful schedule of her day. Maybe it is you, reading this article at 4 AM on your third night of not sleeping, high and obsessively thinking about the next time you can tweak on some crystal meth. Help is out there. You, or your family, friend, or significant other do not have to go it alone.

Denial

It’s hard to admit: “Hey, I have a problem with drugs and alcohol.” It can carry shame and embarrassment. However, it is a freeing statement once you admit it. What’s more embarrassing admitting you got in over your head or wasting years, decades even, of your life under the haze of drugs or alcohol. Once you recognize the problem, you can seek to fix it.

If you have a friend, family member, or significant other that is battling addiction there is a good chance they are in denial. Family and friends often realize that an individual is addicted long before the individual realizes it or admits it to him or herself. Often times, addicts are so high functioning that friends and family are the last to know.

Seek Help

You are probably familiar with the term made famous in Amy Winehouse’s smash hit single “Rehab.” Rehab is a place individuals suffering from addiction to substances go to get clean and sober. You might have seen the hit show on VH1 “Celebrity Rehab.” Malibu Rehab centers set the gold standard. However, there are many rehab option no matter where you live in the country. Do not be discouraged if you are a heroin addict in the Appalachian Mountains or a pipe welder addicted to prescription hydrocodone pain pills up in Anchorage, Alaska, if you want to get sober once and for all, you can. You can google rehab centers in your area. Many take most insurances. Some are even grant-funded and virtually free. Many rehabs are staffed by former addicts that know exactly what you are going through. They won’t enable you, but they will empathise with you.

What to Expect

No matter where you are in your addiction, rehab can help. You might not even realize you are addiction. Addictions sneak up on us. Nobody wants to be an alcoholic or pill addict. Like most, you thought you could quit at any time. It’s frustrating you are having difficulty doing it.

Withdrawal will set in. As you probably already know, it’s unpleasant. However there are ways to wean off the drug if you do not go cold turkey. Tapering methods help quite a bit with drugs that are dangerous to quit cold turkey. There are also medications that can treat some of the symptoms like restless leg syndrome.

The good news is millions of people have completed withdrawal from the same substance that is haunting you. They are no different that you. The only difference it they made the choice to break up with their vice of choice. They found their willpower, and now you just have to find your willpower. A professional rehab can assist you as you undergo this brave and commendable journey.

Post-Rehab

After you get off of the drugs and/or alcohol, you will most likely want the support of outpatient rehab. It makes it much less likely that you will relapse. You might be working the 12-step program or attending support meeting. Yes, you might even relapse. There is no shame in getting help no matter how many times it takes.

Effects on Loved Ones

Be proud of yourself for seeking to better yourself and enrich the lives of those around you. Everyone you love suffers in some sort of fashion when you, someone they love, care, and worry about, are abusing drugs and alcohol. Your loved ones live in fear of that phone call that might come one day and inform them their worst fear has come to pass. Someone will be burdened with breaking the horrible news that you’ve succumbed to addiction.

Save those that love you the extreme guilt and grief that comes with such a phone call. Rehab can help turn that scenario completely around. It can take an addict off the street and enable him or her to gain control of his or her life again. He or she may start making meaningful art or re-enter the corporate world. He or she may be able to settle down and finally have children. If he or she already has children, he or she will no doubt be better parents sober. The kids will thank you one day for your battle to get clean. You can contribute to society. You might even inspire other addicts to get clean. You can hold your head up high again knowing you fought the hard battle of addiction, and you won.