Thousands of lives are lost every year due to drug and substance abuse in the United States alone. There are many rehabilitation facilities, but people avoid getting the help they need mainly due to the lack of awareness around addiction, abuse, and rehab benefits.
Even those who intend to quit an addiction feel nervous about help. Feelings of helplessness overpower their confidence to lead an addiction-free life.
Rehab facilities offer medical and emotional support to struggling addicts to quit substances and lead healthier and more engaging lives. In addition, these facilities have trained medical staff that will take proper care of you or a loved one struggling with addiction.
The phases of treatment at every rehab facility are similar. Both medical and psychological interventions are applied to the treatment plans.
This article outlines six ways rehab can help you recover from substance abuse.
Personalized treatment plan
The first phase, intake, is where the patient’s behavior and habits are analyzed to create a treatment plan for their recovery. Then, during the check-in phase, the rehab facility will run a few preliminary tests on you to learn more about your addiction. Usually, residential treatment in rehab is between 28-30 days, but some patients stay for 60 or even 90 days, depending on their treatment plan and varying needs. Each treatment plan is designed individually to based on the substance, level of substance dependence, and the emotional and physical health of the patient.
Detoxification
As the name suggests, rehab will detoxify the body of the harmful substances a patient might have consumed throughout their substance abuse course. While this can be a painful process for most, it is crucial to prevent a relapse in the future. This phase can last between three to fourteen days, depending on the level of dependence. In addition, drug and alcohol addiction treatment website provide specialized emotional support through this phase as the patient is likely to experience extreme anxiety and paranoia resulting from substance withdrawals.
The detox phase is crucial to prepare the body to leave behind toxins and addictive habits. And prepares the patient mentally to give up the addiction.
Management of withdrawal symptoms
The process of detoxification can cause withdrawal symptoms in the body. Depending on the type of substances the patient consumes, withdrawal symptoms can range from stomach and digestion problems to aggression, mood disorders, and physical strain on the body. Substances with a high dependence rate like morphine or alcohol will have more painful withdrawal symptoms. Thus, it will be more challenging to manage these. The treatment plans usually get the patient to gradually lower substance consumption, as abrupt change can worsen withdrawal symptoms—prescription medicines to control the urges and reactions caused by withdrawal are commonly used in drug rehabilitation.
Individual Therapy
Besides medication and physical treatment, psychological care is also provided in rehab facilities. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing are the two most common types of psychological support offered.
In individual therapy, patients work with a health practitioner on a one-to-one basis. The therapist will walk the patient through the entire recovery process, from discussing cravings to the addiction’s impact on their overall well-being. These sessions often take place once a week for an hour.
The therapist helps patients define the triggers for their addiction and teaches them to control their reactions towards them. Learning how to manage triggers rather than being abusive to the body effectively is the primary goal of attending therapy.
Family Therapy
Apart from individual therapy sessions, rehab facilities also offer family counseling. These therapy sessions involve the patient’s friends and family in their recovery process. It is better to let out feelings and thoughts to loved ones in the presence of a therapist as it allows them to witness the patient’s recovery and learn how they may have contributed to the habit of substance abuse.
These therapy sessions can be painful and uncomfortable but are definitely worth the effort if the parties involved intend to move past their grievances and fully transform their lives.
Through these sessions, your loved ones can also learn how they can help you recover.
Treatment planning after rehab
Patients don’t stay in rehab forever. The rehab is responsible for creating an aftercare plan to prevent relapse and promote self-sufficiency among patients. This plan is personalized to the patient’s addiction history and recovery and is crucial to reducing relapse chances. The aftercare plan includes medical and social care like living in a sober household, counseling, support groups, and regular checkups.
(Conclusion)
Realizing that you need to take charge and be free from the control of harmful substances is the first and most important step of living a fruitful, healthy, and meaningful life. Although recovery is a life-long process, taking the first step towards joining a rehab can significantly expedite the process. In addition, joining a rehab will introduce you to medical help and expose you to a support system of other recovering addicts and professionals to keep you going. The numerous ways a rehab facility can help you overcome addiction are better than struggling on your own.