Drinking alcohol does not affect everyone the same way based on factors as simple as body composition and gender. Other more complex factors like genetics and mental health also play a huge role in the impact that alcohol has on the human body.
By learning about alcohol’s addictive nature, it’s causes, and common signs, we can help you determine if you or a loved one are experiencing an alcohol use disorder. Here at Starbridge Recovery, our goal is to see you well.
Is Alcohol Addictive?
Yes. Alcohol is an addictive substance that impacts the brains from the first drink. While people can consume alcohol and not become an addict, how you consume alcohol, how much and how often, play an important role.
Based on the standard, from the first drink, alcohol can cause a relaxed feeling in the body, by releasing additional endorphins in the brain. By two drinks, alcohol impairs your response time, impairing your ability to drive. By five drinks speech is slurred and movement and vision are impaired. More than that, blackouts and alcohol poisoning are possible.
Alcohol is addictive because of the endorphins released and the subsequent withdrawal (aka hangover). Through either chronic drinking or binge-drinking, the brain can become accustomed to the additional depressant and cause changes in mood or personality. Additionally, withdrawal symptoms include cravings for more alcohol and another release of endorphins, creating the addiction cycle.
Additionally, because alcohol is fashionable, going out and having a drink with friends can perpetuate a potentially dangerous situation.
What Are the Causes of Alcoholism?
While there isn’t a clear-cut answer as to who will or won’t become an alcoholic, there are some staggering statistics that indicate who may be more at risk.
Those with an alcoholic parent may be more genetically inclined towards alcoholism. Studies have shown that children of alcoholics are four times as likely to develop an alcohol use disorder than those who do not.
Additionally, men are more likely to struggle with alcoholism than women based on body composition. However, women that do have an alcohol use disorder often have more serious physical issues related to drinking, including more noticeable impairment of motor function when drinking and fertility issues with chronic abuse.
What Are the Common Signs of a Drinking Problem to Look Out For?
Addiction is a unique disorder. It impacts everyone differently; but there are some common questions you can ask to see if you think that you or a loved one is suffering from an alcohol use disorder.
These questions range from, “Do you need to drink more to have the same “drunk” feeling?” to questions about risky behaviors you’ve engaged in and if you’ve been arrested. Another crucial factor is whether or not this is impacting your work and home life. If you are continuing to drink, regardless of the impact it is having on your home and family, it may be time to seek help.
Starbridge Recovery is a luxury detox and addiction treatment center in Los Angeles. Our boutique, state-of-the-art rehab center focuses on treating the clients’ individual needs. Through our specifically curated treatment programs, our clients can experience traditional and alternative therapies that encourage holistic healing.
We believe that the best treatment is a combination of evidence-based therapy with creative-arts therapies in a relaxing luxury setting, so that’s what we’ve made. Our experienced staff is expertly trained to support you through withdrawal and rehabilitation at our modern and comforting setting.
Our facility offers medically supported detox, residential inpatient care, and aftercare in a small exclusive setting. Through individual and group therapy sessions, our clinicians will work with you to develop coping skills and stress management skills that will be useful in supporting a sober lifestyle.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illness impacts over 51.5 million people in the United States – That’s 1 in 5 adults or just over 20% of the adult American population.
Women are more likely to be impacted with a mental illness than men, and young adults aged 18-25 have a 30% likelihood of having any mental illness. Additionally, those of 2 or more races are nearly 10% more likely to have a mental illness.
Of the 20% of people that have a mental illness, over 5% of those people have a serious mental illness indicated by an inability to function in everyday life.
In California, the number is 1 in 6 for a mental illness, and 1 in 24 for a serious mental illness that impacts their ability to function in daily life. Over 60% of those individuals with a serious mental illness never seek treatment.
In Los Angeles mental health rates are 1 in 24. 4.3% of adults and 7.8% of children have a serious mental illness. LA County has the lowest suicide rate in the state 7.7/100,000 due, in part, to the LA County Department of Mental Health. The largest mental health department in the country, LA County works with over 80 programs and contracts with over 700 providers.
Are Los Angeles Mental Health and Addiction Related?
8% of Californians have a substance use disorder, and 3.9% of those people also have a serious mental illness. When seeking treatment, it is important to consider both the addiction and mental illness.
Originally thought to be best treated individually, medical professionals found that many mental illnesses increased the likelihood of addictive behaviors and self-medication, while substance abuse could cause an onset of serious mental illness symptoms. Their radical idea was to treat the comorbid occurrence through a new treatment program.
Dual diagnosis treatment is the process through which clinicians see both the addiction and the mental illness as equally co-occurring and causing difficulty in the life of the client. Through this type of therapy program, the root causes of addiction and mental illness can be examined, and true healing can occur.
Serious mental illnesses that have high comorbidity with substance use disorders include, ADHD, anxiety, bipolar, depression, mood disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia.
Approximately 50% of addiction treatment centers also treat mental health in Los Angeles, California. LA County’s department of mental health has over 250 inpatient hospital beds for patients with mental health concerns.
But a clinical hospital setting might not be the best for you.
How to Treat Mental Health and Addiction at the Same Time
Starbridge Recovery is a leading dual diagnosis treatment facility in the Los Angeles area. With all the support and experience of a hospital, our highly trained staff is equipped to support your dual diagnosis treatment in our luxury facility.
At Starbridge Recovery, our exclusive boutique treatment center, caters to the needs of our clients. Through evidence-based traditional therapies and unique alternative therapies, our individualized treatment programs are created to support our clients through the rehabilitation process and mental health management.
Our goal is for each client to learn the skills necessary for developing positive mental health strategies to deal with the outside world after the completion of our program. Through detox, behavioral therapy, and group and individual therapy, our clients are able to identify triggers and develop an exit strategy for stressful situations.
Our premier facility offers high-end amenities and alternative therapies to increase relaxation and allow the client to solely focus on rehabilitation. Our spacious rooms and spa-like bathrooms offer individual space, while our equipped common areas allow for comfortable and safe interaction.
At Starbridge Recovery, we offer medically monitored detox, residential inpatient care, and aftercare to support your dual diagnosis treatment plan.
See how Starbridge Recovery can help you manage your mental illness and addiction today.
While heroin has been illegal for nearly 100 years, it is still a common problem for many Americans. Just in the last 20 years, heroin addiction and overdose deaths have quadrupled their previous numbers and taken hundreds of thousands of lives.
Are you concerned that your loved one is addicted to heroin? Do you know the signs of a heroin addiction? Do you know how to get treatment for them? Let us help you.
Starbridge Recovery is a premier heroin addiction treatment center in Los Angeles, California.
What Is Heroin?
Heroin is a white or brown powder or a tacky black goo. Originally used from the 1800s to the 1920s, it worked like morphine to relieve pain before its highly addictive qualities were noted. Heroin became illegal in the 1920s and is now considered an illegal drug.
Heroin causes the body to release increased amounts of dopamine and numbing pain sensors, giving a “rush” to the user. Heroin can be injected, sniffed, snorted, or smoked causing variations in the immediacy and length of the high. The short-term effects of heroin include dry mouth, itching, nausea and vomiting, and going “on the nod” where a person nods on and off between consciousness and subconsciousness.
When used in combination with stimulants, heroin can decrease the impact of the jitteriness and balance the effects of it. However, this combination of stimulant and sedative, can also cause the body to stop functioning correctly causing a heart attack and even death.
When used in combination with other sedatives, heroin becomes lethal through the process of slowing down too many body functions causing death.
What Are the Signs of Heroin Addiction?
Heroin addiction can be obvious for those who know what to look for. Aside from finding paraphernalia, like syringes, pipes, spoons, lighters, or medical tubing, you can also learn to look for signs of impairment.
Visually, you might be able to see track marks on an addict. These are most commonly on the arms, legs, between the fingers and toes. You may also notice pinpoint pupils, excessive itching, or an addict “on the nod.”
Additionally, an addict is likely impaired. They may have slow or slurred speech or delayed processing. This is obvious when you ask a question, and it takes them a long time to think through the answer or they answer a simple question incorrectly.
There also may be medical concerns to look and listen for. Long-term heroin addiction can cause miscarriage or irregular cycles, weakening and infection of the heart, constipation, collapsed veins, insomnia, etc.
If you are concerned for a loved one, Starbridge Recovery can be their heroin addiction treatment program.
What Is Starbridge Recovery and How Can They Help?
Starbridge Recovery is a leading heroin addiction treatment center in Los Angeles. Our expert staff are specifically trained and prepared to deal with heroin addiction and recovery. With medically supervised detox, residential inpatient, and aftercare available, our facility offers support through every step of the process.
Our state-of-the-art facility offers a multitude of traditional evidence-based therapies in combination with our alternative creative arts therapies that support holistic healing of the body, mind, and spirit. Through individual, group, and family therapies, clients are able to better understand themselves by learning where their addictions stem from, coping-strategies, and developing a support system that will keep them strong through life-long sobriety.
By choosing Starbridge Recovery, you are choosing staff that will create an individualized treatment plan to meet your unique needs. Within our luxury heroin addiction treatment center, we are able to offer spacious housing, spa-like amenities, and modern living.
Starbridge Recovery can support your loved one through the difficulty of heroin addiction treatment and the rehabilitation process.
Alcohol use disorder, also known as alcohol addiction, is consuming alcohol to the point where it causes issues in your day-to-day life, including home and/or the workplace, or not consuming alcohol causes extreme withdrawal symptoms.
What Is an Alcohol Detox Center?
Detox is the process your body goes through to remove toxins. In this sense, it means the process of your body withdrawing from chronic alcohol consumption which your body has become accustomed to.
During detox at an alcohol detox center, your body will experience mild to severe withdrawal symptoms as your body returns to normal functions without the stimulant or suppressant present in your system. The detox process can take your body anywhere from 5-15 days depending on the severity of your addiction and whether other substances are involved.
Why Shouldn’t You Detox From Alcohol Alone?
Detoxing from alcohol alone can be extremely dangerous. Depending on the severity of the addiction, withdrawal from chronic alcohol abuse can last between one and two weeks and almost always includes cravings, which can lead to relapse.
Mild alcohol withdrawal, or a hangover, for an occasional drinker often presents with a headache, diarrhea, sensitivity to light and sound, and/or thirst. While uncomfortable, these symptoms are often mild and relatively easy to manage.
Withdrawing from chronic alcohol abuse is a completely different story. Withdrawing from chronic use can be severe enough to cause death. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons release on detoxing inmates, there are multiple signs or symptoms that require immediate medical attention; “change in mental status, increasing anxiety, hallucinations, temperature greater than 100.4 degrees, significant increases and/or decreases in blood pressure and heart rate, insomnia, abdominal pain, upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, changes in responsiveness of pupils, and heightened deep tendon reflexes and ankle clonus.”
Additionally, alcohol withdrawal syndrome includes seizures, which can indicate the onset of Delirium Tremens (DTs). DTs commonly occur 3-5 days after last drink for chronic alcohol consumers and are universally considered the worst of it. In this stage, tremors, sweats, disorientation, heart attack, coma, and death have been noted.
These extreme reactions to alcohol withdrawal are one of the many reasons you should go to an alcohol detox center like Starbridge Recovery.
An alcohol detox center is an inpatient program within an addiction treatment center. It will be the first thing you experience at the rehab facility.
Upon entering detox, you will answer some questions for the staff to help determine what the best process for you is. The process changes depending on the length of chronic use, typical withdrawal symptoms, and other drugs that may be in the system.
A good facility will be able to offer medically supervised detox, administering FDA approved medications to lessen the withdrawal symptoms. However, you can always choose to withdraw naturally from substances. Through this process you will be monitored even more closely for any of the severe withdrawal symptoms listed above.
Through the detox process you may be encouraged to attend a 12-step program meeting or if you are electing to complete an inpatient program through the treatment center, you will start your therapy sessions immediately. By attending meetings and/or group and individual therapy, you can begin to process the impact alcohol addiction has had on your mind, body, and spirit.
Why Should You Choose Starbridge Recovery to Be Your Alcohol Detox Center?
Starbridge Recovery the premier luxury alcohol detox and addiction treatment center in Los Angeles, California. At our facility our expert staff develop a custom treatment plan based on your unique needs.
People choose our facility because of our experience treating clients with alcohol and drug addiction, dual diagnosis mental health conditions, and our aftercare program that supports them through long-term recovery. Our beautiful setting creates a relaxing treatment center and offers traditional evidence-based therapies combined with alternative treatments like acupuncture, massage, and yoga to facilitate body, mind, and spiritual healing while on your journey to recovery.
At Starbridge Recovery we are proud to offer medically supervised detoxification to our clients. Through this process we are able to monitor your body’s reaction to withdraw from the abused substances and offer FDA approved medications to ease the discomfort.
Whether you choose our facility just for detox or for our fully inclusive inpatient treatment center, we are available to support you 24 hour a day.
Make the first step on your journey to recovery. Contact Starbridge Recovery today.
California Drug Treatment: Why Travel For Recovery
In some cases, it may be most beneficial for a person to leave home and start fresh with a clean slate at a facility somewhere else. Sometimes the people and things around us can be contributing factors to struggles such as substance abuse, and getting away from those things leaves more room for recovery.
Choosing a facility that is located away from home may also leave you with more options in terms of recreational treatment.
At our Los Angeles substance abuse luxury rehab facility, recreational activities are built into our treatment programs, and include hiking, beach days, and fresh air mindfulness and yoga sessions thanks to the beautiful California setting.
Benefits of Traveling For Recovery
There are countless ways that traveling for recovery from addiction can benefit you, but some of these are:
Reduced exposure to triggers
Separation from negative influences – People in your social network can potentially influence you or expose you to drugs and alcohol.
Distance between yourself and places you associate with substance abuse – A person likely associates drug and alcohol use with certain places such as bars, clubs, etc.
Privacy and ability to be discreet – Traveling for recovery means it is easier to prevent coworkers, neighbors, or others from finding out about your private and personal struggles with substance use and addiction.
Escape from stressors in daily lifewhich may lead to or result in substance use as a means of coping – Being around stressors, such as responsibilities pertaining to work or family, can also interfere with recovery.
Access to addiction treatments or recovery programs that may not be available in your home location – Examples include horse therapy, medication-assisted treatment, and luxury rehab centers like Starbridge Recovery.
More time to reflect on your life as well as issues in your life that may hinder recovery or that have contributed to your substance use – Taking a step away from your normal routine and home base allows you space to look back with a clearer mind.
Additionally, traveling out of state for treatment might allow you to receive a more proactive and comprehensive treatment approach. This kind of approach addresses underlying factors that contribute to a person’s substance use, and treats these issues. This approach also treats the individual as a whole by looking at social and psychological factors that tie into their addiction, and this form of treatment is associated with high success.
Being away from home also eliminates many distractions, such as family, work obligations, or other personal distractions that may take your attention away from recovery, making your journey more difficult. Leaving home for treatment lessens this issue, allowing each individual to devote their undivided attention to the path to sobriety.
With recovery as your main focus, coping strategies and methods used in your treatment program will be more successful, and you will likely appreciate them more because you will not be worried about keeping up any form of reputation in your personal or professional life.
Traveling for rehab also means you have more options available to you in terms of programs and facilities. Evidence-based programs are associated with the highest rates of success in terms of recovery and sobriety, especially for an individual’s long-term recovery from substance use.
Evidence-based approaches for drug addiction treatment are approaches which have evidence supporting their use. Some of these approaches are meant to go hand in hand with other forms of treatment, whereas others are comprehensive on their own.
Evidence-based approaches include, but are not limited to:
Pharmacotherapies
Behavioral Therapies
More often than not, pharmacotherapy evidence-based approaches are recommended to be used in combination with behavioral therapy approaches. By doing this, all factors contributing to substance abuse will be addressed so that treatment is more successful in the long run.
Partial Hospitalization – Also known as partial day treatment, this is a combination of inpatient and outpatient where clients may live at home while attending treatment programs during the day.
Intensive Outpatient – Clients slowly return to everyday life while partaking in treatment such as group or individual therapy.
Outpatient – Outpatient treatment is available to clients who complete intensive outpatient treatment, and it is a less invasive option.
Sober Living Home– A safe and structured environment that clients can choose to take part in after completing their rehabilitation program.
These are just some of the options available as methods of treatment, and traveling may make these more accessible to you depending on your location. If the treatment options available in your area are not up to par, it may be worth it to travel elsewhere and receive better treatment.
Choosing To Take Part In An Out-of-State Program
Deciding whether or not to choose an in-state or out-of-state rehabilitation program can be difficult, but there are certain factors that should be considered in order to make the choice that is best for you and your specific needs.
Consider whether or not you have personal or professional connections who influence you in negative ways, or who make negative choices. For example, if you are surrounded by peers and professionals who also use drugs and/or alcohol, it is unlikely that your recovery will be successful long-term. This behavior can have a poor impact on your progress during recovery, and this may be reason enough to seek treatment elsewhere.
Consider the options that are nearby. Do they treat the individual as a whole? Do they work to identify and improve underlying issues which contribute to substance use? Is their treatment approach one that aligns with your needs? The best options are always those which provide 24/7 access to medical professionals so that pre-existing health concerns can be appropriately monitored and put to rest throughout the recovery process. Addiction can take a toll on your overall health in many ways, so it is vital that you choose a facility that will take the utmost care to make you feel comfortable and safe.
Another very important part of recovery is establishing healthy connections and building a positive support system. This means surrounding yourself with people who support you and your path to sobriety, and this may prove difficult if your social network at home is full of negative influences, or if you feel that you have a certain reputation to uphold at home which may not be in line with the person you become throughout your journey to sobriety. In this case, seeking treatment out-of-state may, again, be more conducive to your recovery.
If you find that your life is full of distractions at home, this is another sign that you might be better served by a treatment program in another state. Distractions can come in many forms, ranging from family and work duties to social events. During recovery, it is vital that you are able to put all of your focus and attention into your treatment. If there are too many distractions around you, they could be hindering your recovery.
Summary
Traveling away from home for rehabilitation may sound like a daunting task to take on, but it is worth it. Traveling for recovery can be extremely rewarding and beneficial in many ways, because being away from home means there are less distractions, less negative influences, and less exposure to triggers that may interfere with your recovery progress throughout treatment.
Being away from home allows you much more privacy regarding your personal struggles with substance abuse and addiction, meaning neighbors or coworkers will not have to know. This distance means you will also no longer be dealing with stressors such as work obligations or family obligations, and you will also be able to separate yourself from places and things that you associate with substance use.
Most importantly, being willing to travel for drug addiction treatment opens up your options to many different facilities and approaches to treatment. This means that you can find exactly what you need and what will be most beneficial for you in order to yield successful results long-term.
Certain approaches or programs that may not be available near your home base are most definitely available elsewhere. Evidence-based treatment specifically has long been held as one of the most successful approaches, and if this is not available at a facility near you, it is likely worth it to travel in order to participate in a program that uses this approach.
Choosing to take part in a program at a facility near you can narrow down the choices available, but it is important to make an educated decision so that the center you choose can take care of you and your specific needs.
With a little help and research, you can narrow your choices down from the thousands that are available and choose one that is best suited to your individual needs.
Types of Rehab Programs
The first step in choosing a drug rehabilitation center is to determine what your needs and goals are for treatment and then deciding which treatment method is right for you based on those needs and goals.
Outpatient treatment – You will live at home and regularly visit a facility or clinic for addiction treatment sessions run by medical professionals.
Inpatient treatment – You will stay in a hospital or clinic in order to receive intensive, around-the-clock care. This form of treatment for struggles with addiction and other medical problems is highly structured.
Residential treatment – You will stay in a non-hospital setting, meaning the environment will be more homelike. This form of treatment is offered at Starbridge Recovery, and the care you receive will be intensive and highly structured in a similar way to inpatient treatment but without the sterile setting.
Recovery housing – You will live in supervised, temporary housing, likely with other people who are struggling in a similar way to you. Recovery housing includes treatment programs, and it is considered to be the halfway point along the road to recovery and sobriety in the real world.
How To Narrow Down the Search
Even after seeing and understanding these four forms of treatment, you may have trouble deciding which rehab program is the right one for you.
Asking the following questions may help you narrow down these programs and the centers that offer them:
What types of treatment therapy is offered within each program or center?
Can/does the program or center offer medication?
Are the staff members within a given program or facility trained to handle both physical and mental health issues and conditions? Are they trained to handle both mental health issues and addiction?
Is treatment within a program or facility tailored to each individual patient?
What can and should my family do while I am in treatment? Will my program or rehab facility offer family guidance?
Can the center providepatient rights and responsibilities in writing for a more thorough understanding of what is in store?
After developing answers to these questions pertaining to your specific situation, it can be helpful. It is highly recommended to consult with an addiction treatment professional to get professional insight into what options may be best for you and may yield the highest success rates.
Consulting with a treatment professional is also the best way to understand what all of your options are and find a clinic or facility that most closely matches your rehabilitation goals. Because of the sheer number of facilities available, it can be difficult to eliminate those that are poor fits for you on your own. A professional will be able to aid in this process.
You can go about consulting a professional in many ways, but we’ve tried to make it easy.
If you are ready for treatment and want to learn more about our facility, you can submit your contact information, and one of our caring and devoted representatives will contact you shortly to answer any questions or concerns you may have. You may also call us directly and speak with a representative over the phone if your needs are more immediate, or you can go straight to verifying your benefits to see what your insurance covers.
Investigating the Options
You can either come up with a list of possible choices of facilities on your own, or a professional can help you craft a list of facilities after your consultation with them. Either way, the next step should be to start narrowing down that list of options.
The best way to go about doing this is to start exploring and investigating each facility to make sure it fits your needs and goals. Most facilities will offer a great deal of information on their website, so that will be a great place to start. Click through each website, explore their tabs, and look into amenities and specificities of treatment programs.
A facility that has nothing to hide will be forthcoming with information, and if there is anything you would like to know which cannot be answered just from the website, contact them directly and get your questions answered.
A few things to consider when exploring options include:
Available treatment programs – Inpatient vs. Outpatient
Areas of treatment that a facility specializes in
Treatments and therapies available
Amenities
Location
Program length
Cost
Once you explore each of these topics, you can start making comparisons between different clinics or facilities and the standards of treatment that they have to offer.
Making these comparisons between rehabilitation centers can help you more easily identify each facility’s strengths and limitations, allowing you to make a clearer choice.
Credibility of Programs
Another important area to consider when evaluating and selecting a drug rehabilitation center is how credible the programs offered are.
Evidence-based treatment programs are the only treatment programs which have been proven to be successful, so this is something to look for and keep in mind.
Evidence-based treatment means that the treatment and its intended purpose have been tested, and it was proven to be effective.
Not every facility uses evidence-based treatment. Some facilities still utilize therapy and treatment methods that don’t work for everyone. This hit-or-miss approach to treatment can be more harmful than helpful. With that said, it is important to be on the lookout for facilities that offer evidence-based treatment so that you can get the best care possible. At our luxurious Los Angeles facility, we use evidence-based treatment in order to ensure that our clients’ roads to recovery are successful long-term.
Moreover, it is important that you choose a facility which offers a variety of evidence-based treatment programs rather than just one. Each individual is different and has very unique needs and health concerns, so it is important that the drug rehabilitation center you choose takes this seriously and creates a unique plan for each person.
The more options that are available to you, the more likely you are to experience a successful recovery.
Within evidence-based treatment programs are both pharmacotherapy and behavioral therapy.
It is important to choose a facility that offers both, especially if the addiction you are struggling with is more severe. Substance abuse pertaining to alcohol and opioids may be especially severe, in which case medication therapy is especially recommended in order to aid with the process of detoxification and the symptoms which may accompany it.
This is largely because of the fact that medication eases much of the discomfort experienced during withdrawal, and withdrawal is generally the most unpleasant part of the journey to sobriety.
Cost and Insurance Coverage
It is also very important to consider your budget when choosing a center and to make sure that the center you decide on accepts your insurance. Most facilities will provide some information pertaining to cost and coverage on their website, but if this information is not readily available, you should call and ensure that you can afford your treatment at the center in question.
Starbridge Recovery offers a feature on our website which lets you check to see if your health insurance is accepted at our facility. We work with most major insurance carriers so that we can ensure our patients receive the care they need, but if you are uncertain that your insurance is accepted, you are welcome and encouraged to fill out our free insurance verification form.
Summary
The options can be very overwhelming when you begin your search for a drug rehabilitation center that is right for you and your needs. It can be helpful to start your search by exploring the different types of treatment most commonly offered, and investigating the ways that each method does or does not align with your needs and goals.
Consulting a professional can make this process easier because a treatment professional will have a lot of familiarity with centers in the area and an understanding of your concerns. A professional can also help you make a list of centers that fit your criteria, and drawing comparisons between those centers will allow you to narrow it down and ultimately pick the facility that best fits your specific situation.
Each individual has a very unique experience and history with substance abuse and addiction, and every situation should be treated as such. A center that uses evidence-based treatment and treats the individual as a whole will allow you to be as successful as possible, and this is exactly what we strive to do at Starbridge Recovery.
What Should a Person Consider When Choosing a Drug Treatment Program?
If you’ve reached a point in your life where you realize that you need a drug treatment program, this is no small feat. Many addicts never take that first step of their own accord. You’re taking control of your future from this moment forward, and you deserve access to the best possible care.
Rehab is a huge leap, and it’s one that should be taken with care. You want to know that you’re going to a credible facility with capable staff who will provide you with the highest possible quality of treatment. You’ll need to know that the program is sustainable for you and that all your needs will be met throughout your treatment duration.
If you’re comfortable with the facility you’ve chosen, it will be easier to commit to your recovery. Inpatient treatment is much less scary when you know where you’re going and what to expect when you get there.
The first step in empowering yourself is choosing the surroundings in which you will recover, and it’s worth doing your research to make sure your first step is the right step.
If you’re committed to the idea of a new start and you want to remove yourself completely from your connections to your old habits, it might be worth choosing a rehabilitation facility that’s away from home.
If you’re looking for the best possible care, no matter where that care may be located, you may also want to leave yourself open to the idea of staying at an inpatient facility that’s far from home. Finding a facility that makes you feel truly comfortable may be worth more to your recovery than simply finding a facility that’s close to home.
Choosing a facility within a reasonable commute of where you intend to live when treatment is over also comes with benefits. If you want to continue outpatient aftercare with that facility after your care has ended, you’ll likely have to make that drive at least once a week. You’ll need that drive to be reasonable enough that it won’t prevent you from fulfilling that commitment.
The Quality of the Staff
Everyone who works in a drug rehabilitation facility is required to have certain credentials. As long as you’re choosing an accredited and regulated rehabilitation facility, the staff onboard will legally be able to provide you with the health you need.
That said, qualifications are not necessarily indicative of bedside manner. Understaffed and underfunded rehabilitation facilities are less likely to have well-qualified staff. They’re working with limited resources and helping more people than they can reasonably handle. It’s only to be expected that they’ll deal with burnout and compassion fatigue. Smaller centers are usually able to provide a better bedside manner because the staff can better handle their workloads.
The Outcomes of Their Patients
It’s worth asking every potential rehab center on your list about their clinical outcomes. Clinical outcomes from drug addicts, in general, aren’t very good. It’s only the people who commit to their aftercare and independently make the lifestyle changes necessary to live a drug-free life who are ultimately successful with their recovery.
The decisions people make after they leave the program are in their own hands, and a lack of personal accountability shouldn’t necessarily reflect on the quality of the facility. People choose to act against the advice of their care providers all the time, and even the best possible care cannot overcome free will.
You’ll want to know how many people they see a year, how many people who start the program see it through to completion, and how those people evaluated their experience with the program. These are the factors that will help most in your decision-making process.
How the Program Approaches Health and Wellness
Rehab isn’t just about kicking drugs. It’s about completely reclaiming your health. After you’ve completed detox, you need to get back to work on your body. You need healthy food and exercise to help re-regulate your systems. Your body has been through an ordeal, and it’s calling out for your health.
You want a rehab facility that will provide you with equipment or classes you need for low-intensity exercise to stimulate blood flow and keep your muscles active. You need nutrient-rich foods and lots of lean protein to help you recover from the process of withdrawal.
Drug treatment shouldn’t be a gym or a masterclass in weight loss and nutrition, but it should provide you with at least the bare minimum of what you need to keep yourself healthy and thriving while you’re in treatment.
The Comfort of the Facility
Inpatient treatment can last as little as 30 days or as long as 120 days. It all depends on what you and your treatment provider agree would be best for you.
Rehab will be your house for as little as a month or as long as a whole season, and you need to be comfortable there. If you’re constantly unhappy with your surroundings, you might feel trapped or too unhappy to finish your stay, and thus, your program.
Ask for a tour of the facility before you commit to treatment. You’ll be able to see the places where you’ll sit for group or individual therapy. You’ll know what your room looks like and what the bed feels like. You’ll see where your meals are prepared and what the leisure spaces look like.
At the very least, you want your treatment center to feel like an upscale hotel you’d enjoy an extended stay in. At the most, you want your treatment center to feel like a place you’d like to live. If the words “tolerate” or “endure” come to mind, it’s time to look elsewhere.
The Amount of Patients in Attendance
Choosing a great drug treatment program is a lot like choosing a great school. You want the patient-to-staff ratio to be ideal, much like a student-to-teacher ratio. If there are too many people in attendance, the staff will be stretched too thin to provide adequate personalized attention and individual help to the people who need it.
Larger centers are often understaffed. People get short visits with an individual therapist, and group therapy may be too large for everyone to have a meaningful opportunity to speak.
The fewer patients a facility takes on at one time, the better they will generally be at assisting their patients.
This is why so many people choose boutique facilities. They’re able to make the most of their time because their access to resources comes with much less restriction. If they run over their allotted time with their individual therapist, they aren’t rushed out the door because that therapist has 15 other people to see that day.
You likely want a facility where all of your care professionals can really take their time with you.
You’re taking a big step to get better, and you’re entrusting these professionals to keep you safe and provide you with the tools that you need to be successful. You don’t want to risk being reduced to the concept of a faceless patient on a long list of other faceless patients. You want carefully managed care provided by competent professionals who will take a vested interest in your wellbeing.
Activities Offered By the Program
You’re going to be spending time there, and you don’t want to find yourself bored out of your wits. Mindlessly watching TV will give your mind time to wander. Sometimes that’s good for your recovery, and sometimes that’s bad. It helps to have positive things to focus on when you’re attempting to make positive changes in your life.
Rehab isn’t a punishment. It may be difficult, but it’s a wonderful gift you’re giving yourself. If you talk to some people, take some vitamins, and are left to sit in front of a screen or to lay in your room all day, it’s not going to feel like a gift. It’s going to feel the same way it felt to be grounded when you were a teenager.
A quality treatment facility will provide you with opportunities to participate in healthy activities. Hiking, sports, yoga, meditation, swimming, cookouts, and trips to the beach will keep a rehabilitation facility from feeling like a prison. You obviously can’t go out to bars and clubs, but that doesn’t mean you should be without any activity during your stay.
Conclusion
A lot goes into choosing the right drug treatment program. You need to make sure you’re comfortable with your choice if you want to set yourself up for success.
If you’re not sure, sit down with your loved ones and have them help you decide. They know you, and they’ll have a good idea of what will work for you.
What is the Difference Between Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction?
Drug use, drug abuse, and drug addiction are not interchangeable terms. They refer to three things that often happen across a single timeline in someone’s life. There is a very thin line between drug abuse and drug addiction, so thin that no one is really aware of the exact moment they crossed it.
One is not better than the other — in fact, one almost always leads to the other if left unchecked for too long.
If you’re looking to eliminate drugs from your life and form healthier habits, you need to understand where you are on this linear path. Depending on what stage you’ve reached in your relationship with drugs, specific courses of treatment may be available to you.
Planning your recovery begins with the fundamental knowledge of the severity of your drug use.
What is Casual Drug Use?
Casual drug use is any type of drug use that occurs without pattern or consistency. A casual drug user may be someone who takes ecstasy at a party once and doesn’t do it again until a concert two years later. It might be someone who socially hits a joint once or twice a month. It could be someone who tries psychedelic mushrooms once and never does it again.
Most people who use drugs will only ever be casual drug users. They experiment, but they move on. It isn’t a habit that sticks with them. It’s not something they desire to do with any type of frequency, but a special occasion indulgence that they don’t go out of their way to look for.
This doesn’t mean their drug use is safe. Drugs are never safe or healthy in any amount. All it means is that they don’t have a habit or pattern of behavior that a treatment program could fix or address. They could just as easily decide on a whim to never do drugs again and have no problem committing to that decision independently.
What is Drug Abuse?
Drug abuse is when the set of circumstances regarding someone’s drug use is beginning to have a negative impact on their life. They may misappropriately spend their money on drugs when they have bills to pay. They may have been caught with drugs and faced legal ramifications for possessing them.
An individual who abuses drugs may be harming themselves or others around them with little regard. They may choose opportunities to do drugs instead of choosing activities necessary for their lives, like going to work or school.
What is Drug Addiction?
Drug addiction is when drug abuse progresses to the point where someone becomes physically ill as a result of not having drugs.
If you feel like there is a minimum amount of drugs you need to do just to keep yourself going, you have a drug addiction. If finding or using drugs has become such a focal point of your life that you don’t have time for anything else, you’re an addict.
Addicts find they need more and more drugs to achieve the same effect that they experienced when they first started using. It may get to the point where drug addicts can’t even afford to get high anymore — they can only afford to stave off withdrawal day by day. They often have to borrow or steal money just to keep themselves involved with drugs, and they crave drugs so desperately that they don’t hesitate with the moral implications of doing so.
If you’ve found yourself in this position, you need immediate help.
Where Does Alcohol Fit In?
Alcohol fits into every bracket. Simply replace the word “drugs” with alcohol and the warning signs are the same.
No one quite catches when abuse becomes addiction.
Intervention is best when casual drug use first starts to become drug abuse. At this stage, it’s less traumatic to someone’s mind and body to change course. Addiction hasn’t fully developed and created havoc in the lives of everyone around that person. Most people, however, don’t seek treatment at the moment when casual use becomes drug abuse.
Some people seek treatment right before drug abuse becomes addiction, but most people don’t catch that transition in time. It’s so subtle that you’d miss it if you blinked. This leads to addicts that often don’t realize that they’re addicts, and they continue to get worse before they eventually wind up in treatment. Sometimes, they only wind up in treatment because they were mandated by the court.
Treating Drug Abuse
Drug abuse can be treated with inpatient or outpatient treatments.
When recognized and acted upon early, outpatient treatments can be highly beneficial. Working with a therapist, attending group meetings, and changing your lifestyle and habits may be enough to keep you from turning back to drugs and progressing into full blown addiction.
If you have even the slightest doubt in your ability to change your course and manage your life through outpatient therapies alone, it’s better to go to an inpatient facility for comprehensive care. It may be better to take a through approach from the beginning to prevent the possibility of winding up back where you started.
The First Step To Treating Drug Addiction
Drug addicts will experience profound withdrawal symptoms when they stop using drugs. These symptoms motivate them to find more drugs and deter them from attempting to detox at home. They feel sick, and some of them describe it as the feeling of being near death. The exact opposite is true.
Drugs, especially opioids, significantly alter the brain. That’s their entire purpose. They’re supposed to alter the way the brain receives pain, dulling the sensation.
The problem is that opioids cannot be so precisely targeted to only impact certain neurotransmitters. They negatively impact all neurotransmitters. Opioids slow your breathing and even impact your digestion, causing constipation. They begin to run the show, and your body suffers for it.
When you stop using drugs, your brain is intensely happy. It frantically begins the process of repairing itself. It pumps you full of adrenaline to check all of your vital processes, causing your heart to race, your breathing to become rapid, and your blood pressure to raise in conjunction with a feeling of anxiousness or restlessness. It makes you sick and feverish and sweaty, in an attempt to flush out any remainers of the drug. You may vomit or experience diarrhea. Your body may ache.
This process will continue until your brain can re-establish proper levels of the chemicals you need for your body to work correctly. It’s bringing you back to life, and that’s what withdrawal is.
Even though this is a process that needs to happen and is, despite how it may feel, a very positive thing, it can still be dangerous. It’s especially dangerous for people who have been addicted to drugs for a long time, because they’ve suppressed their neurotransmitters for so long that they’ve likely done damage.
Detoxification should always take place in a controlled inpatient environment where medical professionals trained in helping addicts safely detox are always present. In the event that something goes awry, such as dehydration due to a wealth of fluid leaving the body, the medical professional will know what to do to prevent the situation from becoming dangerous.
The Second Step To Treating Drug Addiction
Detox takes the drug out of the addict, but it doesn’t do anything to prevent the addict from putting it back in.
If you’re a drug addict, inpatient treatment can help you determine why you use. The idea of putting your life on hold to check into an inpatient treatment center may not seem appealing, but it’s a power move that will help you reclaim your life.
You’ll work with a therapist to discuss how aspects of your life or your past make you feel, and discover how they impact your behavior. If you also live with a mental health condition like anxiety or depression, you’re what’s considered a dual-diagnosis patient. Your therapist will work to simultaneously treat your addiction and your mental health condition, assuring that one can no longer impact the other.
You’ll learn new skills for personal accountability, how to build healthy relationships, how to be a more responsible person, how to set goals for yourself, and how to recognize your personal strengths and weaknesses.
Inpatient rehab has the potential to be one of the most empowering experiences in your life.
Conclusion
The best time to get help for your struggles with drugs is before you become an addict. The second best time to get help is right now. You don’t want to wait until the eleventh hour to go to rehab. Your mental and physical health will deteriorate more and more each day you procrastinate your wellbeing.
Going to rehab is taking care of yourself. It’s loving yourself, and giving yourself the things you deserve to have the life you’ve always wanted. There’s no shame in wanting to be happy and successful, and it all starts with treatment.
You may have heard opioid use referred to as an epidemic. This is because a staggering amount of Americans are prescribed opioid-based medication each year. Some of these patients are given opioids for short-term pain management following surgical procedures, others are prescribed opioids for longer-term use, as a way of managing chronic pain conditions.
Some people have no real reason for taking opioids at all, stumbling into them as a street drug and quickly developing a dangerous dependency that negatively impacts their mental and physical health.
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of opioid use disorder early is crucial for a timely intervention. Addressing the issue quickly improves chances of recovery without significant damage to your health, finances, and your personal and professional lives.
If you believe that you or someone close to you may be experiencing opioid use disorder, the best time to act is now.
How Common is Opioid Use Disorder?
The latest survey data from 2018 shows that more than 10 million people aged 12 or older had misused opioids within the year the data was collected. That’s about 1 in every 33 people.
When you’re out grocery shopping or at work, you’re likely around at least two people who have dealt with opioid misuse to at least some capacity.
Up to 29% of individuals who are legitimately prescribed opioid medications for the treatment of chronic pain will misuse their medication. They’ll sometimes take too much, double up on their doses and oversleep, or run out early. When they’re out of their prescription before their refills are due, they often take to the streets in search of more. That’s where the situation becomes problematic.
Up to 12% of these people who misuse their opioid medications will develop opioid use disorder, leading them to obtain more medication by illegitimate means. The habit is expensive, sometimes causing so much negative financial impact that people with the disorder will borrow or steal money from those around them to support their habit.
As many as 6% of people with opioid use disorder will transition to heroin, the strongest opioid available. About 80% of people living with heroin addiction first started with opioid medications, over time finding that the lower strengths of opioids in the prescription medication were no longer enough to sustain their habit.
The Signs and Symptoms of Opioid Use Disorder
Many people with opioid use disorder are often in denial of the extent of their condition. This isn’t because they’re delusional or bad people — many of them are embarrassed of their behavior or in constant fear of withdrawal symptoms. Just like anyone else, they have aversions to pain, shame, and negative emotions and would prefer to avoid uncomfortable situations.
Opioid use comes with side effects, even when taken properly. Opioids are strong drugs that tend to cause disharmony within your body. Some things, like constipation, nausea, sleepiness, reduced libido, increased sensitivity to pain, depression, withdrawal symptoms, and increased tolerance requiring higher dosage of the medication aren’t necessarily indicative of opioid use disorder.
Some people who have a hard time dealing with the side effects that come as a direct result of taking opioids as prescribed may prefer to medically detox from opioids and switch to alternative forms of pain management.
These opioid side effects are typically only considered a part of opioid use disorder when they come in conjunction with other issues that arise with problematic opioid use, such as:
Financial problems, including trouble paying bills or theft of money from work, family, or friends to fund the street purchase of opioid medications.
Taking opioids at an uncontrollable frequency, typically in much larger amounts or more frequent doses than a doctor has prescribed or would prescribe.
Difficulty with proper self care, including unexplained weight loss or the decline of personal hygiene.
Taking opioids in a way they were not prescribed, such as intravenously instead of orally.
Frequent drowsiness or significant changes in sleep habits.
If you recognize these signs in yourself or in someone else, it’s time to approach the problem head on.
Taking Your First Step Towards Recovery
The first step towards recovery is locating an appropriate venue for recovery. Discontinuing opioid use without medical supervision can be exceedingly dangerous. Many people who attempt to discontinue use at home ultimately wind up going back to the opioids, as the withdrawal symptoms are taxing and sometimes painful.
Finding an accredited and properly staffed facility to meet the needs of you or your loved one during this challenging time is a crucial first step towards a full recovery.
Medically Supervised Opioid Withdrawal
Some of the symptoms of opioid withdrawal are similar to the symptoms of other conditions. Frequent yawning, goosebumps, anxiety, and trouble sleeping fall on the spectrum of mild withdrawal symptoms.
More serious symptoms often set in after prolonged withdrawal, and these symptoms may require medical supervision:
Nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting
Accelerated heart beat, raised blood pressure, and rapid breathing
Fever, chills, and uncontrollable shaking
Body aches and heightened perception to pain or discomfort
In rare cases, seizures
A medical professional will be able to treat or eliminate some of the serious symptoms of opioid withdrawal with medications like methadone or buprenorphine. Both of these medications treat opioid withdrawal symptoms because they are opioids — they simply do not have the psychoactive effects that commonly abused opioids have.
These drugs can be administered safely in a medical setting to prevent or reduce the severity of severe opioid withdrawal symptoms. By slowly scaling back a patient’s dose, withdrawal becomes less of a shock to their system. Eventually, through carefully managed care, patients are able to stop using these medications altogether and can remove all opioids from their lives.
Rehabilitation to Build New Habits
While completely removing opioids from your system is the cornerstone of recovery, it only addresses one aspect of addictive behavior. The physical dependence on opioids may be gone, but it’s easy to return to opioid use if the cause of the matter is not addressed.
Many people turn to opioids to dull emotional pain or avoid distressing situations in their lives, feeling that opioids provide an escape. If the cause of that desire isn’t addressed and remedied, chances are high that patients may return to opioids and undo the progress they’ve made.
A worthwhile treatment plan will always include strategies like individual and group therapy. Group therapy sessions help to make opioid use disorder sufferers feel less alone. Opioid use disorders are shockingly common and often lead to social isolation. Patients in recovery are introduced to others who understand what they’re going through, creating a sense of empathy that may have otherwise been missing.
In group therapy, patients are encouraged to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with opioid use disorder without the fear of judgement. Everyone in the room shares the same unique struggle and deserves the opportunity to feel less alone.
Unique or more personal situations can be discussed in individual therapy. If there are things you aren’t comfortable discussing with the group, they can always be addressed in a one-on-one session. Some people feel better discussing issues in an individual session helps them better communicate with the group, while others might feel like sharing small details with the group makes it easier to discuss their feelings in depth during an individual session.
Changing Your Life for the Better
No one finds the end of their journey on the day they leave their treatment facility. This isn’t where your treatment ends, it’s where you become responsible for managing your own progress in the outside world. Some patients reach this level of recovery sooner than others. It’s always best to work at your own pace, rather than to try to beat the clock and leave treatment before you’re ready. You want lasting results, not a temporary fix.
The next step is going back out into the world free and clear of opioids with healthier perspectives. Patients should continue therapy for as long as they need and avoid situations that may tempt them to revert to opioid use.
This can mean pursuing a healthy hobby, like painting, yoga, or martial arts, to make new friends. It might mean moving into a new apartment, away from old roommates or bad areas of town that serve as constant reminders of opioid drugs.
You get to choose who you are, because opioids will no longer define you.
Conclusion
Recovering from opioid use disorder involves permanent and sustainable life changes that require patients to take control of their physical and emotional health.
If you’re struggling, you need to understand that you are worth the work. You deserve to take care of your mind and your body. You deserve to be heard, happy, and healthy.
You just need to take that first step in the right direction. It will be an uphill battle, but in the end, you’ll win yourself back.
Residential Drug Treatment Program vs. Inpatient: How They Differ
When choosing a Residential Drug Treatment Program versus an Inpatient Program, it is essential to understand the differences between the two in order to make an educated decision as to which program will better suit your recovery path.
There are many similarities between inpatient and residential programs, and because of this, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Both programs involve living with other people who are also recovering from substance abuse, and both programs have time-limited stay lengths.
Generally speaking, inpatient rehab programs are typically shorter than residential rehab programs. Additionally, the purposes of each type of program are different. Inpatient treatment programs are more hands-on and focused on achieving medical stability for patients while also addressing their addiction, whereas residential programs are based on the patient already being medically stable.
There are certain factors which help a person to determine which form of treatment may be necessary, and which form of treatment will be most beneficial for their specific needs.
Some of these factors include:
The need for (medically assisted or otherwise) detoxification
The need for ongoing medical treatment- For example, if medical complications have arisen as a result of a drug overdose
The need for skills training- Skills training may be beneficial in aiding a person with reintegration into a family, social, or work environment that is conducive to recovery from an addiction
The need for additional therapy- In instances of dual diagnoses or concurrent diagnoses (such as major depressive disorder, anxiety, or bipolar disorder), additional therapy may be needed.
The need for aftercare- A thorough aftercare plan can reinforce the progress a person makes during early treatment.
Residential treatment focuses on a population of people struggling with substance abuse in similar ways, such that a tight-knit and supportive environment is produced- something which is not experienced in outpatient settings for treatment.
Signs That Inpatient Treatment Is Necessary
Physical symptoms of addiction can vary from situation to situation, so in order to assess whether a person needs inpatient treatment, it is important to also consider behavioral and psychological symptoms.
At Starbridge Recovery, we offer free consultations in order to look for signs that treatment is needed.
Some of these signs and symptoms include:
Substance tolerance – A person requires higher amounts of the substance in order to achieve the same desired effect
Withdrawal symptoms – Nausea, vomiting, headaches, etc.
Lack of control – Being unable to stop usage
Neglecting activities that the person used to enjoy
Stealing in order to continue supporting the habit
Social, financial, or legal problems
What Is Inpatient Treatment?
Inpatient is generally a shorter and much more intensive drug treatment program.
Inpatient programs may last anywhere from 1 to 3 months, and may be followed up with an outpatient program and/or participation in a self-help support group. Remaining engaged in outpatient programs or some form of rehabilitation aftercare following an inpatient treatment program is essential to ensuring that relapse does not occur once a person leaves the inpatient setting.
Inpatient treatment strives to provide medical stabilization 24/7, and involves monitoring by doctors and nurses, thus giving it more of a hospital-like feeling. Inpatient treatment is typically the first step after detoxification, and it is very structured with a schedule that may involve support groups, group therapy or individual therapy, and case management.
What is Residential Drug Treatment?
Whereas inpatient programs are highly structured and scheduled, residential drug treatment is generally less restrictive but lasts for a longer duration of time. Because it is designed for a longer stay, residential drug treatment is more comfortable and less hospital-like.
It can last from 6-12 months, and its main goal is centered around the reintegration or resocialization of the person into society without substance abuse. The program uses other residents, staff, and the social context all as active parts of recovery and reintegration. In this setting, the addiction is viewed in a social and psychological lens, so the treatment program moreso focuses on encouraging patients to take accountability in order to return to socially productive lifestyles.
Starbridge Recovery takes a “peeling the onion” approach to residential treatment by focusing on the underlying reasons why a drug addiction takes place. Cognitive, emotional, and practical strengths and weaknesses are identified in each person in order to gain a thorough understanding of the entire individual, which in turn helps reveal what limitations may exist.
What Might Residential Drug Treatment Entail?
Residential drug treatment programs focus on goal-setting, and core building blocks for positive living and coping.
These building blocks include:
Expanding positive emotions
Social engagement
Identifying and developing healthy relationships
Developing personal accomplishment goals
Connecting with meaningful aspects of each client’s life
Throughout treatment, each person will improve coping skills and strategies for managing stress, anxiety, and any other triggers that might lead to substance abuse.
Recreational outings- Including but not limited to bowling, beach, hiking, and movies
Game night
Pizza and movie night
BBQs taking place on-site
Drug Aftercare Planning
After completing an inpatient or residential drug treatment program, it is vital to continue to be vigilant regarding substance use and behavior patterns.
Treatment programs are a great way to start the path to recovery, but in order to stay sober it is important to identify barriers and limitations which may interfere with a person’s path. This process of identifying limitations is something that works best when a client is removed from the inpatient setting so that personal inventories can be taken.
Simultaneously, however, this removal of the client from an inpatient setting is also the exact time when it is most vital that the client has the proper set of skills and tools from treatment available to them so that they can continue to thrive in the real world.
Aftercare planning allows clients to be set up for success by encouraging them to work on recovery every day, rather than relapse. A specific plan for how to manage any challenges that may come along with sobriety can help prevent a relapse, because recovery does require continuous work.
What Does Aftercare Look Like?
Most often, 12-step recovery program meetings and support groups are recommended as aftercare, though sometimes patients may choose to live in a sober living house or “halfway house” in order to more smoothly transition between an inpatient setting and real-world environment.
Adjusting back to daily life after treatment may present a struggle, and in this instance a sober living house may be beneficial. In a sober living house, residents are free to come and go, which allows each individual to ease back into a normal life routine while still maintaining the skills and lessons learned in rehab.
Sober living houses are much less restrictive, but residents do still need to abide by certain rules which may include attending group meetings or following curfews. Residing in a sober living house also enables individuals to establish positive relationships that reinforce sober living and abstinence from substances.
Another aftercare program option is family therapy, much like the Family Therapy Program offered at our Los Angeles facility. Though this is part of an aftercare plan, family sessions can actually begin once a client has gone through detoxification and is fully immersed in a program. The goal of family therapy is to bring together the family unit and heal relationships.
The Family Therapy Program also:
Teaches and improves self-care techniques
Improves communication skills in the family to enforce more open dialogue
Institutes healthy boundaries
Reshapes unhealthy familial roles
Helps family members learn how, and better understand how, to help and support loved ones
Summary
Residential drug treatment and inpatient treatment are two of the options for recovering from a drug addiction.
Inpatient treatment programs are shorter in length and more intensive, whereas residential drug treatment programs last longer but involve less restrictions and a more homelike setting, rather than the hospital feelings of an inpatient setting.
Residential treatment offers individuals the opportunity to bond as part of a close-knit community of other people who are struggling in the same, or similar, ways. It focuses on building positive and healthy relationships as well as identifying underlying factors contributing to substance use.
Regardless of which method of treatment is chosen for an individual’s specific needs, aftercare is an important part of ensuring that a person stays sober and remains on the path to recovery.
Aftercare helps prevent relapse by continuing to enforce the coping strategies and life skills a person recovering from an addiction learned during their rehabilitation program. Part of aftercare may involve family bonding and therapy, 12 step program meetings, or living in a sober living house depending on each person’s specific needs and path. The goal of aftercare is continued progress and development of personal strengths and goals so that reintegration is successful and the road to recovery can continue uninterrupted.
If you’re ready to get started with recovery today, come explore our different treatment options and help yourself or your loved one take the first step in the right direction.
