When getting help for any kind of disorder, you might be affected by a fear of the unknown. But please don’t let this stop you from getting help.
To talk about addiction specifically, the longer you leave it the worse it is likely to get. The toxic thinking and behaviour patterns that drive it will only set in more if they’re left untreated and if you don’t learn strategies to manage them.
The long-term health and psychological effects will also be worsened with time. The physical impacts of addictions left untreated too long can include:
Addiction also changes the way your brain works, which is a big reason why it’s so tricky to deal with.
That aforementioned fear of the unknown might mean you have a lot of questions about the rehab process. Doing research, knowing what you’re going into, is also incredibly important and can make the whole thing less nerve-wracking.
With this in mind, we have a bit more information below, which will hopefully answer some of those questions.
As a final part of this introduction, we should also note that both symptoms and treatment can vary quite a bit depending on certain factors, like what you’re addicted to, how long you’ve been addicted for and the support system you have.
You should of course take everything we say into account, but you should also do your own research based on your specific addiction.
The first stage of rehab treatment will be a conversation with us and then a formal assessment. We’ll go into a bit more detail on that specific stage later, as it’s quite a wide subject to cover.
The next part is of course the actual treatment, which nearly always starts with a detox. This is a very important first step, as it cleanses your body of the very substances you’re recovering from.
Your intake of these substances will slowly be reduced and replaced with medication. This might sound simple, but attempting to detox alone is unlikely to succeed and could even become dangerous if the substance you’re addicted to is connected with the most severe withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms occur when you’ve been using long enough to develop a dependency, where your body becomes reliant on the substances you’re taking.
Probably the biggest benefit of private treatment is its immediacy. The NHS has some great services available, which are likely to really help.
But they also have long waiting lists, which might not be useful for those with more severe addiction issues especially. Private rehab is also often more personalised, meaning your treatment will be more geared towards your specific needs.
Like every other part of treatment, if and when you speak to us, we’ll be able to discuss what is best for you.
As we said earlier, the first way we can help you is via an official assessment, after a conversation to get the basics of your situation down. The best route to recovery is nearly always via a personalised treatment plan.
But we can only make that plan if we know your story. As a result, we’ll discuss all the factors that can influence the severity of your addiction.
These include what you’re addicted to, how long you’ve been addicted for, your personality type and possibly what the specific drivers of your addiction are.
If you choose to go through rehab as a result of this conversation, you’re also likely to go through a full medical and physical assessment before you get started, done for similar reasons to the previous one. From there, other than the aforementioned detoxes, your treatment will likely diverge based on what you need.
Having said that, a focus will likely be put on your mental health at this point. You could experience various kinds of therapy and counselling, as well as support groups and workshops.
As a side note, in case you were wondering, they’re generally put under the same umbrella but there is a difference between therapy and counselling. Therapy is more specialised and tailored to you, while counselling is more generalised.
One of the most popular kinds of therapy that will likely be recommended to you is cognitive behavioural therapy, often shortened to CBT. Negative thinking and behavioural patterns, here called cognitive distortions, can solidify addiction to a point where it’s very difficult to treat.
CBT attempts to break down these cognitive distortions, through discussions with a therapist. Instead of looking back at your past like other similar treatments, here you’ll focus solely on the present. We’ll look at your current actions and behaviour, to find cognitive distortions and root them out.
Another well-known counselling technique is motivational interviewing. In motivational interviewing, you’ll be asked a series of non-judgmental questions, which encourage you to re-examine your behaviour.
Of course, not all therapies go so deep. For people who like to express their emotions through more creative and less direct means, art and music therapy could also work very well.
Various studies have shown the benefits of such activities. These include improvements to memory, stress management, reduced pain, reduced stress and improved communication skills.
Addiction doesn’t just affect the person suffering from it. We also offer help to the loved ones of addicts, via interventions, advice and emotional support.
The first one speaks for itself – if you can’t get through to someone, an intervention could be the key. Our helpline is also open for all addiction-related advice, even if you’re getting in touch on behalf of someone else.
Finally, just as we’ll always be there to support anyone going through treatment themselves, we’ll also be there for you if you need us.
It’s important to tread carefully and be sensitive in this scenario, but it’s also vital that you acknowledge the issue, before it’s too late.
Call us today on 0800 140 4690
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