Drug addiction is a terrible disease of mental obsession and physical compulsion for the patient to live with but it’s possibly as painful for the family and friends that love the drug addicted person.
Addiction to alcohol or other drugs leads to drastic changes in behaviour that can lead the addict to be in dangerous or compromising situations. As a result death from addiction can occur not only through overdose or harm to the body but also by accidents, murder and suicide. Drug addiction treatment facilities exist to help people escape the spiral of destruction and regain their lives.
Who needs drug addiction treatment facilities?
Even though many addicts claim that they can stop whenever they want to this does not seem to be true in the majority of cases where they try to stop independently of help from drug addiction treatment facilities. Only around 4% of drug addicted people manage to attain one year abstinent from all mind and mood altering chemicals without some type of professional drug addiction treatment. This is partly due to withdrawal symptoms that accompany an attempt to stop using drugs abruptly, which is one of the hallmarks of addiction. These symptoms can be unpleasant (cramps, sweating, nausea, irritability) or even outright dangerous (seizures, convulsions, hallucinations).
Drug addiction is also characterised by continuing to use drugs regardless of the negative consequences (job loss, divorce, health problems, etc). If these warning signs are present in your life you should seriously consider looking for help. One function of drug addiction treatment facilities is to offer a medically supervised detoxification process that will help the patient through withdrawal symptoms with as little discomfort as possible.
Of course detox is not the only service that drug addiction treatment facilities offer. Lasting recovery is the goal of these clinics and detoxification is just the first step in reaching this goal. Recovery from addiction is a much larger scale concept than simply “not using drugs” – it involves transforming the addict’s life, thereby giving new meaning and a sense of fulfillment.
What happens at drug addiction treatment facilities?
Recovery improves the life of the addict in many spheres – physical, mental, social, vocational and spiritual. Drug addiction treatment facilities employ diverse therapeutic activities geared towards addressing all of these various spheres of life. In order to do this the best drug rehabs will employ a team of addiction treatment consultants in which members of multiple professions bring together their different specialist training.
The program at drug addiction treatment facilities will involve a number of different activities:
- Addiction group therapy sessions – where a counsellor will facilitate a group which multiple members of the community attend. By sharing with one another they receive support from each other. Hearing another person’s experience and seeing that they survived the ordeal can instil a sense of hope and also teach valuable lessons about coping skills.
- Individual addictions counselling – These sessions are held privately between the counsellor and patient. The patient will receive highly personalised attention and direct attention to the issues which are at the heart of his/her recovery.
- Creative groups – these can be in the form of art therapy or music therapy. Creative groups aim to work with core issues by bypassing the cognitive filters that people set in place to protect themselves from painful memories.
The needs of a patient will vary depending on their age, sex, culture, sexual orientation etc. An effective treatment program in one of the best drug addiction treatment facilities will use a blend of these (and other) therapies to provide a comprehensive look at the issues that surround addiction recovery.
We should note that many drug addiction treatment facilities offer a high quality of accommodation. It is not uncommon for rehabs to offer swimming pools, gyms, saunas and other amenities that help the patient to feel comfortable.
A rehab is sometimes more similar to a hotel than a hospital! You should examine the creature comforts that are on offer when comparing rehab centres.
If your alcohol or other drug use is causing you problems – arrests, accidents or just plain unhappiness – then you should immediately contact one of our treatment coordinators for a confidential assessment by a trained professional. They will guide you to one of the drug addiction treatment facilities that will best suit your particular needs.
Our network includes only the best rehab centers for personalised high quality addiction and mental health care. We guide you to a center that not only is a right fit for you or your loved one but that offers expert proven care and support. Start your healing today by choosing a rehab that cares about your recovery.