Support groups and aftercare programs can help you maintain sobriety after reha
Heroin rehab treatment provides addicts with the tools and guidance needed to take back their lives from addiction. During rehab, recovering addicts go through an intensive process thatās designed to lay the foundation for living a drug-free life.
Once a person completes rehab treatment, he or she enters a new stage of the recovery process. Integrating the tools acquired in rehab within their everyday life routines can be challenging when old reminders and memories of drug use confront a person at every turn.
According to the U. S. National Library of Medicine, people who remain engaged in aftercare programs have a considerably better chance of maintaining abstinence after drug rehab. Whether it be regular attendance at 12-Step support groups, ongoing psychotherapy or helping others in recovery find their way, staying engaged in the recovery process provides a person with the daily supports needed to sustain a drug-free lifestyle.
Follow-up Treatment
Transitioning from drug rehab to normal, everyday routines can be a jarring experience for recovering heroin addicts. After completing rehab, a person must learn to manage everyday life without the protective layer of a structured treatment environment.
For this reason, addicts must make it a point to keep follow-up appointments with therapists, physicians and counselors at all costs. These appointments not only help a person stay engaged in the treatment process, but also provide a means to work through the challenges and pressures that everyday life brings.
12-Step Support Groups
Most, if not all, heroin rehab programs encourage participation in some form of support group work. Once a person leaves rehab, community-based 12-Step support groups can prove invaluable in helping recovering addicts maintain abstinence.
Feelings of isolation and shame can easily drive someone in recovery back to using again. Regular attendance at 12-Step support group meetings offers a sense of belonging and understanding that family and friends just canāt provide. Twelve-Step support groups can also become a source of support and guidance, especially when the urge to use is strong.
Lifestyle Changes
SomeoneĀ recovering from a heroin addiction must not only maintain abstinence, but also avoid the lifestyle elements that support addiction behaviors. Old friends and old hangouts can quickly become addiction triggers that reignite the urge to use again.
Lifestyle changes work to replace old memories, friends and activities with healthy, productive habits and routines. Developing new interests, helping other people through the recovery process and building a support network can go a long way towards establishing a drug-free lifestyle. Twelve-Step support groups can be a great help in this area.
Giving Back
In effect, recovering from a heroin addiction becomes a healing process for both the body and the mind. People who successfully complete a treatment program have gained valuable experience that can be used to help others make it through recovery.
Sharing experiences are a vital part of the 12-Step support group process. The act of sharing also helps a person remember what it was like to be lost inside a drug addiction. Likewise, mentoring or sponsoring those just entering recovery helps a person reaffirm his or her conviction to remain drug-free.
About two years ago my mother-in-law mother came to us and admitted that she had become addicted to opiate pain medication and that when she couldn’t find pills she often would substitute heroin because it was more readily available and less expensive. We had suspected that there might be a problem for sometime but still….
Dual diagnosis refers to a condition in which one person is affected by two or more mental health disorders, one being the disease of addiction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it also implies that the two illnesses often interact and worsen the course of both. The condition of dual diagnosis is very….
For years, there has been a debate on whether or not there are similarities between food and drug addiction. However, studies have shown that both addictions have similar characteristics. There are many ways a food addiction and drug addiction are alike. Reward System in the Brain The most relevant similarity between these two addictions is….
Long after you have finished getting treatment for a drug addiction thereās a chance that you will still be paying the bill. The cost of addiction runs far deeper than just the cost of going into treatment.Ā There are other bills that accrue such as the need to pay back the people you love, the need….
The common response to people with an addiction is āSeek treatment.ā And that isnāt incorrect. Addicts deserve personalized care from experts to help them through a very difficult transition. But, what the blanket push to treatment fails to do is to explain how treatment works and what it can offer the addict. There needs to….
Some individuals truly need inpatient care for one reason or another, but since these programs are generally more expensive than outpatient centers, they sometimes do not attend the programs they require. In actuality, there are inpatient and residential treatment programs that do provide low-cost and even free care to patients who need it. How Many….
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, no one type of rehab that works for every person. There is also more than one type of treatment center. The type of treatment center you choose depends on your addiction and your preferences. When you are considering addiction treatment, it is important to look at all….
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as of 2010, an estimated 2.7 percent of American adults reportedly use prescription drugs for recreational purposes. While prescription abuse has been around for a long time, this 2.7 percent estimate represents a 300 percent increase in rates within the last ten years alone. Prescription drug addictions….
Rehab can be a scary thing not only for reasons of what it means to the addict; leaving the security of the drug that gives them comfort; but also because the cost can be astronomical. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports that, depending on length of stay, staff to patient ratio, size of….
Meth addiction is a very dangerous and damaging condition that affects thousands of individuals and their families each and every day.Ā When you know that a loved one is addicted to crystal meth, getting them to go to rehab can save their life but how you will get them to accept help is another story.Ā Many meth….
Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline will be answered or returned by one of the treatment providers listed, each of which is a paid advertiser.
By calling the helpline you agree to the terms of use. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. There is no obligation to enter treatment.
