Addiction Recovery and Identifying The Root Cause
For many years I watched people continually go around and around the mountain of addiction; they would get clean and then before you knew it they were using again. I contribute this vicious cycle to never identifying the root cause. To many times when addicts reach out for help all they receive is help getting off the drug through detox but then they are left with the same issues they had that led to their addiction to begin with. Ninety percent of addicts don’t wake up one morning and decide to get high. They have experienced some traumatic event in their life that triggered within them the need to numb the pain and so the addiction begins. Other addicts have undiagnosed mental health issues and they are self medicating with the use of illegal drugs. It is paramount for addiction recovery to discover what issues led to the drug (alcohol) abuse. Without dealing with the root causes it will be hard for the addict to stay clean because the wound that is still within them will fester again and they will want to numb the pain. When I was the Program Director for a Recovery Program more than eighty percent of the women I worked with had been abused either physically, emotionally or sexually. The rest of the women that I worked with had ADD, ADHD, Depression or Bi-polar disorder and they had been self medicating. Once the root cause is identified then you can design an effective treatment plan so that the addict can leave the addiction recovery program on their way to be whole again. The festering wounds can heal and all that they have gone through will become their testimony. It is important for any addict to go into an addiction recovery program that offers counseling. The issues that they are facing must be addressed or they will face the real issue of falling back into the cycle of addiction.
Addiction Recovery and Family Support
Family support is important for the recovery addict. Addicts need to know they have someone in their corner that is there to help them through the tough days. Sometimes they will need a listening ear, a hug or someone to be honest with them. It may be crucial for the addicts recovery for the family to go through counseling together. Families need to understand that addiction is an illness and can be treated, but they also need to understand that sometimes it is a family illness and the family must work together. Unfortunately, there are cases where the recovery addict will need to be away from their families and it will be important that they find another support system. Families must be willing to face the facts that sometimes they have enabled the addiction and go through a healing process themselves. Through the proper treatment program all these issues will be discussed and a plan of recovery will be put into place.
Addiction Recovery and Lifestyle Changes
When an addict goes into treatment one of the issues that will be discussed is the changes that they will need to make in their lifestyle. They may need to change their surroundings (move somewhere new), the will need to changed some of their relationships. Recovery addicts will need to find productive things to do with their time.; such as go back to school, get involved with community projects or develop a hobby. As recovery continues for the addict they will find that their lifestyle will change several times.
Grateful For Addiction Recovery
On a personal note I am extremely grateful for my recovery. It has been 28 years and my life has changed drastically. I went from being a person with a very bleak future to a future full of hope. I have gone from never staying with any one job very long, to owning real estate property with my husband, to owning my own business and making money working from home blogging. For all who read this and are struggling with addiction I wish you the very best; you can recover too.