Tips for Living with a Recovering Addict

Neuroscientist Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., who himself recovered from addiction, outlines five steps. Affective neuroscience and the treatment of sexual addiction. Since many people who use drugs are in poverty, most aren’t able to pay a high amount of money to go to these rehab centers.

In 2016, my colleagues and I surveyed another nationally representative sample. We discovered that the national prevalence of those in recovery is approximately 9.1 percent, or 22.35 million U.S. adults. Nearly one in 10 persons in the U.S. has recovered or is recovering from a substance use disorder. You can support your drug treatment and protect yourself from relapse by having activities and interests that provide meaning to your life. It’s important to be involved in things that you enjoy, that make you feel needed, and add meaning to your life. When your life is filled with rewarding activities and a sense of purpose, your addiction will lose its appeal.

What Role Does Addiction Therapy Play in Recovery?

A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again. To better help someone with a drug https://accountingcoaching.online/how-long-can-you-live-with-cirrhosis/ addiction, it’s often necessary to hold them accountable for their actions by establishing limits or boundaries for what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. Without boundaries, your loved one never has to face the consequences of their actions—and you’ll eventually feel burned out from all the attempts to cover up, excuse, or compensate for their behavior.

Heavy drug users often lose interest in old hobbies, lack energy, and become more moody, withdrawn, and sad. They may even neglect their appearance and personal hygiene, and suffer withdrawal symptoms if deprived of their drug of choice. Many, though not all, self-help support groups use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help support groups, How To Cure Boredom: 7 Ways To Stop Being Bored such as Narcotics Anonymous, help people who are addicted to drugs. For diagnosis of a substance use disorder, most mental health professionals use criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association. Addictions can cover up past trauma or underlying feelings of emptiness, sadness, or fear.

Medical Professionals

Even the most strong-willed person may find it difficult to conquer addiction without the help of an addiction recovery program. This is because drugs and alcohol actually alter the way the brain functions. Chemicals contained in drugs and alcohol create changes in the brain that actually foster substance abuse on a compulsive level. While you can’t force someone to tackle their addiction, your love, support, and patience can play a vital part in their recovery.

The more you can stay healthy and feel good, the easier it will be to stay sober. • Meaning and purpose—finding and developing a new sense of purpose, which can come from many sources. It may include rediscovering a work or social role, finding new recreational interests, or developing a new sense of spiritual connection. The important feature is that the interest avert boredom and provide rewards that outweigh the desire to return to substance use. Saying a mantra, substituting thoughts of recovery goals, praying, reading something recovery-related, reaching out to someone supportive—all are useful tactics. Planning in advance a way out of high-risk situations—whether an event, a place, or a person—helps support intentions in the face of triggers to use.

Ready to make a change?

However, addiction is treatable and can be successfully managed. People who are recovering from an addiction will be at risk for relapse for years and possibly for their whole lives. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medicines with behavioral therapy ensures the best chance of success for most patients. Treatment approaches tailored to each patient’s drug use patterns and any co-occurring medical, mental, and social problems can lead to continued recovery. If you or a loved one is ready to take action and start the drug and alcohol recovery process, you’ve already started the stages of change and may be looking for treatment options.