Whether you are suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, it’s challenging to break addictive behavior. While developing an addictive behavior or bad habit is not a character flaw, moral failing, or a sign of weakness, overcoming the problem requires more than willpower.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are chronic mental health conditions as abusing drugs cause alterations in the brain, resulting in intense cravings and a temptation to use, making sobriety seem like an impossible goal.
However, no matter how hopeless your condition might seem or how many times you’ve tried and failed before, recovery from addiction is never out of reach. Change is always possible with the right form of addiction treatment and support.
So, if you’ve decided to break an addiction, this post covers some effective methods to help you in your decision.
Key Takeaways
Overcoming an addiction is not an easy task. But whether you are struggling with a short-term or long-term addiction, the truth is that you can overcome it.
To help yourself get out of your addictive behavior, you will have to follow some simple, effective steps:
- Admit that you are dealing with an addiction problem and make up your mind to fight it.
- Stay away from temptations that contribute to your bad habits or addiction.
- Explore available treatment options and seek professional help for your addiction.
- Once you start treatment, learn healthy ways to cope with negative feelings.
- Build a social support network by joining a 12-step recovery support group, such as AA or NA.
Do not wait to take control of your life back into your hands with the help of medical professionals at Indiana Center for Recovery. Contact us today at (844) 650-0064!
Admit There Is a Problem
For many people dealing with an addiction, admitting that you have a problem and deciding to make a change is the toughest step toward recovery.
Admitting your addiction problem shows that you have the courage and will to confront your addiction and its underlying causes.
There are several places to get help for addiction; however, having a strong support system is crucial in any treatment method you choose. If you aren’t ready to talk to your family or friends about your addiction problem, turn to a doctor, therapist, or treatment facility.
However, it is common to be unsure if you are ready to start recovery or whether you have what it takes to quit. Committing to sobriety involves changes in many things, including:
- Who you allow in your life.
- The way you deal with stress.
- The way you perceive yourself.
- Things you do in your free time.
- The prescription and over-the-counter medications you take.
It’s also common to feel uncomfortable and conflicted about quitting your drug of choice, even if you know it’s causing mental, physical, and social issues in your life. Recovery from addiction takes time, will, and support, but you can overcome your addiction by making a commitment to change.
Understand the Symptoms
When you quit using an addictive substance, you may experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms fade with time and often permanently after you quit.
Physical Symptoms
When you quit drinking or taking drugs, it is common to experience some unpleasant physical withdrawal symptoms. Your physical withdrawal symptoms will vary depending on the nature of your addiction.
They may include the following:
- Feeling unwell
- Appetite changes
- Nausea
- Shaking
- Muscle aches
- Stomach upset
Physical withdrawal from alcohol and drugs usually takes many days to resolve. However, the process is often uncomfortable and can be dangerous in some cases.
If you have decided to break free of addiction, it is better to do so with the help of a mental health professional. There are also medications available that can ease the symptoms of withdrawal.
Psychological Symptoms
In addition to physical withdrawal symptoms, there are also some psychological symptoms associated when you quit.
These might include:
- Depression
- Irritability
- Mood changes
- Anxiety
- Sleeping difficulties
- Cravings
After going through withdrawal, there are additional challenges that make it tough to stay “on the road.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), while physical withdrawal symptoms typically last about a week, psychological withdrawal symptoms can last much longer.
Stay Away From Temptations
Resisting temptation is a lot easier than you think. You contribute to your bad habits or addiction when you return to familiar places where your triggers are present. There are many other fun activities in the world; you are not bound to a bar or a pill to have a good time.
If your friends try to force you into using drugs or drinking with them when you are trying to get sober, be honest and straightforward with them. Good friends will assist you in reaching your goal rather than put you back.
Surround yourself with those who will encourage you on your recovery journey, and avoid those who will criticize you and your addiction. Allowing toxic people into your life results in stress and depression, which can negatively impact your physical and mental health.
Avoiding negative people and their influence is the best way to avoid any triggers they may cause. On the other hand, having people in your circle working toward the same goal can make your journey easier.
Seek Professional Help
While it is possible to cope with your substance abuse problem on your own, over time, you will come to appreciate the need to see an expert for your addiction. Some addictions require professional help, and you may be required to seek professional addiction treatment.
Therefore, after you’ve committed to recovery, it’s time to look for your treatment options at a treatment facility. The addiction treatment program at Indiana Center for Recovery provides a safe, peaceful, and structured environment to start the drug and alcohol recovery process.
Our 24-hour team of medical professionals is well-versed in a variety of treatment methods in order to offer an effective, individualized treatment program for each patient. We offer the following:
- Medically-supervised detox
- Residential treatment
- Outpatient treatment
- Therapies (individual, group, and family therapy)
- Dual diagnosis treatment
If you have made up your mind to seek professional help for your drug or alcohol addiction, make sure to explore available treatment options. Different addictions require different types of treatments.
Therefore, addiction treatment options differ for everyone. So, consult with your doctor to choose the best addiction treatment for you.
Learn Healthy Ways To Cope With Negative Feelings
After starting treatment, you’ll still have to face the problems that lead to your alcohol or drug abuse. Did you start taking drugs or drinking alcohol to relax after a stressful day, numb uncomfortable feelings, calm yourself after a fight, or forget about your problems?
Once you get sober, the negative feelings that you suppressed with drugs and alcohol will reemerge. In order for treatment to be effective, you must first overcome your underlying issues.
Once you resolve your underlying causes of addiction, you will, at times, continue to experience loneliness, stress, anger, frustration, embarrassment, hopelessness, and worry.
These feelings are all a normal part of life. Finding strategies to deal with these negative feelings as they arise is an important part of your long-term recovery.
Many healthy ways to manage your stress include meditation, yoga, exercise, being with friends, and cognitive behavioral therapy. You can learn to manage your challenges without falling back on your addiction.
When you believe in your ability to fight stress, dealing with negative feelings becomes less intimidating or overwhelming.
Track Your Progress
Overcoming addiction is no easy thing. And, sometimes, it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come. But if you write down your feelings and thoughts every day, you’ll be able to see how far you’ve come.
Plus, when you’re having a bad day, you can look back and read over successes to help you appreciate the hard effort you put into staying sober.
Set aside time each day to note your goal, then journal the problems and successes you met while working towards it. This allows you to pinpoint areas where you need help. On the other hand, you may highlight the areas that ought to be celebrated.
Finally, you can keep a thankfulness log in your journal. Try to record at least three things for which you are grateful every day.
Then, in the hard times, reread your list. When you’re experiencing emotional triggers or cravings, you’ll see all the good in your life and may even find reasons to stay sober.
Create Accountability
When overcoming addiction, reaching out to any family member or friend can be helpful. But you can further improve your efforts to get and stay sober by picking one individual as your accountability partner.
Twelve-step organizations like NA and AA are great places to locate an accountability partner, especially because sponsorship is a common feature of these programs.
During the recovery process, a sponsor may act as a mentor, offering guidance, support, and empowerment.
It’s important to remember that relapsing is a normal part of the recovery process, and there’s no need to feel ashamed or guilty about it. The sooner you speak out to a trustworthy person about your slip or relapse, the sooner you can seek treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do you start breaking an addiction?
Because change is so difficult, it’s important to have a guide while attempting to quit an addiction to alcohol, drugs, or behavior. Research shows that the following actions can help you achieve your recovery goals.
If you follow all five steps, you will have the best chance of success.
- Set a quit date
- Change your environment; for example, distance yourself from people, places, and objects that can trigger substance abuse.
- Busy yourself with practical, healthy activities.
- Review your previous attempts at quitting drugs or alcohol and make changes accordingly.
- Create a support network to help you stay focused and motivated on the way to recovery.
Can you ever break an addiction?
Addiction affects the brain’s prefrontal cortex and alters your judgment and impulse control. These brain changes can make quitting difficult, but it is important to know that addictions are treatable disorders.
With helpful resources and the proper treatment method, you can overcome the emotional and physical challenges you experience in order to recover.
The good news is that you can quit, although it will be a difficult journey. There are several factors—mental, physical, and biological—that make quitting difficult.
This complexity is why so many individuals discover that treatment can help them quit taking drugs or drinking alcohol.
What are the 3 rules of addiction?
The familial patterns of chemical dependence-related destruction are often caused by three main rules that children use as a survival mechanism.
The rules are:
- Don’t Speak
- Don’t Feel
- Don’t Trust
Children raised in a dysfunctional family that’s steeped in alcohol or drugs learn quickly that their emotional survival may depend on the above-mentioned rules. Their basic needs are not satisfied, they do not trust, and they use these decrees to remove themselves from suffering.
They continue to follow these rules as adults after leaving their family of origin. While these practices are no longer necessary for safety, they remain deeply ingrained and difficult to abandon.
What are the 5 steps of addiction?
There are five steps of addiction.
These steps include:
- Precontemplation stage ( A stage where people are not yet ready to enroll in any addiction treatment program.)
- Contemplation stage (A stage where a person wants to make a healthy change in the future but not immediately.)
- Preparation stage (A stage where a person develops a sense of urgency regarding their desire to get sober.)
- Action stage (A stage where a person has made a substantial change in their life and committed to change.)
- Maintenance stage (A stage where a person works hard to stay on a recovery path and prevent recovery relapses.)
What should I do to get rid of addictions?
Substance use disorders (SUDs) cause brain changes that result in an urge to use alcohol or drugs. It is a chronic mental health disorder, but with the proper treatment and support, it is possible to achieve sobriety.
Here is how you can get rid of addiction to addictive substances:
- Admit that you have a problem.
- Seek professional support.
- Consider medications to treat addiction.
- Identify your triggers.
- Change triggering environment.
- Exercise regularly.
- Build a sober social network.
- Join a 12-step recovery support group, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
- Accept your past.
Overcome the Cycle of Addiction at Indiana Center for Recovery
Breaking your addiction not only changes your life for the better but also gives control of your life back into your hands. After beating addiction, you are no longer driven by cravings, desires, and impulses, and you have the true freedom to choose a healthy, addiction-free path for yourself.
Therefore, if you have decided to break free from addiction, Indiana Center for Recovery can offer help. At our treatment center, you are out of the triggering environment and can concentrate completely on your recovery.
At Indiana Center for Recovery, our addiction specialists offer a range of treatment services, such as detox, residential treatment, outpatient treatment, dual diagnosis treatment, family programs, integrated care, and more.
Our therapists offer evidence-based therapies, including eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and others.
So, feel free to contact us at (844) 650-0064 and get back to your fun, happy life.