Proven Strategies to Lower Fear of Withdrawal
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Addicts don’t always want to recover. One fact is flat-out true: no junkie, stoner, alcoholic, or doctor-shopping pill popper wants to go to a rehabilitation facility. They’re afraid of opiate withdrawal, they see the signs of alcohol addiction, hydrocodone is on their shopping list, and detoxing is too “stressful.” That’s why an addict’s fear of withdrawal, regardless of drug of choice, is always a big step.
Any big step – moving to a new job, adding a new member to the family, or kicking a long-time addiction – can be stressful. Change is hard – and most addicts are afraid to withdraw even though they hate their addictions. They’ve tried quitting lots of times, but it didn’t work out too well. EVER!
Fear of Withdrawal
Checking into rehab throws back the curtain on a substance abuse problem for all to see. Sure, you’ll get sympathy and support from real friends, but a lot of people will start looking at you differently: you’re now the office drunk (“Better catch him before lunch.”), the pothead, the cocaine abuser with a constant case of the sniffles. You’re hurting yourself, the employer, and your co-workers who depend on teamwork when you’re buzzed, and unable to focus on work.
Substance abusers have been hiding their addictions from the world for so long that being honest and open seems risky. If your spouse was snorting cocaine, would you know? If you’re going through vodka by the half-gallon, do you think you can live like this forever? Substance abuse ruins everything, and the longer the abuse goes on, the more damage it can do.
Addicts don’t want to stop, even if they’re miserable.
Nobody wants to be an addict. It just happens as drugs alter body chemistry, and re-wires your brain to get more of the drug you used to enjoy.
Ask anyone addicted to a harmful substance if they’d stop if they could. Most would.
Sadly, the majority of people addicted to a substance or behavior is going to continue that dangerous behavior. Every addict is chasing that first, feel-good high. The problem is, more and more of the dangerous substance must be consumed to avoid the painful symptoms of withdrawal.
Withdrawal symptoms from drugs like hydrocodone, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol can be painful unless you work with a trained professional in substance abuse and addictions to develop a strategy that is effective, simple, and one you can live with after detoxing.
Drug addiction owns you.
It’s true. You don’t act in your best interests or the best interests of family and friends. You act “normal” to hide your addiction, and many addicts are able to hide their addictions for a long time. Even so, there’s no blue ribbon for concealing an addiction from the world.
You know you’re an addict. Other people know you’re an addict. The cravings determine what kind of day you have, what kind of life you live.
Your addiction to any substance controls your life morning, noon, and night as we try to beat the system and enjoy addictive drugs, a happy home life, and a satisfying career.
Substance abuse takes away all of that – sometimes overnight, sometimes over many years of family and friends giving you the benefit of the doubt. If you’re addicted, there’s a pretty good chance those closest to you know all about it.
They see you and your life from a sober point of view. You don’t.
Withdrawal is really hard. No, REALLY hard. It taxes your emotions, your physical health, your whole life becomes one big struggle. However, when you hear addicts just like you talk about their addictions, your confidence in your ability to quit increases and fear of withdrawal decreases. You’re finally doing something to get your life right.
Meet Bria: a Xanax addict for 22 years
Bria, the residential manager of Hawaii Island Recovery has been a drug addict for 22 years. She said that everything she does was all about getting fixed and that using drugs was a part of her. She said that she was running away from bad childhood memories, trying to numb her consciousness so she wouldn’t feel the pain. Drugs mask symptoms and may deflect attention from the underlying cause of your addictions. They don’t fix anything.
Bria has been to many treatment programs that required her to go through detox. And every time she would feel the symptoms of withdrawal she’d run. She found the right road for her at Hawaii Island Recovery. During her early period at HIR, she was angry, and there were times when she would scream and take it out on people around her. But the love and acceptance she received from people at HIR supported her throughout her recovery.
Bria’s fear of withdrawal held her back until she’d had enough of a drug controlling her life. That’s when she discovered Hawaii Island Recovery, a small, private addiction recovery facility in the Kona district on the Big Island of Hawaii.
One therapy employed by HIR is called wild dolphin-assisted therapy WDAT – swimming and connecting with these marvelous, intuitive creatures. Bria discovered inner peace and serenity swimming with the dolphins in their natural habitat.
This cross-species interaction between dolphins and humans delivers a new perspective, lessening the fear of undergoing withdrawal and its attendant physical and emotional stressors.
Ryan focused on taking that all-important first step. Admitting there’s a problem, is a big step – the most difficult step on your journey to sobriety. HIR developed a support program for Ryan based on a customized set of traditional and holistic remedies designed by HIR’s staff of caring addiction specialists (some who have been where you are now).
Ryan’s addiction had a hold on him. He even considered suicide he was so unhappy and helpless. Then, he signed in to Hawaii Island Recovery to take that first, essential step toward living a clean and sober life.
With the support of professionals in treating addiction and the symptoms of withdrawal, Ryan was able to get himself healthy enough to stay clean and sober for the past five years. The future is looking a whole lot better.
Withdrawal is scary. It can be physically painful and emotionally draining, but to reach your sobriety goals, you must first rid the body of the toxic substances that have numbed pain, sometimes for decades.
However, withdrawal, along with the sympathetic support of experts, delivers results faster.
Hawaii Island Recovery
Contact one of our caring addiction specialists and don’t try to quit on your own. That strategy hasn’t worked for you so far to get the help, knowledge and recovery therapy you need 24/7.
Hawaii Island Recovery treats you, the person. Not just the addiction. Call us today and let’s get started, together, on a better life clean and sober.