If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, it can be hard to know where to turn. Many people believe that they need professional help to get clean and sober, but the truth is, there are many different drug addiction treatment options available. One of these options includes doing it yourself, and we’re not talking about cold turkey.
In addition, there are several strategies that you can implement to help ease your transition from a drug addict to a sober person. For example, one key strategy is finding ways to stay clean and sober will benefit your life–whether through improved health or better relationships with family members and friends.
Here are Steps to Stop Drug Addiction on Your Own.
- Educate yourself about addiction and recovery.
This is the most important step because as you learn more about what’s happening in your body and why it happens, this can help make sense of difficult emotions that come up during detoxification. It also helps with getting over denial–a common barrier to achieving sobriety on one’s own–because understanding the physical components of addiction will show you just how dangerous drugs are for your brain function, moods, behavior patterns, relationships…you name it!
It might be tempting to avoid learning anything at first but remember: knowledge is power here. The more informed you become about substance abuse and its effects on both those who use substances compulsively as well as those who care for them, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with your addiction.
- Seek support
You can’t do this alone. You’ll need to find a strong network of people who will be there for you when the going gets tough, which it inevitably does. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are great places to start–make sure that they’re groups with members who don’t use any substances to get sober themselves. These types of meetings provide not only therapy sessions but also fellowship amongst those on similar journeys and information about what addiction is like, so you know no one has all the answers except yourself.
It might seem difficult at first to uproot your life from everything you’ve ever known but remember: this is a lifelong process and trusting others during these difficult times is crucial. In addition, you’ll need to make sure that your environment is conducive to staying sober. This means cutting off from any people or places that are toxic and finding new friends who will support you on this journey–not judge, criticize, compete with you…or worse. When it comes to family members, do what’s best for yourself: if they’re truly supportive of your sobriety, then continue spending time with them; but if they don’t understand the addiction process and/or want nothing more than for their loved one to get better without much work on themselves, then find other sources of stimulation.
- Wean yourself off drugs
This is an essential step in the process of moving from addiction to sobriety. Oftentimes, people mistakenly believe that they can stop using drugs cold turkey and have only a few moments of hardship; but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Detoxification–the medical process of withdrawing from substances–is actually very dangerous for addicts who don’t know what they’re doing or haven’t educated themselves about how their body functions during withdrawal, such as extreme nausea, vomiting, insomnia, confusion…you name it! In addition: if you’ve been abusing prescription medications, then detoxing on your own won’t work because these types of medications are physically addictive. It’s best to find a doctor specializing in addiction and detoxification, such as an internist or general practitioner.
If you’re having trouble getting access to the medical care that’s necessary for your well-being, then you should also consider finding treatment centers with sliding scales–these organizations offer free or low-cost services based on what people can afford so they won’t turn anyone away due to lack of funds.
- Stay sober
Drugs are a slippery slope: it’s tough to stop using them after you start. This is because addiction changes the brain and behavior patterns of those who compulsively use substances, leading them towards more dangerous behaviors like bingeing on drugs or alcohol while trying to keep up with their old lifestyle habits as well–all without realizing how much they’ve changed.
It’s not easy to stop using drugs, and it will take a long time for the brain to heal itself from addiction, but once you do: the world is your oyster! Once this phase of sobriety begins, many addicts feel as if they have more energy than ever before–they’re able to accomplish what seemed impossible before, which fuels them to stay sober and keep going.
To learn more about stopping drug addiction on your own, please visit our website or contact us at 844-844-3463.