Breaking Free From Drug Addiction
Questions are almost always present when one is confronted with death. We look for solutions whenever we are confronted with the prospect of our own mortality or the death of someone we care deeply about.
But everyone approaches the search for solutions differently. Some individuals find it helpful to seek advice, participate in therapy sessions, attend bible studies, or look for support groups while they are dealing with the death of a loved one.
Stress is caused by any change that takes place within the mind, and the majority of individuals, at some point in their lives, want to escape the agony of bereavement. They could look for a new relationship to replace the one they’ve lost. For example, if a woman’s husband dies, she might swiftly remarry or look for another kid to adopt in order to fill the void left by the deceased child.
However, there are those individuals who are unable to deal with the sorrow of loss and who resort to addiction in order to numb themselves.
It may be difficult to define addiction, and it can be much more challenging to understand how to treat an addiction once it has developed. People often describe addiction as an irrepressible need that offers momentary comfort from “inner suffering.” When someone is addicted to something, they no longer have the ability to regulate whether or not they use it. The symptoms of addiction may manifest in the body, the mind, or both.
Research indicates that roughly 27 million people in the United States frequently partake in the usage of illegal substances. Around seventy percent of people who use illicit drugs are also working, and they are a big contributor to absenteeism in the workplace, accidents and injuries, lost productivity, higher insurance charges, employee turnover costs, and on-the-job violence.
Addiction to drugs is characterized by an irrepressible need to use a substance despite the fact that doing so may have detrimental repercussions on one’s relationships, mental state, and physical health. Some medicines are far more likely than others to cause a person to become physically dependent on them. Although addiction is not a certain result of drug use, it does occur in a significant number of cases.
Some individuals, especially those who are addicted to drugs, may have impairments in their brain reward circuits, according to a theory put forth by many experts. When other drug users need to “self-medicate,” they often turn to their “drug of choice.”
For example, heroin has a remarkable ability to “normalize” the perceptions of people who suffer from psychotic disorders, including delusions and hallucinations (mostly schizophrenics).
Cocaine has the ability to “lift” sadness in a short amount of time and may help those who suffer from attention deficit disorder become more organized and focused. Addiction is a distressing side effect that these individuals experience as a result of their adaptive efforts to alleviate their misery.
The withdrawal phase of drug addiction therapy often consists of actions to assist an individual in stopping the use of a substance. This phase of treatment should be followed by counseling and attendance at self-help groups to assist an individual in avoiding a relapse into addiction. When they finally get help for their addiction, a significant number of substance-dependent individuals exhibit a fundamental difficulty in relaxing and soothing themselves, particularly in times of high stress.
A doctor could provide opioids for pain relief, benzodiazepines for anxiety or sleeplessness, or barbiturates for uneasiness or irritation. All of these medications are intended to treat similar symptoms. A person who is addicted will not be given an unsafe dosage or one that is administered for an unsafely long period of time since doctors provide these drugs at safe doses and supervise their usage. Nevertheless, abstaining completely from an illicit substance is the most effective method for avoiding developing a dependency on that substance.
The recovery from a drug addiction is a challenging process, but it is not impossible. It is possible for someone to overcome their reliance on drugs with the assistance of therapy in an inpatient or outpatient facility, as well as the support of their physician, their family, their friends, and others who also struggle with drug addiction.
It is essential to have an awareness of the issue as soon as it may arise. A person who is addicted to drugs should obtain treatment as soon as possible and should never be reluctant to ask for advice in order to improve their chances of avoiding using drugs in the future.
Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse
There is a wide variety of opinions on the topic of addiction, particularly among scientists and professionals working in the field of drug misuse.
When looking at drug use, drug abuse, drug dependence, and drug addiction, one discovers that there are many different viewpoints on these words and how they define the drug-using behaviors of the general public. This is because these labels refer to different stages of the drug use process. “There is a distinct gap between scientific realities and the public’s image of drug addiction,” says Dr. Alan Leshner, Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse for the United States Government.
Dr. Leshner provided an explanation of how drug use alters brain function at the National Institutes of Health. He also discussed how this change in brain function is permanent, even after a person has stopped using drugs. It is also important to acknowledge that addiction is caused by a number of biological and behavioral variables.
According to Dr. Leshner, when once-voluntary drug usage transforms into compulsive addiction, an individual loses all ability to regulate the transformation. He compares the change to the simple act of turning a switch, despite the fact that it may be the consequence of opponent processes in which changes have accumulated over the course of time.
Regardless, Dr. Leshner is of the opinion that it is very crucial for people to comprehend the fact that a person who is addicted is actually in a different state of mind.
The downward spiral of personal care and ethics, work ethics, emotional stability, and generally a feeling that one hardly recognizes the addicted person as being the same individual as they were before the drug use can be seen by anyone who has known and witnessed the changes in behavior and ethics in a person who is caught up in the thralls of addiction.
It is essential to be aware of the fact that any kind of drug use has the potential to trigger these self-destructive tendencies in a person, and that taking drugs “recreationally” is equivalent to playing Russian roulette with one’s life.
The effects of these “poisons” on the brain and neurological system are always detrimental; however, the timeline of when the consequences will be visible varies greatly, ranging anywhere from instantly to, in some cases, after years of “casual” usage. The effects are always devastating.
According to the findings of scientists, one of the goals of therapy should be to restore the brain to its initial condition or heal the harm that may be caused by these toxins. Some researchers in the scientific community are of the opinion that this may be accomplished by altering the delicate chemistry of the brain of a person who is addicted to drugs by administering other chemicals, which would be referred to as medications.
This is exactly what the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is doing as it moves forward with the formulation of new pharmaceuticals. Dr. Leshner said, “We have molecular targets. “Serendipity is not something we need.” A natural talent for making beneficial discoveries by accident, serendipity is described as “a natural gift for producing helpful discoveries by accident.”
Be wary of the claims made by scientists, since they have not yet developed any medicines that can return a person to a life that is both full and, more significantly, full of enthusiasm for living. These so-called “medicines” almost invariably involve the patient forgoing some of life’s pleasures in exchange for the promise that they will not turn to more harmful substances.
It is recommended that in order to achieve a complete recovery, one should work toward eliminating the initial toxins from the body and then let the natural healing processes of the body return the individual to his or her former, fully functioning, and loving self.
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