Los Angeles Addictions Hospital

When a person recovers from drug addiction, it doesn’t end there. They are expected to undergo a follow-up type of treatment called Aftercare, which allows the therapist and counselor to still keep in touch with the individual.

The primary essence of aftercare treatment is to ensure that the person does not relapse. When it comes to the concept of relapse, it is a common phenomenon among recovering addicts.

This is a condition where the person goes back to their addiction even after being certified to be sober by the health professional. Some recovering addicts can relapse sometimes before they become permanently sober.

Addiction is a lifelong disease that needs constant follow-up and specialized care to maintain sobriety. And this can be achieved when there’s a proper aftercare treatment in place.

Here are some of the benefits of aftercare treatment for drug addiction

Learning new skills

One of the reasons why some people relapse is because they don’t know the right skills that will help them put addiction at bay.

Sometimes, these skills might not be taught in-depth during the main addiction treatment.

However, most therapists and counselors focus more on teaching these skills when the individual is in aftercare. When a person arms themselves with these skills, they will be unable to go back to their old life.

Learning from other recovering individuals

When a person is in aftercare, it is likely that they are not alone. They will see other individuals who have recovered from addiction and are seeking to live a healthy life.

It becomes easier for them to be motivated because each person will share their stories and struggles so that other people will know that they are not alone.

Provides a community

Aftercare treatment can be likened to a community. This community keeps you in check so that you will not relapse. When you are surrounded by like minds who have a common goal, you will not want to be the weak link.  

Drug addiction can cause a variety of effects on the human body ranging from short- to long-term symptoms.

The effects of drug addiction are mild, moderate, or chronic depending on how frequently the individual practices their addiction. When you notice the signs that come with addiction, it becomes easier to take steps to find help.

Physical signs

Getting addicted to drugs comes with some obvious signs that people around can easily identify.

For instance, a person addicted to drugs is likely to have a reddened face or skin. Similarly, they might have patches on the skin because they are not taking good care of themselves.

Also, the person might lack coordination. This means their brains and bodies will not be in agreement when making some decisions.

Again, they might struggle with appetite loss, weight gain or weight loss, fainting, nausea, and sometimes coma.

Other signs could include an increase in temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. The individual could also be violent or aggressive which shows that the effects of the drugs have heightened their behaviors.

Mental signs

Drug addiction can also cause some mental effects in humans. For instance, it can cause drowsiness, dizziness, an increase in anxiety, memory loss, restlessness, irritability, etc. These effects are associated with different drugs.

So, it is likely for most drugs to share the same effects. There are also longer-term mental effects like chronic anxiety, depression, hallucinations, delusions, mood swings, insomnia, confusion, and other mental health problems.

Social signs

Drug addiction also affects a person socially. It might cause a change in how they perceive their relationships with other people. Drug addiction can make a person more secretive and isolated.

They will not want anyone in their corner so that they don’t get discovered. Additionally, they are likely to be more aggressive and unloving, which can make some of their relationships strained.

When an individual discovers some of these signs, they need to consider going for treatment at a reputable health facility. This would help reduce or eliminate some of the signs/effects that come with addiction

Entering a professional drug and alcohol treatment program means that, you will commence a journey through series of stages of rehab recovery.

This is possible because you will inculcate a sober and clean way of life.

In this piece, we will be describing four phases of treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. They are initiation of treatment, prompt abstinence, maintaining abstinence and enhanced recovery.

Initiation of treatment: The process of seeking help from a professional substance rehab program is the first phase of recovery, and this is what treatment initiation involves.

During this phase, you will have mixed feelings about your addiction. You will also think that your addiction problem is not as bad as you think.

Individuals who are addicted to alcohol and drugs need a counselor at this phase, so that they can make the right decision as regards their addiction.

Prompt abstinence: The moment you have made a decision to refrain from addiction, then you need to avoid taking them at all cost.

This stage is particularly difficult because you would be doing something that is alien to you. Some therapists would tell you that this is the hardest stage for a recovering addict.

There are several withdrawal symptoms that will be experienced at this stage. Also, this is the phase where detoxification takes place.

During this phase, the addiction counselor or therapist will teach how to have a sober lifestyle.

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Maintaining Abstinence: From avoiding these substances, this is the phase where you learn how to avoid warning signs.

Also, you will know the steps that can cause a relapse. In addition to this, you will use the tools imbibed in the prompt abstinence stage, to continue living a sober life.

In this phase as well, you will also learn fresh coping skills and tools that will help you live an addiction-free lifestyle, have healthy relationships and a host of others.

• Enhanced Recovery: After a couple of months or years, you will get to this stage which is also known as advanced recovery. At this phase, you will use the entire skills and tools you have learnt all through the previous phases, to live a healthy lifestyle.

Alcohol is a very addictive substance that has many people hooked on it. When it comes to the addiction process, there is always an effect on the person.

If an alcohol addict does not break free from addiction, there is a tendency for death to be the end-result. There are various adverse effects that are associated with addiction, and not everyone is aware of this.

When you take alcohol, there is this pleasurable feeling attached to it.

So even though some of these addicts are aware of the consequences, all they are after is fulfilling their desire. There are various effects of alcohol on the human body.

To start with, it affects the Liver in various ways. It causes the following diseases on the Liver: Fibrosis, alcoholic hepatitis, inflammation, cirrhosis.

The immune system of an individual is also affected, and this implies that chances of contracting diseases is high.

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Also, someone who is addicted to alcohol will have his or her heart at risk. The person could experience stroke.

Moreso, high blood pressure could set in, and this can become more risky over time. Women who are pregnant are advised not to take alcohol because of the effect it has on the foetus.

Hence, women who are addicted to alcohol are advised to work closely with therapists all through their pregnancy period.  

It is possible for an alcohol addict to defeat addiction. However, the individual has to firstly accept the fact that he or she is addicted to alcohol.

This is best done under the provision of an addiction counselor. After this, the counselor would need to carry out a detailed assessment and evaluation of the individual.

This assessment plan is necessary in structuring a treatment plan for the addict. This is what the therapists would use to decide if the person will fully go into rehab or not.

An alcohol addict needs to promptly seek treatment before it gets too late. If they want to have normal lives, then it is important that they break free from addiction.

Many people are addicted to drugs, and there are a good number of reasons for this. One of such reason is hinged on their environment.

There is a likely chance of an individual getting addicted if he or she is around people who take drugs regularly.

This is very likely because they will encourage the person to take drugs and feel the exciting effect which comes with it.

So, people in this situation who do not want to be left out, will begin with a little dose. Overtime, they will increase the intake and become addicted in the process.

Some people take drugs because they want to revive their energy levels, and this is based on false beliefs.

It would interest you to know that, some of these drugs are not hard drugs, they are the typical drugs prescribed by health practitioners.

Opiates for example, are drugs that are needed to reduce the intensity of an injury. However, some people have bastardized its usage, and they have become addicted to it.

Someone who is addicted to drugs would most likely exhibit signs of not being responsible. They would neglect necessary duties at home, school and a host of others.

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People who are addicted to drugs will find it difficult to keep relationships. They would lose friends and loved ones because of their addiction.

Also, people who are addicted to drugs are likely to face financial issues. This is because they will spend money on purchasing drugs without giving heed to more important things.

Some of them are also aware of the fact that, there are adverse consequences attached to this, but they do not care. Satisfying their pleasure is all they care about.

Drug addicts cannot stop the way they take drugs. Some of them usually make a resolution to stop taking drugs for a while, but they end up relapsing.

Within the period, there are some unpleasant consequences that follow the stoppage of drugs.

These unpleasant consequences are known as withdrawal symptoms, and they fade off once the addict relapses.

Alcohol addiction is one of the most common forms of addiction alongside drug addiction. People who are addicted to alcohol usually start off abusing alcohol before they become full-blown addicts.

Individuals who are addicted to alcohol most likely started taking alcohol at a tender age, so before they became adults, they became fully addicted to it.

For others, they had people around them who indulged in alcohol abuse, so it was easy to influence them to join. Similarly, some people had peers who took alcohol regularly, and not joining portrayed them as not being exposed.

People who are addicted to alcohol find it uneasy to get rid of their addiction. This is why a good number of them usually fall back into relapse, even after making a decision to refrain from addiction.

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There are some alcohol addicts that add some substances to their drinks, so that they can have an increased effect.

Some people did not become addicted to alcohol by choice in the first place.

For some of these people, they lead stressful lives, and based on ill-advice, the only way they could deal with stress was to take alcohol. Hence, they would rather abuse alcohol than exercise.

One of the most proficient ways that alcohol addicts can use to help themselves is to opt for rehab treatment. It is best for an addict to specifically opt for Residential addiction rehab.

There are two types of residential rehab: Outpatient and Inpatient rehab. For the outpatient rehab, the individual would be given a schedule for receiving treatment.

The schedule would be based on the severity of the addiction. So it could be just once a week, or 3-4 times a week.

In the world today, the commonest types of addiction are alcohol and drug addiction. They are known to affect a good number of people in the world today, who find it difficult to break free from addiction.

Someone who is addicted to drugs for instance would find themselves using drugs after making a decision to refrain from it.

People who are addicted to drugs do so because they want to derive some feelings of pleasure that they are used to.

The brain produces these feelings, and individuals who are addicted to drugs would not want to let go of the feelings of pleasure, even though the addiction must have wearied them out.

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There are various kinds of treatment for drug addiction and Residential treatment is one of them. This phase of treatment follows after detoxification.

There are two types of Residential treatment for drug addiction, and they are Inpatient and Outpatient rehab.

For Inpatient rehab, the drug addict would have to stay in the hospital. Prior to this, a medical evaluation would have been conducted.

This would be used in determining the type of treatment that the individual would receive.

So, during the course of staying in the hospital or medical facility, the individual would be placed under close monitoring.

People who attend Inpatient rehab are usually those who have worse cases of drug addiction than their counterparts.

Then, there is the outpatient addiction rehab. This is quite different from inpatient rehab because, the individual would be given a schedule that he or she would work with for treatment purposes.

Some of them would have to come few times in a week, depending on what the therapist says.

Residential treatment for drug addiction is necessary to helping individuals defeat addiction, and lead normal lives.

Also, you can count on the staff to provide enough supervision and guidance that will be necessary in improving the rate of success in addiction recovery.

To wrap it up, it is necessary for an individual to seek treatment as a drug addict, instead of self-resolution which rarely works out.