Is My Addiction Bad Enough for Rehab?

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How Do I Know if My Addiction is Bad Enough for Rehab?

If you are struggling with addiction, you are not alone. In 2014, 20.2 million adults in the United States had a substance use disorder. Research indicates that 10% of American adults will have a substance abuse disorder in their lives, and 75% will not receive treatment.

With these statistics in mind, if you find yourself asking if your addiction is bad enough to get help, the answer is probably “yes.” However, some indicators can help you know when to go to rehab for alcohol abuse.

1. Your Health Is Suffering

While the health consequences of addiction vary depending on the drug, the amount consumed, the length of the addiction, and drugs used concurrently, substance addiction negatively affects the body. It is common for addicts to experience health consequences such as changes in mood, changes in appetite, and cardiovascular and respiratory issues. Other consequences include mental illness, cancer, altered brain chemistry, sleep issues, memory issues, and stroke.

These general addiction consequences do not account for substance-specific health issues. An issue like “crack lip” comes from the specific burns that glass crack pipes cause on the mouths of crack users. An issue like “saddle nose” describes the collapse of cartridge in the nose after chronic cocaine use. Even if your health is only beginning to suffer, it will not improve with further drug use. Seeking treatment is the only way to restore your health and well-being.

2. Drug Use Has Become Your Main Priority

One of the clearest signs that addiction has started is that it begins to take over the life of the user. Soon activities that were once pleasurable are no longer of interest, and pleasure is derived instead through drugs. Those struggling with addiction will often begin to disengage from previous activities and friends, surrounding themselves with drugs and those who enable substance use.

Drugs will become an increasingly central part of the user’s life until recovery happens.

3. Your Relationships have Suffered

As addiction becomes stronger, the person’s behavior often becomes more erratic. “Benders,” where the user disappears for days, violent behavior, lying, illegal activity, high-risk behavior, and social disengagement become more common. When these unhealthy behaviors intensify, many people will begin to distance themselves from the person struggling with addiction or become excluded from their lives.

In desperation, they may take advantage of those they love, stealing money, asking for help hiding criminal activity, or otherwise jeopardizing relationships.

4. You Take Excessive Amounts to Get High

Perhaps, in the beginning, you only needed one drink, or pill, to help ease the pain or anxiety of a bad day. The body and mind can learn to adapt to new substances, and the intensity of the initial feeling goes away. Soon two drinks, or multiple pills, are required.

The expense of the addiction mounts, as do the health consequences. Furthermore, as the body becomes more addicted and more adjusted to large amounts of drugs in its system, withdrawal becomes stronger. Any effort to stop consuming drugs will result in physical and emotional pain and possible life-threatening medical emergencies. This pain will drive the user into further use and create a barrier to their recovery.

5. You have considered suicide

Many drugs, including alcohol, alter the chemistry of the brain. They can cause extreme emotional reactions, from panic attacks to depression, when the user ceases their use of the drug.

One of the most powerful and dangerous withdrawal effects comes from opiate use, including heroin, Vicodin, Codeine, Morphine, and fentanyl. This class of drugs stimulates the brain’s reward center when used, and when usage stops, withdrawal can take a dangerous turn. Many opiate users experience extreme depression and thoughts of self-harm.

In fact, in 2015, 33,000 Americans died from opiate use, and many of the deaths were suicides. But you do not have to feel this way. With rehab, you can find freedom from addiction, withdrawal, and thoughts of self-harm.

6. You have tried to quit on your own

The idea that someone can simply stop using drugs or alcohol once addiction has set in is largely a myth. While some individuals may walk away from drugs after one or two experimental uses, others become addicted from the first use. And addiction is a disease – one that alters brain and body chemistry to drive usage.

Mental health issues play a role in relapse since the depression, insomnia, or other issues that sparked the substance use will re-emerge. With these considerations in mind, the only reliably effective way to break the cycle of addiction is rehabilitation, often including medical detoxification.

Effects of Addiction and Rehab

An effective rehab program is more than just detoxification. It is an opportunity for someone to untangle the interconnected mental and physical health issues that cause addiction from the effects of addiction itself. Rehabilitation, especially an evidence-based inpatient rehab experience, allows a user time to reflect on their life, needs, and emotional triggers for addiction.

While the effects of rehabilitation are overwhelmingly positive in the long-term, they can be painful in the short term. During counseling, group therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy treatments, former addicts will have to confront ways they have hurt others and themselves.

Therapy can address feelings of inadequacy, anger, fear, and self-loathing. An individual may recognize painful life experiences that brought them to a place of addiction. With the support of a treatment team and their recovery cohort, individuals will develop the coping mechanisms needed to reclaim their lives. If you aren’t sure when to go to rehab for alcohol, the answer very well may be now.

Mental Illness, Addiction, and Rehab

Substance use disorders and mental illness are closely connected. While users often seek relief from underlying mental health issues by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, substances can cause mental health issues. Even for individuals with no mental health history and who use medications properly, some powerful drugs can cause addiction. These powerful drugs could be the sleep medication Ambien and opiate pain killers like Vicodin.

That addiction will alter the way the user experiences physical and emotional sensations. The addiction may cause anxiety or depression when the user tries to quit. Soon it can be hard for the user to separate their normal mental state from the one imposed by the drug.

At this point, a professional rehabilitation center is the best course of action to provide relief. While in rehab, the body can be detoxified and underlying mental health issues explored and addressed, promoting long-term wellness in the process.

Treatment, Addiction, and Rehab

From inhalants to narcotics to tobacco, addiction requires effective treatment to manage its symptoms and the underlying cause. There is no stigma in seeking help. Treatment centers can provide a variety of personalized programs in safe, nonjudgmental environments that can help you build a new, resilient life.

Immediate Placement in Drug or Alcohol Rehab

Some of the programs you might find at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center include:

• Peer Support Groups
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Prescription Therapies
• Spiritual Therapies
• 12-step Treatment
• Inpatient Alcohol Rehabilitation
• Family Counseling
• Marital Counseling
• Music or Art Therapy
• One to One Counseling
• Nutrition Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Non-12-step  and holistic rehab options
• Long-term rehabilitation arrangements
• Medical Detox
• Aftercare

Freedom from addiction is a long road, but many people want to help you along the way.

Payment Information

Resurgence Behavioral Health accepts most PPO insurance and private forms of payment. We will even communicate with your insurance provider on your behalf, taking some of the stress out of your recovery. Call Resurgence Behavioral Health today, and let the healing begin.

How to Get Help

Imagine walking into a supportive space and connecting with people who truly care. At Resurgence Behavioral Health, you will feel at home from the moment you walk through the door.

In choosing sobriety, you are undertaking one of the most important and fulfilling decisions of your life – and you will not undertake it alone. With locations in Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Fullerton Hills, and the Outpatient Campus, your recovery is closer than you think.

We can provide Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, prescriptions, and counseling to help with depression. As well as group therapy to help you build connections and other flexible strategies to help you achieve your recovery dreams. At Resurgence Behavioral Health, you can build a life free from addiction. The time is now.