Your Future Can Be Bright! Overcoming Substance Abuse

For those suffering from strong addictions, sometimes a total withdrawal from one’s prior world is the only solution. It takes courage to overcome the fears of being without that fix, that chemical substance that has held one in bondage for some time. You know it will hurt. You know it will be painful. You maybe have already known someone who has tried and failed. Perhaps you even knew some people whose addiction killed them. You know that only inpatient residential addiction treatment programs will succeed for that addiction.

Deciding to go for help can be difficult, or it may have been driven by being close to another tragedy. It is best to have another close friend to help you get through the door and sign the paperwork. Knowing that someone else cares for your wellbeing and wants you free from that addiction is important!

Your chosen treatment center needs to offer complete, medically supervised detox programs. Those first few hours and days may be the worst in your life. But remember this, in this situation, there is a brighter future for you. Your suffering will soon be over. The light at the end of the tunnel is not from an oncoming bullet train, it is the daylight of a new dawn.

After the detox period, there comes the long time when you need to face the issues that first caused your addictions. Inpatient programs still work best for this part because it would be far too easy to mingle with the older crowd of people that supported prior bad habits. Being with counselors and other people going through similar withdrawals will increase your resolve to stay clean. You will learn or relearn healthy living and eating habits.

Your patterns of thinking need to change. That is one of the hardest parts. You must learn to say “no!” when before you were not firm enough. That “No!” needs to be first to yourself. Later, you’ll need to say “No!” to others who may tempt you. You also must say “No!” if the chemical substance is also visible in supermarkets and stores all around town. For alcoholics, alcohol is everywhere, creating a constant tension between their desires against their minds. Being in support groups and surrounding yourself with positive friends and concerned family is critical to replace the old influences with positive ones.

Sometimes, those who you love most were also enablers. They will also need counseling and help. They need to know how to accept and work with the clean person you are becoming.

Inpatient residential addiction treatment programs really do work. But after the program ends, you will need to re-enter the world outside. It is best to continue with outpatient programs associated with the inpatient program you were in. They know you best.

Your future can be bright and with hope. Most of all, you can be free from your former slavery, the bondage that held you far too strongly. But you must take the first step. Do it now.

Kamlesh Bakshi