Substance Abuse Treatment And Recovery In America
Some government studies indicate that as many as twelve million Americans show signs of drug abuse. That’s a startling figure, to say the least; it represents almost five percent of the total national population, and cuts across the full spectrum of social distinctions: race and class, age and gender.
And what of those later stages? Again, drug addiction is a two-headed problem, and substance abuse treatment must mount a two-pronged offensive against it. As important as physical drug recovery is, the psychological treatment afforded by addiction counseling programs is the ultimate harbinger of drug treatment’s success or failure.
But it’s an undertaking that can’t begin, we should note, without the consent of drug addicts themselves. Again, substance abuse treatment is meaningless if it isn’t met with an active effort on the part of the patient, and such can effort can only come when a drug addict recognizes the full extent of his self-destructive behavior. It can be, to say the least, a difficult admission to make: It’s not easy to accept that you have a problem, and to accept that you cann’t fix it on your own.
Indeed, substance abuse treatment is in an important sense a fundamentally patient-contingent process. Yes, you need help if you want to beat drug addiction and drug abuse, but that help is only and ultimately what you make of it: You’ve got to be an active participant in your own healing, and an effective agent for your own recovery. Substance abuse treatment isn’t a spectator sport, and anyone who makes the mistake of believing otherwise dooms his chances for a successful drug rehab center experience.
In many cases, the hardest part of recognizing the symptoms of drug abuse lies in accepting what’s already obvious, and seeing the truth as it actually is. As trying as it might be, though, such recognition might just be the most important thing you’ll ever do. Substance abuse treatment is a difficult undertaking because of the obstacles involved. Drug dependency is, if nothing else, a most stubborn enemy, an affliction that never yields ground without the bitterest of fights.
By the same token, your addiction recovery plan must ultimately belong only and entirely to you: To get better, you need to find a drug rehab center that will work for you as an individual. Some substance abuse treatment centers purport to have discovered a universal care plan for drug addiction. Such a claim, of course, implies that all addicts are the same, and that what works for one drug dependency case should work for every drug dependency case.
Only substance abuse treatment which addresses both dimensions of drug dependency can help patients achieve and maintain lasting sobriety. Physical drug dependency is that which operates on metabolic pathways in the human brain. Chronic drug abuse distorts the body’s natural chemical balance, ultimately rendering an addict incapable of functioning “normally” without the artificial stimulus of a drug high.
Cliffside Malibu is an executive substance abuse recovery center located in Malibu, California. To find out more on Cliffside’s programs such as substance abuse rehabilitation visit www.cliffsidemalibu.com.
March 13 2010 02:05 am | health & beauty products