Drug addiction often develops too slowly for someone to notice until it’s too late to fend off psychological and physical symptoms of withdrawal. Once early signs of addiction surface, a person may waver on if they’re a candidate for inpatient rehabilitation. An addict might wonder, “Is it a good time for rehab? Is my case bad enough to require a stay in an inpatient facility?”
Even for those who are certain they’ll require rehab at some point, there could be a question of if it’s really the best time to go that particular day. Thousands of addicts will face a moment of truth this year. They’ll ask themselves when is the best time to go to rehab, and usually their symptoms and situation will give them the answer. For your purposes, you might want to reflect on when your or a loved one’s moment of truth might arrive.
Symptoms of Addiction
Like other mental and physical illnesses, addiction has a peculiar set of symptoms that surface during use. Alcoholics and drug addicts alike face similar symptoms throughout the course of their use. In early addiction, psychological symptoms are most pronounced. There might be discomfort when you are not using a favorite drug, craving to use the drug again, or interpersonal relationship difficulties. Irritability is a hallmark of early addiction, and family members might notice that an addict is displaying this symptom, even if the addict themselves don’t recognize their personality change. For every addict who continues to use past the symptoms of early dependence, there’s a time when physical symptoms also appear. These are more intense and often lead to escalating psychological distress, too. Prescription opiate withdrawal might cause sweating, headaches, body aches, or nausea. If an addict reaches this stage, they may once again hear the voice of reason asking them, “Is now the best time to go to rehab?”
A Progressive Problem
Addiction is a progressive problem. It grows worse day by day, even if there are moments of intervening short-term sobriety. You can also reason that even though it’s always going to be worse than it was yesterday, it’s not nearly as bad as it’s going to be tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. The goal of a rehab is to arrest the addict’s progressive ailment and restore a healthier lifestyle. Because addiction is aggressive, there is a consensus that there really is no wrong time to get help. Even if the problem hasn’t progressed to jail time, family troubles, or unemployment, rehab can restore a period of sobriety and give the recovering addict time to consider if they want to go further into the problem. For many addicts, they stop right where they are and build a full program of sobriety. Life gets better, or more bearable, and they begin to progress positively in the other direction.
Now is the Best Time to Go to Rehab
No matter where you or a loved one is on the spectrum of addiction symptoms and consequences, the right rehab is always going to be helpful. In rehab, addicts learn more about their baffling set of symptoms and how to make them stop. They build a program of sobriety that leads to self-reflection, positive life changes, and helpful coping mechanisms. The peer support that rehab offers is also important to recovering addicts. Unlike people who’ve always been sober, recovering addicts are able to reach each other and give each other strength in a way that “normal” people can’t. If you’ve noticed that your life is spiraling out of control because of an addiction, now is the best time to go to rehab. You don’t have to wake up scared, isolated, or irritable anymore.
The withdrawal symptoms you might be facing won’t go away overnight, but they will go away with the help of trained professionals who can assess the current stage of your addiction and show you a way out of the fear and confusion. Rehabs offer resources that aren’t available outside of a rehab. You’ll have a peer support network, psychiatrist, team of mental health professionals, and group meetings that lead to continued strength. When you go into a rehab, you’re not instantly fixed, but you start to progress in the right way. You’ll move away from a life of drugs and onto a life you love again.
Now is always the best time to get help for an addiction. You can reach our team at 302-842-2390 to learn more about our services.
