The decision to enter detox and go through treatment takes fortitude and strength. If you have been through detox and rehab a few times, it may be a good idea for you to go through a more extended treatment program. Addiction is hard on your body and your spirit; it also changes your brain. Will I need extended rehab care or a short stay? Often, it depends on your confidence. Because detox can be incredibly dangerous, you will need skilled care.
Monitoring of your physical condition will be necessary in the early days. As your body sheds toxins and comes back into balance, you may be tasked to track your own intake, both of water and food. Additional care may include
- one on one therapy
- group therapy
- family counseling
All of these forms of therapy will help you to retrain your brain. Your pleasure centers have been buffeted by chemicals and may be dulled. Your own ability to produce chemicals, such as dopamine, may also be suppressed. All of this imbalance will take time to come back to a healthy level.
Brain Pathways Need to Be Redirected
If you have been through detox repeatedly, you may have built up a sense of shame around addiction. The challenge for many who struggle with addiction is that, while detox does reduce the anguish of physical cravings, it doesn’t address the changes that have occurred in your brain. Habits, good or bad, are always being built in the brain. It’s a method of efficient function for getting things done. For example, you probably don’t have to think about the steps you need to take to get showered up each day; showering is habitual. Your brain has a path and the actions of showering just happen. Drugs and alcohol also function habitually in your brain.
Community Matters
Once you’re through detox, your drug treatment process will be centered around healing underlying issues while you learn to build a new community. There are many people who struggle with loneliness during treatment. Your social structure may have been built around people who weren’t very good for you, but it was a social structure.
Treatment may be the place where old friends drop away and you need to find new ways to connect with others. You will probably need to go an assessment for underlying mental health issues. You may have started using drugs and alcohol to manage conditions such as anxiety or depression. Getting a proper diagnosis and moving into a healthier lifestyle can be a wonderful start to reaching out to friends and family that you have lost connection with. This may include family therapy to help you know your family again. There may also be addiction challenges in your family history that need to be addressed.
Work You Can Do On Your Own
One of the greatest benefits of extended rehab care is that you will have time to do some work on your own. For example, your care team will probably work with you on starting an exercise routine. You will also get more autonomy as you build confidence. Find a spot where you can walk on your own to allow your creative brain to engage and help you make the most of your treatment process. Another habit you can get into is meditation. There is a big difference between prayer and meditation. For believers, getting into a prayer habit is a wonderful way to build a gratitude practice and to ask for help on tough issues. Meditation is about clearing your brain to shut down the thoughts that do not serve you as you heal your body, brain and spirit. Both prayer and meditation alter how the brain works.
Both practices can help you build up new brain pathways to reduce the tendency to fall into the pathways of addiction. Whether you go into extended rehab or move into outpatient care, monitoring in the early stages is key. The physical risk of detox can be miserable and may even put your life at risk. Before you enter detox and treatment, make sure that your care team is aware of what is in your system and how many times you’ve been through detox and treatment. With this, they can help you build a program and even plan an outpatient program that will support you effectively. We can help, call now 302-842-2390.
