Why Is Therapy The Most Effective Treatment For Drug Addiction? ride with us as we show you the essential things you ought to know about therapy and drug addiction.
In 2019, the United Nations released statistics that indicated how 35 million people were suffering from drug-related disorders worldwide.
Unfortunately, merely 1 in 7 addicts receive treatment for their addictions today. As addictions become mainstream in society, people ask more questions about the validity of therapy as the go-to treatment strategy to overcome addiction.
Is therapy more effective than other treatment options? It’s important to discover the benefits of therapy to cure addiction since it’ll motivate more addicts to seek treatment for this problem.
But there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy either! There are several shapes of therapy available to addicts in the medical industry.
Why should addicts try addiction therapy and counseling?
It’s estimated that 43% of addicts entering a rehab center complete their treatment programs. But when you combine detox and rehab, these rates can soar as high as 68% today! So, why do addicts need some therapy to overcome their cravings? Well, a SUD isn’t just a person’s physical dependence on that substance.
Even after recovery, addicts are vulnerable to addiction relapse. An environmental factor can trigger them to resort to their hurtful habits. So, experts have established some mechanisms to treat an addict’s cravings.
Treatment – by far – has been observed to serve as the most effective of all strategies for curing addiction. Let’s review some different versions of therapy before discussing their benefits.
Addiction recovery specialists execute cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) to treat people’s cravings. These therapies help people identify triggers and control their negative thoughts.
Then we have group therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, contingency management therapy, and relevant versions.
You should consult institutes such as The Palm Beach Institute for long-term recovery from addiction.
These facilities offer medical detox and addiction treatment to help addicts overcome their cravings.
Why Is Therapy The Most Effective Treatment For Drug Addiction
With clinically-evident therapies, they can cure every addiction. Hence, here’s how we consider therapy as the most effective treatment strategy for struggling addicts today:
- You repair relationships:
Therapy shows you how to repair broken relationships after you’ve recovered. It doesn’t only treat your addiction but also helps you overcome the negative consequences of your cravings. Counselors teach you how broken relationships are mended and form healthy connections with people.
It allows addicts to restore destroyed associations and patch up things with folks they have wronged in the past. Therapy educates former addicts about the science of creating and repairing relationships.
- You overcome triggers:
What triggers your addiction? Therapy helps you identify situations that contribute to your SUD and compel you to start using again.
It’s often difficult to realize which people, situations, or memories trigger an addictive response.
Counseling allows addicts to stay away from these triggers. So, therapists address the problems associated with dissatisfaction that can make you vulnerable to addiction. That’s why we recommend counseling as the most prudent form of addiction recovery.
- You avoid relapse:
You can undergo addiction treatment options other than therapy and counseling, but they’re vulnerable to failure due to addiction relapse.
It’s estimated that 85% of patients relapse a year after treatment today. How do you ensure permanent recovery?
In therapy, specialists will identify reasons why you were addicted to a substance in the first place; when counseling’s over, the chances of resumption decline drastically. Therapy sounds like a permanent solution to the problems addicts are facing.
- You learn to cope:
Therapy sessions enable addicts to learn how to cope with their addictions effectively. These strategies are taught by addiction counselors and include several methods that help folks overcome their harmful cravings.
Addicts learn about eliminating environmental cues and resisting triggers for maintaining sobriety. These coping strategies do prevent addiction relapse, thereby making a recovery permanent.
So, we suggest addiction counseling as crucial for addicts to escape their obsessions.
- You overcome stress:
Mental health issues are common among addicts who become stressed after consuming these drugs excessively.
So, one study shows that almost one-third of adults with SUD are also depressed. These mental health problems are also addressed while you’re in addiction therapy.
Counselors find ways to treat these psychological challenges to prevent them from causing addiction relapse in the future.
So, you regain your healthy lifestyle and can thrive without the threat of mental health problems.
- You become social:
You may have observed how addicts lose self-control along with self-esteem. They’re trapped by the feeling of shame and feel guilty for their compulsive behavioral patterns constantly.
But therapy helps addicts regain the sense of self-love and regrow diminished self-confidence. Therapists can also rekindle addicts’ social skills and help them escape their self-imposed isolation.
They recognize their triggers and learn to adjust to society without giving in to their temptations as they used to before.
Conclusion
Addictions are more common in the United States than you imagine. A 2017 survey indicates that 46% of Americans have friends and family addicted to opioids.
Experts believe that therapy constitutes the surest method to treat a person’s addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Therefore, some benefits of therapy and counseling for addiction include enhanced self-esteem, positive coping mechanisms, a better realization of one’s behaviors, and stronger relationships with friends and family.
Counseling also allows an addict to identify triggers and reduce the risk of addiction relapse. It offers direct support for addiction. That’s why we consider therapy the perfect method to treat addiction and restore a person’s health.
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Chibueze Uchegbu is a certified medical physiologist with a great passion for healthy living.