What if you were told that you have a limited amount of time to live because you have an incurable disease? Yet, it is not your body that will die only your mind. For the rest of your life you will be forced to live with this incurable disease! In order to manage this disease you will have to give up control over your own life and attend daily or weekly meetings; which there you will go over again and again the details of your disease. Though it is possible to have a reprieve from the disease, but you will never truly be free of it… I have just described a 12-step program. Dismal sounding, isn’t it? True hope and encouragement is offered through non 12 step drug rehab centers.

An integral part of recovery is to not relapse. Who wants to slip backwards after they become drug and alcohol free? The idea that going back to a chemical dependent state is at all okay is contrary to the idea of rebuilding one’s life. A lot of work goes into becoming clean and sober, why do it more than once? Lifelong change is offered through non-faith based drug treatment facilities that teach skills on how to avoid life’s traps.

An individual is taught to be successful in their recovery without the necessity of the intervention of a higher power. There is no need for the individual to admit they have no control over their addiction and their life; because the opposite is actually true. Cognitive behavioral therapy is used which helps an individual to become self-empowered so they know the pitfalls of their addiction and gives them the strength to say “no” when temptation arises.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drug and alcohol rehab facilities play an invaluable role in the addiction recovery process for a variety of reasons. Many addicts valiantly try time and time again to kick their substance abuse habits on their own, and one after the other, they rarely seem to stick. So what exactly is it about drug and alcohol rehab programs that seem to make the difference between getting sober and staying sober? Why is addiction so hard to recover from in the comfort of your own home? What do you learn at these drug and alcohol rehab facilities that make such a crucial impact?

One of the most important things to remember about residential drug and alcohol rehab is the controlled environment in which treatment takes place. When you fall victim to addiction, it permeates through every aspect of your life. Your social life, your home life, your professional life can all become tainted and therefore toxic environments. It’s unreasonable to think anyone can recover from an illness in a toxic environment and addiction is no different. In order for treatment to take, the addict needs to be completely removed from the environment they were abusing substances in. The temptation to use consistently proves far too great to resist otherwise. They also need to be in a 100 percent substance-free space, which any drug and alcohol rehab facility should be. An addict needs to be completely separated from all crutches, excuses and codependent relationships to fully own up to what’s become of their lives and come to terms with their addiction.

Long-term recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction in your own home is next to impossible. If it were feasible, many drug and alcohol rehab centers would not exist. For starters, you are still most likely living in the same environment that you used to use in, and still probably spending time with many of the same people you used to use with. Under those circumstances, if you can even manage to get sober, it’s typically only a matter of time before a relapse takes place. Recovering from an addiction requires an individual to make drastic changes to their thought patterns, behaviors and lifestyle and it’s naive to think that one can make those changes while staying in their current routine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alcohol detox can help those who are dependent on alcohol to stop drinking. Alcohol detox is when you take a short course of medication to minimise the worst effects of alcohol withdrawal. Alcohol detox does not magically stop someone drinking but gets alcohol out of their system so they can focus on rehabilitation and life without drink.

If you’re regularly drinking heavily, you could be seriously risking your health and even your job, relationships and mental health. Drinking above the limits outlined by the Government can be potentially hazardous – currently the limits are 21 units of alcohol per week for men and 14 for women (with no more than four or three units per day respectively).

Minimise alcohol health risks

The health risks associated with heavy drinking are reason enough alone to consider alcohol detox. It increases the risks of developing serious illness such as cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatic damage, some cancers, heart conditions and more.

Read the rest of this entry »