Treatment

For people who have decided to take the courageous path towards recovery, goals are an incredible component of treatment and serve as milestones towards successful change. By setting realistic goals, a person can be well on their way to a healthier life without putting too much pressure on themselves. Here are just a few examples and suggestions to ensure those goals are feasible: Unrealistic: “I will have a full-time job established by the end of this week.” Realistic: “I will continue to apply to at least 3 jobs a day, and I will strive towards obtaining a part-time job, at the least, within six weeks.” By deciding on a specific number of jobs to apply to each day, the person can easily keep track of where they are at. By opening the person’s perspective to part time jobs, they are also giving themselves enough room to breathe and subtly transition into the lifestyle that they want, without placing too much stress on themselves. Plus, by the person being open to a part-time job as well, they are opening their window of opportunity even more. Unrealistic: “I will not feel so down anymore.” Realistic: “Anytime that I am feeling sad or upset, I will do 2 things: 1) write down my thoughts in a journal, and 2) do something for self-care, whether it be talking to a friend, watching a funny movie, or taking a hot, relaxing shower.” By determining a plan of action for what a person will do if they are feeling depressed, that person has more specific steps they can take towards their well-being. The person can easily write their specific goal and hang it up or put it somewhere they will easily be able to find so that if they experience this, they have an excellent reminder of what to do. Suggestions:

In today’s world, the Internet is everywhere.  We have apps on our phones and links to websites on our computers. Access to information is 24/7/365.  Most individuals in recovery attend 12-step meetings in person.  This allows for personal sharing of recovery through the relationships that are formed and the fellowship that is shared in the meetings.  Attending a 12-step meeting online might have benefits; however, there are both positive and negatives associated with this type of meeting attendance.

Holistic health focuses on the whole person; not just physical health.  In holistic health, practitioners use a mind/body/spirit approach to treatment.  Does this type of approach have a place in clinical treatment?  If we truly want to heal what ails us, clinical treatment should encompass the whole of the person including the mind and the spirit. Treatment for substance abuse typically focuses on a person’s physical and psychological dependence on drugs or alcohol.  The goal of treatment is to treat the addiction.  People will learn new coping skills in how to live a life without drugs or alcohol.  They may form social relationships through the fellowship of 12-step meetings.  They may also gain insight into their patterns of behavior or psychological issues surrounding the addiction. Holistic health is relatively new to the substance abuse field as professionals are understanding more about the mind/body/spirit connection.  There are many parts to substance abuse recovery.  The body is affected by chemicals, but so is the mind and the human spirit.  Holistic health should be an option in substance abuse treatment. When one stops to think about all of the people hurt by addiction, the loss of the self, the denial of spirituality, the lack of control in the mind, the pending stress associated with sobriety, holistic health needs to be focus on treatment.  Through holistic health, addicts in recovery can learn how to properly take care of themselves from a whole body approach.  It would be beneficial for addicts to learn how to care for their bodies through good nutrition and exercise.  Taking walks is also a good way to cleanse the mind.  Walking has both physical and mental benefits.  Teaching addicts to meditate and progressively relax the mind through deep breathing, has tremendous benefit on the mind and spirit. Once the addict leaves treatment, they will need to have the skills to cope with life.  These skills can be taught in treatment and include stress reduction techniques, understanding triggers that can cause relapse, job skills, financial skills, social skills, asking for help, and finding spiritual peace.  The addict is a whole person with varying degrees of need.  If only the physical needs of the person are addressed in treatment, then treatment is not supporting the person holistically.  It would be far more effective to teach the skills that not only guide them through the first stages of treatment, but to provide them with the skills that will last a lifetime.

Treatment is a journey that not all individuals experience with similar thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.  In order to plan the best course of treatment for an individual, how a person processes thoughts, expresses emotions, or views, recovery needs to be taken into consideration.  In addition, personal histories, family dynamics, and support networks should be considered when designing an individual treatment plan.  These vary according to the individual. Individualized treatment plans allow the individual to recover in a way that is the best fit for them emotionally, socially, and cognitively.  There may be some overlap in treatment such as attendance at 12-step meetings or group therapy; however, the treatment plan should encompass the unique situation of each person.  This may include individualized therapy plans with a therapist that can address specific psychological or behavioral issues.   When a person enters treatment, there may be overwhelming feelings associated with shame or guilt and these will need to be addressed on an individual therapeutic basis.  There may be individuals who require a more comprehensive treatment approach in terms of medical evaluations.  Physical issues should be assessed on an individual basis and treated accordingly based on severity of need. Therapists will assess and review the possibility of needing a physician’s intervention to ensure psychological issues do not have a biological component.  Some individuals may need to be treated through pharmacological measures and others may need more intense interventions such as detoxification. These would require physical intervention from a physician.  If an individual has been ordered to complete treatment by the courts, there may be a need to address any corresponding feelings of helplessness, anger, or resentment.  If not addressed, these can lead to an escalation of non-compliant behavior while in treatment.   These emotional, physical,social, or psychological issues are as individual as the person who enters treatment; therefore, it is not only important but also necessary to develop treatment plans that complement the individual and their unique recovery needs.  The goal of treatment is sustained recovery and learning new ways in which to manage life and corresponding stressors and even though the goal might be the same, how one reaches this goal will vary depending on individual need.

In addition to blocking cravings for heroin or other opiates, Vivitrol can affect the brain in other ways. Vice reported that “its active ingredient may also block the brain’s natural opioids, endorphins, and enkephalins.” Vivitrol's main ingredient naloxone causes a long term release into the brain which can stave off cravings for long periods of time. However, the other ways the brain is affected can create depression or a lack of interest in life which is triggering to heroin and opioid addicts. As depressant drugs, opioids slow down the brain and body so much that people in the thick of their opioid addiction do nothing much more than use opioids. The article explained, “Consequently, it has the potential to reduce normal pleasures like those from food, exercise, music, and perhaps most important, the ‘warmth’ of feeling connected to others.” Depression, suicidal thoughts, and a low tolerance for opioids are other side effects.

In recovery, there is a saying about HOW people quit abusing drugs and alcohol and learn to stay sober. Honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness are the three components it takes to build a foundation of recovery. First, it is the essential first step to get honest about your addiction. You have to be the one to realize that your inability to quit using drugs and drinking is a problem. You have to be the one to recognize that your life has become unmanageable and you have become powerless over drugs and alcohol. Admitting your powerlessness is taking your power back. If you aren’t honest with yourself about the extent of your drinking and drug use, you aren’t going to be able to get anything out of treatment, because you don’t think that you have a problem. If you don’t honestly believe you have a problem, you don’t honestly need a solution. You need open-mindedness to be open to the idea of having a problem. The people around you tell you that you have a problem. Friends, family members, coworkers, acquaintances, everyone you meet seems to have something to say about how out of control your drinking and drug use has gotten. When you open your mind to the idea that maybe everyone else is right, you can open your mind to ideas like sobriety and recovery. You can start to question your relationship to drugs and alcohol- is it something you need? Is it something you want? Is it something you would be willing to change? The last part of the equation is willingness. To be willing is to be “ready, eager, or prepared to do something.” Willingness doesn’t always come easily. Sometimes you have to wait for the willingness to be willing to even think about being open-minded to the idea of sobriety. Willingness takes courage. It is courageous to be willing to be honest, willing to be open-minded and willing to be willing to change your life mind, body, and spirit. Emotionally, mentally, psychologically, spiritually, this is what it takes to quit your addiction. Scientifically and physically, it takes more. It takes time and changes in habit to fully quit and addiction. The truth is, the minute you don’t pick up drugs and alcohol again- you quit. Every day thereafter that you don’t pick up drugs and alcohol again, you continue to quit. There are many tools and treatment methods which help you stay quiet, like therapy, nutrition, diet, exercise, meditation, social involvement, and being of service. All of these external activities are support for the internal ones taking place- the ongoing honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness.

Early recovery is not always easy. Even after taking time off from work to go to treatment, you will still be in need of an occasional mental health day from work. Taking a day off from work to take care of yourself is always okay and often necessary. Two Kinds Of Mental Health Days: Preventative And Emergency Sometimes it is easy to see the stormy weather coming in. All indicators point toward a necessary mental health day coming up, with plenty of warning. This is the need for a preventative mental health day. Other times, the storm hits without advanced notice. Even though the weather reports predicted sunshine, the sky is dark and gray. This is the need for an emergency mental health day. Each type of mental health day can be planned for differently and should be approached in different ways. Preventative Mental Health Day