If you live in the Hindley area, you may already know about the drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs locally available to you. You may have gotten as far as looking up the different drug and alcohol rehab centres close by so you could see if any were a fit. But if you are here now, then that means your journey to long-term recovery is still ongoing.
Is this your first time considering finding a drug and alcohol rehab centre so you can get your substance abuse under control? Or do you have a long history of trying to get help for a drug or alcohol dependency, but nothing has stuck?
When a person is asking for help it does not matter how many times they have already received it. The journey to long-term recovery is long and complicated.
To understand the recovery process, you need to also understand how a drug or alcohol dependency doesn’t start or finish with just abusing substances. You need to be able to understand the role of different aspects of a person’s biology and identity can lead to them having a much harder time achieving long-term recovery.
Only once you can examine how these factors impact others in their recovery journey can you look to yourself. So that you can see how these factors may be affecting you and what kind of help is available. It may seem difficult now, but we are here to help you along every step of the way. We will talk you through what you need to know and do everything we can to help you make an informed decision.
Your safety and comfort is our top priority. All you have to do is be willing to let us help you and let us teach you more about drug and alcohol dependencies and your relationship with substance abuse.
What causes a drug or alcohol dependency?
When it comes to a person developing a drug or alcohol dependency, it is rarely one thing that results in the substance abuse spiralling out of control. While there is no universal answer that can apply to everyone, it has been found that certain factors do lead to people being more likely to develop a drug or alcohol dependency.
The first of these factors is trauma. Trauma is the leading cause of the original substance abuse that can eventually lead to drug or alcohol dependency. When a person witnesses or is involved in a traumatic event, their brain chemistry is changed.
These traumatic events can include but are not limited to:
- Military service
- Car Accident
- Natural disaster
- Robbery
- Victim of a violent crime
- Victim of sexual assault
- Victim of domestic abuse
- Prolonged illness
- World-altering event
- Loss of a loved one
- A dramatic change in circumstances such as homelessness
- Bullying
- Stalking
- Homophobia
- Transphobia
- Sexism
- Racism
- Xenophobia
When you experience trauma, it changes the way your brain can respond to stress. It makes you live in a constant state of alertness even if the stress is caused by something harmless. Many people find substance abuse is the only way they can carry on with their normal life. They use drugs or alcohol to numb the pain and constant alertness so they can forget for a little while. Unfortunately, this will only be effective in the short run as it will eventually only make your mental health worse.
The second most common cause of substance abuse is an undiagnosed mental illness.
It is no secret that the NHS mental health services are underappreciated by our country’s government. They simply do not receive enough funding to look after all the people that need their care. This has left many people unable to even get a diagnosis for their mental illness, let alone receive treatment to manage it.
These people will often turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to self-medicate as they see no other option available to them. This is most common for people living with anxiety or depression. They use various combinations of substance abuse to attempt to achieve a delicate balance. But this will only make your mental health worse.
In a perfect world, your mental health problems could all be fixed just by taking the right pill. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. Improving your mental health is a long and difficult process that simply can not be done alone. You will need the help of a fully-trained therapist to make progress.
This is why in a drug and alcohol rehab centre in the Hindley area, regular therapy sessions are a key part of the treatments you will receive. The aim is to help you understand what triggers your cravings and to teach you how to replace your substance abuse with a healthier and much more effective long-term coping mechanism.
Another big factor in developing a drug or alcohol dependency is your family history.
Those who have a family history of substance abuse or dependencies of any kind are more likely to develop a drug or alcohol dependency themselves. First of all, this is because when you are surrounded by substance abuse from a young age, the act is normalised. With drugs or alcohol being easily accessed, you could begin earlier and grow up thinking excessive substance abuse is normal.
Warning Signs of Addiction
You can easily miss the warning signs of a developing drug or alcohol dependency when you grow up surrounded by substance abuse.
There is also a genetic component in developing a dependency. Many people who have a family history of drug or alcohol dependencies also will have a dopamine deficiency passed down through the generations.
When you abuse substances, you cause a rush of dopamine in your brain. When your brain is already struggling to produce enough of the said feel-good chemical, it will crave more drugs and alcohol to keep experiencing the rush.
However, over time it will get used to the new levels of dopamine, and you will need more and more drugs or alcohol to experience the same rush. If your brain’s cravings are ignored, it will panic as it believes it needs drugs or alcohol to produce any dopamine.
This panic is also known as withdrawal symptoms, and they include:
- Excessive sweating
- Chills
- Migraine
- Muscle pain
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Diarrhoea
- Goosebumps
- Delirium
- Hallucinations
- Seizures
The only way to safely experience these withdrawal symptoms is to detox in a drug and alcohol rehab centre.
There you will be monitored by a team of fully trained medical professionals who can keep you safe, and comfortable and, most importantly, provide medication to relieve the symptoms should they prove too much for your body to handle.
How we can help you
At OK Rehab, we are dedicated to finding you a drug and alcohol rehab centre that can best help you achieve long-term recovery.
We do this by asking you to call us at 0800 326 5559, so you can complete our free initial assessment. We use this assessment to create a profile on you that we then compare to the drug and alcohol rehab centres in the Hindley area.
We will put you first, and we won’t rest until you are settled and happy in the rehab centre of your dreams.
We are here for you. All you have to do is take that first brave step and give us a call.
