In this, second in a four-part series on the faces of drug addiction and alcoholism recovery, we’re going to speak about Phase 2, Learning Abstinence.
Learning Abstinence.
The primary goal in this phase of treatment is to learn the tools and skills necessary to not use drugs and alcohol. In Phase 1, a person has overcome denial and ambivalence and has realized that they need to stop using. The most important concept in defining abstinence is that it means no use of mood altering substances whatsoever. That includes any drugs or mood altering substances that are secondary to the drug of choice. That is a difficult concept for some people to accept.
They believe that if cocaine for instance, was the drug of choice, and they understand they must give that up, it might be okay to continue to smoke marijuana because it never gave them problems. Wrong. Abstinence is an all or nothing concept. Because one of the definitive qualities of having an addiction is a loss of control over the substance, any time one engages in the substance they are in deep trouble. The concept of “controlling” usage does not have mainstream acceptance. Why? Because it doesn’t work.
In this phase of treatment there is a definite learning curve. Most people do not understand the full ramifications of psychological dependence, physiological dependence and addiction itself. Treatment private professionals can help a person understand key addiction concepts such as tolerance, withdrawal, psychological and social attributes.
There are three major treatment goals in the early abstinence phase of addiction recovery. The first is learning triggers and cues. These are events, situations, or people that start the relapse process happening. Triggers can be any stimulus gets a person thinking about using. These need to identified and either avoided or planned for. Left unchecked, a trigger can rapidly grow into the second danger of maintaining abstinence, and that is – cravings and urges.
It is not a question of if, but more a question of when, urges and cravings to reengage in drug and alcohol abuse will occur. Sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, the urge to resume use will occur. It is necessary to learn the skills to both identify a craving in to get through it, without re-engaging in drug or alcohol use.
The third goal of this phase of drug and alcohol addiction recovery and treatment, is to start to develop wide and deep social support network. These are people you can turn to for help in moments of need, or if the urge to use strikes. Addiction has been called a disease and isolation with good reason. As people slide deeper into their addiction they push the people they love and care for away from them so they can continue to use drugs and alcohol without interference. Building social support system is almost the reverse of this process. 12 step groups fulfill the social support need very well. A wise person in addiction recovery will have developed a variety of people were willing to help, perhaps a sponsor, 12 step friends, a counselor, perhaps clergy and relatives were all aware of his desire for recovery.
Another key purpose of developing a wider social support network is to prevent boredom and isolation. Most addicts have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about, using, or recovering from drug use. When that activity is removed, they are often left blocks of time that need to be filled. If they are not filled, boredom and isolation can creep in. Boredom and isolation are 2 factors have that been identified by many addicts who relapse as being their primary relapse trigger.
For the complete series Click Below:
Part 1. – Beginning Addiction Treatment
Part 2. – Learning abstinence.
Part 3. – Maintaining abstinence.
Part 4. – Entering and maintaining recovery.
