Getting treatment for a drug or substance abuse issue is no easy task. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, but where do you go from there? While, of course, you may want to treat any physical maladies that may be contributing to your substance abuse, one of the most effective methods of treating a drug problem is therapy.
According to Soba College Recovery, as well as most mental health professionals, getting treatment for your mental health is a crucial component of battling addiction and substance abuse. If you are seeking treatment for drugs, consider therapy alongside everything else. Finding clarity in the state of your mental health can do wonders for your dependence on substances instead of on yourself or on more harmless things.
A healthier mind equals less pain
One of the many reasons someone might be addicted to or dependent on drugs is to escape something – whether that be the pain of their living situation, or the pain of a past trauma, or something else. Drugs are a method of temporary escape for many addicts.
The problem is the temporality of it. Drugs are only temporary, and often our bodies will build up a tolerance until you need a truckload of drugs to feel anything at all.
This becomes increasingly harmful to your physical well-being as well as leading to the deterioration of your mind, and is the reason so many people slip into addiction so easily. Some people are more predisposed to this, too.
Promoting a healthier mind, or at least finding a healthy way to deal with your traumas and issues, is an important step in ridding off yourself of drugs or avoiding them altogether. The goal of mental health therapy is to treat your mind and emotions. An excellent therapist will teach you to understand, process, and deal with your emotions head on instead of relying on external factors to let you escape. Professionals will help you understand your limits, and they can suggest healthy alternatives to drugs.
External factors easily cause relapses
If you are battling addiction or you have previously faced it and find yourself slipping again, therapy can be incredibly useful in avoiding this dark path. External factors such as stress, major life-changing events, and other subtle triggers we may not even be aware of can contribute to relapses in drug abuse.
If you seek therapy and continue to visit your mental health professional, you will continue to build a repertoire of healthy coping methods, and you will have someone to talk through your problems with instead of turning to harmful substances. Mental health is a precarious balance, and no one is ever or will ever be one hundred per cent fine, but that is exactly why therapy is so important.
Whether you have been treated for drug abuse and released, or if you are currently facing a substance abuse problem, therapy is instrumental in your fight against this harmful habit.
Treat your mind to treat your body
People with extremely common disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD are often more inclined to addiction than others. Other methods, including therapy, might be something they do not see as financially possible, so they turn to other, more detrimental methods of ‘escaping’ from their minds.
More and more insurance companies are covering therapy, and many employers offer assistance programmes to help with counselling. When the alternative is potentially death, therapy is a clear winner. Furthermore, therapy will give you the tools to help your mind feel better, which has been proven to make you feel better physically, thus making you less reliant on drugs.
Takeaway
Drug treatment is not as simple as a visit to the therapist’s office. However, treating what ails your mind will often treat or at least pinpoint the underlying cause of your addiction. Attending therapy, and continuing it throughout and even after addiction treatment, will do wonders for freeing you from your ties to harmful substances.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the founder of Psychreg. He is also the editor-in-chief of Psychreg Journal Psychology, and writes a weekly column for Free Malaysia Today.
