Whatever your situation may be, here at Addiction Advocates, we can offer guidance, we can offer professional insights, we can offer referrals into rehab. To gauge where you stand with drugs and alcohol, to understand the necessity of professional withdrawal services, to appreciate the deteriorating cycle of addiction, reach out to our team.

Drug and alcohol addiction is a serious condition that can have a very serious effect on every aspect of the addict’s life – as well as the people around them. One of the defining characteristics of addiction is that the addict will continue to drink or use drugs despite the negative consequences. Addiction actually ‘rewires’ the brain over time, making it very difficult to resist this compulsive behaviour. That’s why it’s so important to find the right help if you or someone you know has a problem with drugs or alcohol.

 

How your environment can affect your addiction

Alcohol and many drugs are classed as addictive substances. They usually trigger a reward centre of the brain or produce some sort of pleasurable effect that keeps the user craving for more. A tolerance may build up, meaning you need to take more and more for the same ‘hit’ and you may experience physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when you do not drink or take drugs.

Anyone can develop an addiction. This destructive condition does not respect boundaries of wealth, geography or social status, although it is believed that some people may be more susceptible to addiction than others and it is more prevalent in certain groups.

Every individual’s circumstances are different and there is no one root cause that makes people become addicted but studies suggest that your environment can play a big part. This might involve your friendship group or social circle. If you spend a lot of time with people who drink or use drugs, this can exacerbate and normalise your own usage. The same goes for how you spend your time. If most of your leisure activities involve pubs, bars and drinking alcohol in other settings, for example, this could easily contribute to problem drinking.

Family relationships are not always easy and dysfunctional or strained relationships can lead to stress that some people deal with in an unhealthy manner. Other issues such as divorce, abuse and trauma can also lead to problems with alcohol and drug misuse. As an alcohol or drug addiction grows, habitual use may be linked in the addict’s mind with certain people, places and times. They will also have regular people and places from where they obtain the drink or drugs. All these factors can add up to make it very difficult to beat an addiction to alcohol or drugs without taking at least a temporary break from your regular environment.

 

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation

Booking into a drug and alcohol treatment centre as an inpatient is the perfect way to break away from that environment and concentrate on breaking the cycle of addiction in a safe and secure setting. If you’re looking for rehab in Leyland we can help you to find the right place, as we have clinics in the local areas, throughout the wider Lancashire area and across the UK.

A stay in rehab does not only take you away from your regular environment and all its accompanying triggers, it provides you with a structured treatment program that will allow you to really focus on your recovery. This will be aided by expert support and medical assistance and supervision where required.

 

Addiction treatment options

The exact make-up of the treatment service available will vary from between different drug rehab clinics and can also be tailored to suit your own individual circumstances. They will generally include a detox clinic however, which will help you to get the drugs or alcohol out of your system and deal with the withdrawal symptoms. These can also vary widely but can be severe. Getting clean in a detox clinic with medical supervision and expert help has been proven to be one of the safest and most effective ways to get through this crucial part of the recovery process.

The physical detox can be over relatively quickly but further treatments will also help to heal the psychological damage from long-term substance abuse, as well as providing you with the tools and knowledge you need to remain clean and sober moving forward. An addiction is never overcome instantly. It is an ongoing process that involves changing your lifestyle and way of thinking.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown to be very useful in this regard. CBT is a talking therapy that helps you to take charge of your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It is often used in a clinical setting to treat conditions such as anxiety and depression, but is also very valuable in treating addiction – which can also overlap with mental issues like depression. Other therapies available could include group therapy, one on one counselling and psychotherapy, art therapy and experiential therapy.

 

Referral into drug and alcohol treatment centres

It’s often said that admitting you have a problem is one of the hardest steps in beating an addiction. For many people this is certainly the case. People struggling with addictions are often reluctant to admit that they have a problem, or the extent of it, even to themselves. If you are able to admit that you need help and are ready to reach out, the first step of an admissions process will usually be a telephone interview. Please be assured that this will be in complete confidence, although many people find it valuable to have family members or other members of a support network involved.

The next step is finding the right rehab centre for your own personal requirements. A doctor’s assessment will also be involved before you embark on any treatment programme.

Because we know that many addicts struggle to acknowledge the extent of their problems, we can also offer family and friend referrals. Loved ones often witness destructive problem behaviour and want to support the person with the drink or drug problem. They still have to accept addiction treatment themselves, but we can offer help and advice to help get them to that point of acceptance.