Every addiction progresses through many stages, from exploration to regular use to high-risk usage to dependence. So it should come as no surprise that controlling unruly behavior takes time.
The process of recovering from addiction doesn’t take place over night. To maintain active recovery, a person must use a set of taught coping skills over the course of a lifetime. Often, seeking professional assistance is the only way to maintain abstinence.
Everybody’s experience with addiction is different, just like every other person in the world. No two people will experience addiction in exactly the same way, and no two people will also follow the same path to recovery. This is so because there are several internal and external elements that affect addiction and recovery.
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Stages Of Addiction Recovery
Every level explains how to identify the issue, accept it, get ready for addiction therapy, and deal with alcohol and drug usage following treatment.
1. Pre-Contemplation
Addicts who are in the early stages of recovery from addiction are not yet prepared for any type of addiction treatment program, such as intensive outpatient alcohol treatment. Defensiveness and constant rationalization of their actions define this stage.
2. Contemplation
Contemplative preparedness characterizes the following phase. This indicates that the individual is prepared to affect change in the future, just not right away. In contrast to the earlier stage, they are aware of the benefits of giving up drugs.
The next stage for an addict after realizing that their drug use is a problem is to reflect on their lives and start learning more about addiction. This can be done in order to comprehend what transpired to them, how powerful its grip might be, and most significantly, how to break free of it.
At this point, the user will be more aware than before and want to learn more about the harm they did and how it affected their own lives as well as the lives of their friends, family, and coworkers.
They are still vividly aware, nevertheless, of the advantages they see in drug or alcohol addiction. The person is more receptive to argument at this point, which is crucial for family members and treatment centers. You can help them go on to the next stage by avoiding placing blame, passing judgment, and making allegations.
3. Preparation
People have pledged to change throughout the planning phase. Clients frequently seek to bypass this step and go straight to taking action; nevertheless, it is crucial that the treatment team supports the client who is only partially prepared to act.
At this point, addiction counseling will provide the client with the tools they need to learn more about their prospective possibilities for change and explore recovery resources that align with their unique interests.
4. Action
People who are in the action stage feel they can change and are actively engaged in moving toward recovery. At this point, the client’s own rehabilitation is aided by the education, coping mechanisms, and interpersonal communication skills provided in treatment.
To guarantee a smooth transition from treatment to recovery, the client works hard on assignments, personal inventories, and relapse prevention activities.
However, because recovery is an active process, it will last the rest of the person’s life. There may always be a desire to use drugs or drink alcohol; therefore those in recovery need to learn how to deal with the ideas and actions that contributed to their addiction.
This may seem like a difficult undertaking, but happily with time and the assistance they gained in treatment, they will be more capable than ever before of handling it.
5. Maintenance Stage
The person puts a lot of effort into avoiding relapse during the maintenance stage of addiction recovery. They continue to maintain the lifestyle adjustments they made, including as visiting support groups, engaging in regular exercise, leisure activities, remaining sober, and maintaining good sleep hygiene.
Their confidence increases and they firmly believe that they will be able to sustain sobriety over the long run because they don’t feel the need to relapse as frequently as those in the action stage.
Depending on the extent of the addiction, the person’s genes, and experience, this stage can last anywhere between six months and five years. A small percentage of persons need six months of abstinence before they can stop engaging in their addictive habit.
To truly break the habit and maintain change, most people need a commitment of two to five years.
HP Thoughts: We have written an article to support this one — How to Make Recovery Easier.