Drug Addiction - Three Stages of Recovery

When you think of recovery from drug addiction, a particular length of time has to be kept in mind. It is divided into three main stages, early recovery, middle recovery, and late recovery.

In every stage of recovery, certain lessons are needed to be learned and a number of tasks completed, before you move on to the next level. When we say that a person is an addict, we mean that the person has lost control over the use of drugs and alcohol. This has affected him in a negative way, mentally, physically, morally and disturbing all his relationships. Hence, when recovering from addiction, a person struggles to change these negative attitudes slowly, into positives, while admitting that there is a need to control the drug intake.

Three phases of drug addiction recovery are;

1. Early Recovery

The first task in the early recovery phase is to gain control over all drugs that alter the mood of the addict. Controlling drugs allow the brain to recover from the chemical changes that have permanently taken place, and help in going back to the normal state.

In this stage, a person should develop awareness about addiction, build a social support system, and work on a deterioration prevention plan. These activities will help the addict remain drug free. Recovery time depends from person to person. In some cases, the early recovery stage might last for up to two years.

2. Middle Recovery:

In the middle recovery stage, the person continues to sharpen his skills to stay away from drugs. Care and satisfaction of the person is a key in this stage. During the middle stage, lessons that a person may have forgotten or have never learned need to be discovered. Damages that were done previously are to be identified and repaired turning towards a balanced lifestyle.

In this stage, relationships that were negatively affected need to be recovered. If we need to test whether the person has learnt the lessons and achieved all the goals, we need to test for a balanced approach towards life and things around him. The middle recovery phase may last from six months to five years.

3. Late Stage Recovery:

Once the strength has been achieved, the last stage addresses some fundamental issues. These issues might be deep-rooted, perhaps going back to the childhood. They need to be analysed to find out what exactly caused the person to indulge in drugs. Normally, these issues include low self-esteem, desertion, and broken family. It is recommended to address all these issues once the person is fully recovered and make him accept the reality.

Progress in all the phases depends upon learning important lessons, rather than an accumulation of time of staying away from drugs. The last stage recovery is growth and maintenance phase that always goes on. It is highly recommended that constant education and awareness continues.

How To Stay Off Of Drugs Once You've Quit

If you have been successful in your attempt to quit drugs, well, congratulations to you! You've gone past the first part towards your recovery. But it isn't over; remember that you may have a fresh start, but this doesn't mean that you're body is ready to face up to the temptation without succumbing to it. The question which bugs most of those who've quit doing drugs can be summed up in two words: "Now what?" Indeed, your previous life was drug-centered, and now that it's gone, you'll have to fill in the gap, as soon as possible. Some people fail in their efforts to entirely quit doing drugs because they don't find another way to occupy themselves, causing them to suffer a relapse, and they eventually revert back to the habit.

Once you have quit drugs, you have to change your lifestyle with a holistic approach. Remember your motivations during the time when you have decided to quit doing drugs? Now is the time to do something about it. If you want to go kayaking, or if you want to take a prize vacation, do it. Do something to reinforce your previous motives to quit doing drugs, and to stay off of it.

Avoid at all costs the situations and things which have led you to drug dependence. You have made a breakthrough leap when you have overcome your drug dependence, that the opportunities for a relapse which you may face will pale in comparison to it. Keep in mind that once you've quit drugs, you've won the war; the rest will seem like trifle obstacles, and once you get used to the idea that you've quit doing drugs and have gained the resolve to stay off of it, denying its access to your life will eventually become second nature to you.

You have to keep your body and mind occupied, so you'll have fewer chances for a relapse after you have quit drugs. The body follows the mind, and as long as the former is conditioned to the thought that the body has done away with dependence after you've quit doing drugs, you have to feed your body with the right stimulus to stay on top of the situation. Take part in an active exercise regimen and start a healthy diet program. This will bring back the health you've lost before your drug dependence, and will revitalize your body and mind to a better, healthier new you.

When Rehabilitation is the Best Solution

Oftentimes, drug dependence can be a condition which you will have difficulty handling all by yourself, to the point that the people who care for you may be affected. If you feel that things are getting out of hand, take a stand now and consider the option of a rehabilitation program, one which will help you quit drugs effectively. Rehabilitation programs differ in formats, but are geared towards the same goal: to help the dependent quit using drugs altogether, and to help the person start out with a renewed life.

Drug rehabilitation programs provide assistance in early detection and treatment of drug dependence. You may have recognized that you are indeed a drug dependent, and have decided to quit using drugs with professional help. Rehabilitation programs are comprehensive and multi-faceted, and will help you quit drugs through individualized treatment plans. These will guide you with every step of your effort to quit using drugs, and will employ tested methods towards recovery, such as multiple-approach intervention techniques, care management, and reinforcement.

While on your way to quit drugs once and for all, the program will also provide social skills training which you won't achieve on your own; these will help you recognize the situations and conditions which led to your dependence, so that you can easily avoid them in the future after you have successfully quit using drugs. Specialized services in the areas of medical, personal, psychiatric, and occupational concerns are also offered to make the recovery a holistic one for you. And because you are inside an environment which is drug-free, the impulses which you have felt before may be overwhelming at first, but be assured that they will eventually die down before disappearing altogether.

There is a chance that you may relapse back to your previous dependence even after you have completed the program and is indeed successful in your goal to quit drugs. For this reason, rehabilitation programs are designed to be a part of your life, during and after your drug problem. With the help of professional counselors and therapists, you will be able to regain your life back and keep it that way. You can share your motivations to quit using drugs to other dependents, through support programs which let you become an active part in other people's transformation, which will give you an increased sense of purpose and will motivate you to continue in your efforts not only to quit using drugs entirely, but to help other people deal with their drug problems as well.

Nutrition and Exercise - Keys to Drug Use Recovery

If you are currently experiencing the pangs of your attempt to quit drugs, understand that it is your body which first feels the consequences of recovery. If you are looking for an easier way as to how to quit drugs, there are only simple ways to do so, and the difficulty in going through them will be entirely up to you. However, you can help your body recover faster once you know how to quit drugs with proper nutrition and exercise.

If nutrition is essential to a person of good health, then it is all the more important for you to observe a healthy diet during your efforts to quit drugs. It is important, though, that you first talk to your doctor, or if you are on a rehabilitation program, a health counselor. They will be the ones who are more in a position to determine for you as to how to quit drugs through an adjustment of your diet, by customizing it to fit your present needs. Depending on the substance which you are trying to do away with, your diet will most likely contain high amounts of protein, vitamins, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, with less fat and cholesterol. These will make up for the nutrient loss which your body suffered during the course of your dependence.

Another way as to how to quit drugs is through constant activity. Now this can be done through normal mobility, but is more effectively achieved through exercise. Not only does it promote blood circulation, it will also help you quit drugs without you knowing it, since your body is flushing out the harmful toxins through sweat. You will also regain the flexibility and the mobility you lost before the treatment, with each session of intensive workouts. Talk to your doctor or counselor about how to quit drugs with this method; they may be able to customize an exercise regimen which is both safe and helpful for you.

Remember that your efforts to quit drugs involve physical well-being as part of a holistic approach. Nutrition and proper exercise must be accompanied by the right mindset and the appropriate guidance from a professional. If you have questions as to how to quit drugs while having a healthy body with a healthy mind, get in touch with a rehabilitation facility within your area, sign up, and make the first few steps toward recovery. You owe yourself the chance for a better life without substance abuse.

The Role of Faith in Addiction Recovery

There is no doubt that believing in something greater than ourselves will lead a person to be more humble and at peace. Faith is never a negative thing, yet the following question remains to be answered. Should Faith alone be the determining means to whether an addict controls the addiction or can other means be used to help the addict take control of his or her life and prevail over the addiction?

The Roots of Faith Based Addiction Recovery

Everyone has heard of A.A. and 12 Step Programs and Support Groups, yet as influential as these groups have been in injecting faith into addiction recovery, the roots of faith based addiction recovery reach much farther back. It is well known that Bill Wilson, the creator and theologian of A.A. and 12 Steps, was originally inspired by the Oxford Groups, a controversial 20th Century Christian Revivalist movement spearheaded by Frank Buchman, but faith based addiction recovery probably reaches farther back into the 1800's.

In the 18th , 19th , and early 20th Centuries there were what historians have classified as six Christian revivals. The 19th Century alone became a century of Christian Evangelical revival and awakening. In the midst of Christian revivalism in the 1800's an off shoot of sorts took hold, impacting the thought of American Christianity. Christian Science, formed by Mary Baker Eddy, espoused healing through religious devotion and connection to the divine. Her work won accolades from the century's Christian thinkers and formed the basis of many Evangelical and revivalist movements of the 20th Century. It is no doubt that Bill Wilson not only was heavily inspired by ideas of Buchman, but came forth with the kernels of A.A. after a long period of revivalist movements, in which Eddy found her voice. This voice, one which espouses health and spirituality no doubt had a heavy influence on the premier faith based addiction recovery program of the 20th Century: A.A.

Spiritual Salvation = Addiction Recovery?

The deeper question of whether spirituality alone can bring the addict out from the grips of addiction depends more on what it's "root-cause" is. A.A. and 12 Step Program supporters believe that the "root-cause" of any type of addiction is a result of a lack of connection and submission to God., thus giving a space for the addiction or "Satan" to take root. On the other hand, current medical research suggests some revolutionary findings in terms of what the true "root-cause" may actually be. Researches have noted that current findings indicate that addiction may well be rooted in "bio-chemical"deficiencies, often times influenced by genetics. If this is the case then it stands that targeted nutritional changes may prove to be much more effective in taking someone away from addiction.

Two Paths That Are Really One

Despite the seemingly great divide between these two paths both are reconcilable and can work in tandem. There is no doubt that genetics and biochemical deficiencies are merely factors that may cause one to have a predisposition to addiction. It is true that one can live their entire life without developing an addiction and yet be genetically predisposed to it. Other circumstances may or may not activate these factors. Such circumstances include psychological trauma and/or a spiritual vacancy. It is obvious there is no magic pill to end an addiction. It is important to note that dealing with one's medical deficiencies doesn't necessarily negate the need for a "spiritual awakening" to fill the void most addicts say they feel.

This joining of these two once divergent paths can be explained by using the metaphor of a cup. It is important to build a strong container or cup in order to develop a vessel that can hold the liquid one chooses to put in it, but after all a cup without any liquid in it has yet to fulfill it's purpose. In this example, the cup is the body, which needs to have it's certain deficiencies addressed and the liquid is the realm of the spiritual and metaphysical, which needs to have a healthy body in order to become fully expressed. It is only by intertwining both the physical and spiritual that the addict can be pulled out of the depths of addiction and find inner meaning and joy in their lives.

Celebrating Recovery 12 Steps

Celebrate Recovery ministry is to fellowship and celebrate God´s healing power in the lives through the 8 Recovery Principles, and 12 steps. Celebrate Recovery began at Saddleback Church about 16-17 years ago, and they have been able to start the program in over 10,000 churches and over 500,000 individuals have completed the program.

People who are interested to join their meetings, don't have to be alcoholics, or have past drug problems like I'm used to seeing at other A.A. or similar meetings. In fact anybody dealing with any hurts, habits or hang-ups can join and are welcomed. This recovery program is based on God's Word, the Bible.

A few years ago even President George W. Bush has recognized and praised Celebrate Recovery program as a ministry at the 11th Regional White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The 12 steps described here are as follows:

Step 1

We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives had become unmanageable.

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18)

Step 2

Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Philippians 2:13).

Step 3

Made a decision to turn our life and will over to the care and loving concern of God.

I urge you, therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of God's great mercy, to offer your self as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Step 4

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. (Lamentations 3:40).

Step 5

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.

Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. (James 5:16).

Step 6

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)

Step 7

Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).

Step 8

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Do to others, as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31).

Step 9

Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that someone has something against you, leave your offering there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24).

Step 10

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

So, if you think that you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Step 11

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you daily. (Colossians 3:16).

Step 12

Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs.