The first step towards fighting addiction in young adults is to start recognizing that you’re dealing with a problem. Most individuals don’t realize they’re addicted to a substance until they’ve tipped too far over the edge. Many addicts call their addiction ‘casual fun’, ‘nothing serious,’ or ‘peer pressure’ and continue to fool around until it’s too late.
Living in denial will get an addict nowhere; with acceptance comes diagnosis. Therefore, an addict can genuinely move towards treatment after they’ve realized they have a problem. However, it’s wise to understand that the journey towards fighting addiction doesn’t get easier from here on. Every step brings new challenges, often making a particular question why is quitting so hard?
A simple answer: addiction affects the frontal cortex of a human’s brain, meaning that an individual’s impulse control and judgment are compromised. The brain incites hunger for drugs and relates it to rewarding experiences, making quitting addiction hard. Regardless, fighting addiction for young adults might be challenging but not impossible. Individuals only require the right plan and resources to succeed at an attempt. Here are five factors that can help young adults fight addiction effectively:
1. Find and Obtain Professional Help
The first and foremost step to fighting addiction is looking for professional resources like therapy or rehab that can help. A professional therapist is recommended for people who have accepted the path towards recovery and are determined to keep up. In comparison, a rehabilitation center is recommended for individuals struggling to come to terms with their addiction and requires coercion or pressure to comply. If you find yourself more in tune with the latter, you must go online today to find a program for you. Considering the many types of rehab programs and facilities now available to help people, you are bound to find an addiction recovery program that fits your specific needs.
2. Commit to A Recovery Approach
Recovering from an addiction isn’t always about doing everything in one’s power to bid addiction farewell. Almost always, it’s about finding the one recovery approach that works best for an individual and committing to it for a lifetime. Here are five treatment plans that doctors administer to help fight addiction in young adults:
- Medication – usage of medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat alcohol dependence or substance abuse
- Support Group – in-person peer support groups aimed at promoting sobriety by storytelling or inciting inspiration
- Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) – evidence-based method evaluating an addict’s behavior to provide the necessary care and attention
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – teaching how emotions influence behavior so addicts can change beliefs and feelings that promote addiction
- Online Therapy – online programs that use structured conversation to help individuals end their addiction
3. Overcome the Challenge of Withdrawal Symptoms
The route away from addiction is filled with several hurdles and challenges that confront an individual in withdrawal symptoms. When an addict stops using the substance they’re addicted to; their body goes through several changes that are hard to cope with, leading to various physical and psychological problems. Most young adults tend to start drinking or using again to minimize the withdrawal symptoms. However, the key to overcoming these withdrawal symptoms is fighting them one by one. Here are some examples of withdrawal symptoms an addict needs to tackle with medication or action to stop their addiction from taking the best of them:
Physical
- Appetite changes
- Nausea
- Upset stomach
- Muscle aches and pain
- Shaking or shivering
Psychological
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Craving
- Mood swings
- Insomnia
4. Choose Beneficial Surroundings and Environment
If an addict continues to be friends with fellow addicts or hang out at their favorite bar, they won’t be able to quit their addiction. To promote a new pattern of behavior, humans need to end the previous pattern of behavior. Young adults determined to fight their addiction must get rid of anything that reminds them of their addiction, avoid going to places that trigger their addictive pattern, and stop hanging out with people that encourage or promote their addiction. Putting an end to these social patterns may help addicts formulate new routines for themselves – well away from their addiction.
5. Review Past Attempts and Learn
According to an online MAT clinic, many addicts of different substances such as opioids call their addiction ‘casual fun’, ‘nothing serious,’ or ‘peer pressure’ and continue to fool around until it’s too late. It seems like a small number to the rational mind, but when the emotional response is factored in, 21 days seem like a lot of time. Several studies have shown that many addicts give up in these 21 days and start using again. Therefore, it takes several attempts before an addict truly says goodbye to their addiction. For example, let’s take smoking; research suggested that smokers make an average of 30 attempts before successfully quitting smoking. Considering this figure, it’s safe to say that an addict will go through several tries before finally calling it quits. However, each successive time, an individual must always begin their recovery journey by contemplating what they did wrong the last time. Addicts must learn from failed experiences to only carry their successes into a new attempt of fighting addiction.
Conclusion
Nobody said quitting addiction would be easy. It’s a complicated process that requires an individual to go through several physicals, mental, emotional, and behavioral changes before they can finally be successful in their attempt. However, every addict can quit with the proper treatment, beneficial resources, and supporting people by their side. Hopefully, the factors mentioned above helped guide you about the optimal ways of dealing with addiction. We wish you the best of luck in your journey towards a healthy and happy life.
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