Does substance abuse recovery require professional help? An explanation of the importance of professional help required to overcome substance abuse. Most addicts feel that they are alone in their problem....
Most addicts feel that they are alone in their problem. What I would recommend to any individual who is seeking recovery from an addiction is to engage in some type of substance abuse treatment program and to also attend self-help meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Now there is a big difference between AA and treatment. Treatment is a clinical process that through counseling and psychotherapy, gives an individual the tools which they need to recover from their addiction. The self-help groups like AA and NA are support groups with a bunch of people sitting around in a circle talking about their hardships and supporting each other.
Now some people have achieved recovery just by going to one or the other, but recovering from an addiction is hard enough so that I recommend people get involved in as many things as they can to help them through it. Substance abuse treatment is also the problem modality for substance abuse treatment has been proven to be in a group session unlike mental health treatment where it's a one on one model with one patient and one therapist and they kind of do psychotherapy that way. Substance abuse treatment is usually done in a group session with may be 10 other patients and one counselor. The reason for that is substance abusers seem to think that they are alone in their problem. If they are in a group and are hearing other people talk about issues and what they are going through, they don't feel alone in their problem anymore. They can look to their light and see an individual who is so far worse than they have ever been and say themselves "I am not going to fill out the days with pity for myself again, this guy is worse than I have ever been." They can look to their left see a guy who used to be as bad as they are but got better and they can look at that as inspiration and say if this guy could get better I can.
A very interesting dynamic that happens in a group session. If a patient relapses the other group members get on them. Relapse happens. It can be considered a part of recovery. But because there is a certain bond that forms within that group among the group members, if someone slips or is lying or not being very truthful, or makes excuses the other group members within that group start to chime in and apply pressure on that patient. His counselor can act as a steering wheel but it's the entire group's dynamics that helps the patient achieve their goal of recovery.
Make no mistake about it, substance abuse is a disease. Once patients recognize that it is a disease, start to understand the diseases model and treat as the disease model they may have a better chance for recovery. In AA and other self-help groups they do encourage individuals to get what they call a sponsor. This is an individual who they can go to if they feel they want to relapse or pickup a drink or use drugs again. They have someone that they can go to call and say "I am feeling weak. I am feeling vulnerable. Can you help me?" That sponsor will try to talk him out of it, try to put some reason into them or be supportive in some way. My recommendation is any addict, whether an alcoholic or drug addict, seek the help from anyone who is willing to help them; whether it be friends, family, professionals or all the above. Doing it alone is incidentally harder than having support.
