For many years, drug addiction has been rife throughout all corners of the world and has not slowed down even with the latest technology and understanding of what causes addiction.
While preventative measures can always be taken, the possibility of addiction is always a real issue in anyone taking a form of drug regardless of if they are prescription based or illicit.
In recent years, Alcoholics Anonymous have outlined a 12-step program that has helped many people globally overcome their addiction and has become the basis for much of the treatment that rehab centres around the world use as part of their program.
The term ‘drug addiction’ is used as an umbrella term that encompasses many different kinds of substances. Drugs are typically organised into classes A, B or C which determine their levels of danger and addictiveness.
Drug addictions can be some of the most dangerous things a person can experience in their lives and is not completely out of the realm of possibility for the average person.
A drug addiction can occur through any amount of excessive use of a certain substance such as cocaine or heroin and, due to the highly addictive nature of these substances, it can be very easy for this to happen when not monitored. This is where drug rehabilitation centres will be able to help you.
The 12 steps to recovery outlined by Alcoholics Anonymous are general guidelines as to how a person can begin their road to recovery. The twelve steps take spiritual and religious inspiration however can be applied to people of all belief systems.
As we stated briefly earlier, the 12-step recovery process has impacted the way in which many rehab centres operate as they may take some notes from this process in order to effectively carry out their individual recovery services.
The first thing that a person must do in order to begin their recovery process is to accept that they have a problem and admit to themselves that they are in need of support.
No matter what stage of addiction you find yourself in, this step is key to identifying your addiction for what it is. This will then allow you to move forward with the recovery process.
This is one of the more religious and spiritual aspects of the recovery process, this gives people who are undergoing recovery something to keep going for if the relationships between their family and friends have been severed.
If you are not a religious or spiritual person, however, this step can still be applied to having faith in something besides a God or spiritual belief. This incorporates people who believe in all sorts of things that can be used as their ‘higher power’ such as karma, science, nature, humanity and the universe among many others.
Once the above step has been completed, you will then be able to understand that you cannot go through this process on your own. This will require you to have the assistance of your higher power as well as the peers you meet along the way.
This step will involve some introspection and inward thinking in order to identify your issues at the source and understand how these events or experiences have led you to exhibit the behaviours that you are exhibiting today.
This will also give you the opportunity to understand how your actions have been affecting the people around you and how you have made them feel throughout your addiction.
One of the key things that you will need to do is familiarise yourself with the failings and what you can do to avoid these things in the future. This will take some thinking and humility towards your wrongdoings and admitting to them so they are not of trouble to you anymore.
When you have identified and owned up to your failings and challenges, you will then need to attempt to let them go. This will include embracing all of your flaws and finally letting go of all of the underlying traits that may be to blame for your addiction.
Throughout the entire process so far, you will have been required to show some humility at almost every step of the journey. This entails allowing people into your life that can help you get better and admitting that you can’t do this alone.
Whether you plan to go through the process with your friends and family by your side or whether you chose to put your faith in some kind of higher power, humility will be necessary to get through your recovery.
One of the most important aspects of addiction recovery is to show your willingness to make amends with those that you love and may have hurt while under the influence of drugs.
One of the most common occurrences that can happen during a drug addiction is that relationships can be damaged due to the actions of the abuser while on drugs, by showing a willingness to make amends you will be able to mend these bonds during your recovery.
For any relationships that have been severed or damaged due to your addiction to drugs, this step states to make amends with these people in order to move forward with your recovery.
This will give you the peace of mind necessary to complete your journey and remain of sound mind throughout the rest of your life when recovery is complete.
Another of the key steps in recovery is to ensure that you keep track of the progress that you are making as a reminder to not quit and to let yourself know how close you are to the end.
Considering that a complete detox from drugs is vastly difficult, this is a great way for you to motivate yourself to keep going throughout the process to ensure the minimum chance of relapsing.
This step simply states that you should find the purpose that your higher power has for you in life and follow this journey. Finding your purpose is something that people all over the world do consistently to make themselves into better people meaning that this is a great way for you to try to improve your life for good.
The final step states that you should make the effort to continue to employ these practices throughout all aspects of your life and to continue spreading the word about what this 12-step process is capable of doing for other people.
Our trained addiction counsellors are available 24 hours a day to help you