Realizing that you have an addiction problem is the first step to being able to recover from it. There are many addicts who assume that they can recover from their addiction on their own if they have enough tenacity and drive. This isn’t always the case, though. Recovering from drug addiction is often very difficult because of the withdrawal symptoms and the mental addictions. Typically, the best way to get and stay clean is to seek professional treatment for your addiction. Attempting to get clean on your own may not be as safe as you think it is. The following guide walks you through a few of the dangers that can come when you attempt to recover from active addiction on your own at home.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous to Your Health
Detoxing on your own can be dangerous to your health because your body will quickly start going through withdrawal as it detoxes from the drugs. Your body will physically crave the drugs that you have been using in active addiction. Seizures can take place when you detox because your body is put under so much stress as it craves the drugs that it isn’t getting. Your body will ache, your muscles may cramp and there is a good chance that you will feel nauseous as you detox.
When you go to a professional treatment facility to detox, you are given medications to help minimize the withdrawal symptoms. Your health is often also monitored so that if any health issues arise, they can be dealt with in the appropriate ways to ensure you are as safe as you can be during the entire detox process.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous to Your Psyche
As you detox from drugs, there are many issues that can arise with your mental health, as well. It’s common for someone who is detoxing from drugs to become depressed, delirious and even suffer from hallucinations. You can often become paranoid and lose your ability to think clearly. This can make it difficult to express yourself clearly and also may cause you to become very easily agitated.
There are professional counselors at a treatment facility that you can talk to during your entire recovery process. This helps you to manage your emotions and find a place of solace within your thinking. Being able to talk to the counselor helps you to determine why you started using so that you can know what you need to do to avoid relapsing in the future.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous for Your Family
Unfortunately, as you detox, you will not be a joy and delight to be around. You will be harsh, irrational, irritable and downright mean at times. Detoxing around your family isn’t a good idea because it is a side that you don’t want your family to see. You could say or do things that you would regret once you are out of active addiction.
The staff at the treatment facility is used to the harshness that comes with detox. They understand that it is a difficult time for you emotionally and can help guide you through this difficult time without getting their feelings hurt or judging you.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous for Your Life
As you detox, your emotions can be erratic because you start thinking differently than you did when you were in active addiction. Many addicts start to feel lonely and depressed. The guilt that they feel for things that they did when they were using can often take over and cause them to do things that they wouldn’t do if they were thinking clearly. Suicide is very common when people attempt to detox at home.
At the treatment facility, the staff will monitor you at all times. If they notice that you start to show suicidal tendencies, they will step in to make sure that you don’t do anything to harm yourself.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous to Your Long-Term Sobriety
If you are able to actually detox at home by yourself, it doesn’t mean that you are safe from relapsing. Being able to beat the physical addiction to drugs is amazing, but you will still have the mental addiction that needs to be treated. Treatment facilities provide you with both mental and physical addiction treatment that helps to minimize the chances of relapse. You learn tools that can help you identify possible relapse symptoms and decrease the chances of you falling into the same addiction traps again in the future.
Detoxing at Home Can be Dangerous to Your Career
When you detox in a professional treatment facility, you are protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act. The act allows you to miss work with protection. Your boss will not be able to replace you while you go to treatment. If you were to try to detox at home, you won’t be able to go to work for quite a bit of time. Detoxing can take a few days and you more than likely won’t feel up to work for quite a while. When you miss work to detox at home, there is a good chance that you could get fired for the amount of time that you have to miss to get clean.
If you tried to detox at home and weren’t able to, don’t give up on your sobriety. Going to addiction treatment can make detoxing and recovering from an active addiction easier. Many treatment facilities offer treatment for very reasonable rates and some insurance companies actually cover recovery treatment. There are even some facilities that have free treatment available if you meet certain qualifications. It costs you nothing to talk to someone at a local treatment facility to find out what options are available to you. Realizing that you have an active addiction and want to get recovery is the first step toward stopping drug use and rebuilding your life for a better future.
