Misinformation Misses the Mark When It Comes to Recovery
This is the third entry in a series dedicated to setting the record straight when it comes to issues around substance use disorders and recovery. In two previous blog posts (here and here), we have tackled a range of falsehoods that far too many believe and repeat—often to the detriment of a person who needs help overcoming a substance use problem.
If you are an individual dealing with a substance use disorder, we hope this entry and the two that have preceded it provide you with the information you need to feel confident about getting treatment. And if you are someone who cares for a person with a substance use disorder, we hope this series helps you share good information and avoid sharing potentially harmful information. When the topic is substance use disorders and recovery, the stakes are too high to get important facts wrong.
Let’s consider three more falsehoods and get at the truth.
You can give up drugs or alcohol easily by quitting ‘cold turkey.’ FALSE!
Some people will tell you that you can just decide to give up drugs or alcohol and quit all on your own. But this sudden approach to quitting—sometimes called quitting “cold turkey”—is seldom effective and can be downright dangerous.
That is because your brain and body have gotten used to substances you have been ingesting. When you suddenly deprive yourself of those substances, you are likely to experience a range of challenging withdrawal symptoms. Those symptoms will almost certainly include extreme cravings for the substance you have been using.
Sometimes, withdrawal can lead to serious health emergencies that can threaten your life. Of course, continuing to take drugs or use alcohol can also put your life at risk. The way out of this trap? Medically supervised and/or assisted detoxification that allows you to weather the storms of withdrawal.
Getting sober means you won’t ever have fun again. FALSE!
Far too many people think that using drugs or alcohol is the only way to have fun—or if not the only way, at least the quickest way to get into a good mood. But of course, there are infinite ways to build a fun, engaging, satisfying life that have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. Those things might take a little planning, might require you to put yourself out there without the benefit of inhibition-reducing substances, and might radically change the way you spend your time and with whom.
But the range of wonderful experiences that are available to you in sobriety is limited only by your imagination. And as a bonus, you are far more likely to remember those special moments when you experience them sober.
Only a truly motivated person benefits from substance use disorder treatment. FALSE!
It would be truly wonderful if everyone who ever struggled with drugs or alcohol found themselves eager to get the treatment they need. But the truth is that most people who are dealing with a substance use disorder are not terribly eager to get treatment. They may know that they need treatment, but any number of factors—embarrassment, a stubborn belief they can handle the situation on their own, an inability to think clearly enough to make a plan to get help, and more—keeps them from pursuing it.
Often, it is a court order or the loving insistence of someone who cares about the person that finally gets them into treatment. Despite the fact that reluctance to get help is common, the results of treatment are generally positive for everyone who goes through detox and rehabilitation. That is to say, regardless of why a person ends up in treatment, the process works to allow them to get sober and to make significant progress toward maintaining that sobriety over time.
The Truth is that Nothing Beats Sobriety
Located in Wichita, Kansas, and nearby communities, Bel Aire Recovery Center is 100 percent committed to helping people get and stay sober. That means offering medically supervised detoxification services, evidence-based therapy during rehabilitation (including the treatment of co-occurring mental health disorders that may be tangled up with your substance use disorder), and a robust continuum of care that ensures you continue to feel supported as your recovery journey gets underway.
We do this work because we know that helping a person regain their sobriety means helping that person reclaim their life. So many things that are impossible while a person is using drugs or alcohol become possible again once a person puts substance use behind them. When you are ready to make this all important change, we are ready to make sure you get the care you need and deserve.
