The chances are high that you don’t suffer through substance abuse by yourself. Your friends, family and other members of society will suffer with you. So, there’s no reason why you should treat an addiction by yourself. There are different reasons why using a support system is your best chance at recovery.
Substance Abuse Is a Lonely Disorder
Many people get hooked on drugs or alcohol as a result of being with the wrong people. They end up being trapped in social situations that cause more harm than good. Because of peer pressure, they want to be like everyone else and focus only on impressing their friends.
However, when you find yourself in the hospital or lying in an alleyway, your new friends are usually nowhere to be found. When you abuse drugs or alcohol socially, you are surrounded by the wrong people.
When you deal with the consequences of this abuse, your friends are rarely there to suffer with you.
In the end, an addiction is a lonely disorder, but only if you don’t have the support of loyal family and friends. Never end up in a situation where you are alone. Work closely with loved ones when it’s time to get treatment.
Relapses Are Common
As a substance abuser, you cannot trust yourself to do the right thing all the time. If you’ve made bad decisions for years, you will not transform overnight and start making only the best decisions. Recovery is possible for every addict, but relapses are also common.
Breaking an addiction is a long-term mental, emotional and physical process. You may not be strong enough to handle the withdrawals and urges all on your own. You need a strong support system of nurses, friends and relatives to encourage you throughout the process.
Inspiration Is Close to Home
It’s easier to recover by finding inspiration in other people. There may be someone in your family who has survived an addiction years ago. Someone else may have survived a battle with cancer or depression and lived enough to tell a story.
Find someone in your family who has gone through similar experiences as you. Turn to this person for advice on how to survive and which resources to take during recovery. It may have been a particular drug rehab center or a certain way of thinking that became the turning point.
Recovery Is Long Lasting
Recovering from an addiction takes years in normal cases. The friends that you took drugs with may not live that long. Few addicts form close, lifelong bonds with other addicts. You need the long-lasting dedication of family members to get through a recovery.
Everyone has a different approach to recovering from substance abuse. Some people recover better in rehab centers, while others improve with the help of psychological therapy. However, few people take on the task by themselves. Everyone needs a strong support system to get through the withdrawals or relapses. An addiction should be treated in the close company of other people and never alone.