Can I Have Addiction Treatment At Home?
Addiction is a condition that can ruin your life. It can basically take over all parts of your life, and the only thing you’ll want to do is take drugs. You will lose interest in your hobbies, and you’ll have very little motivation to fulfill your responsibilities.
However, you don’t have to be stuck in the rut of addiction. There are lots of treatments available, and they will help you get back control of your life.
These treatments are usually done inside a rehab center. So, what if you don’t want to go anywhere? What if you just want to stay home and recover from there? Is it possible?
Before we answer those questions, let’s first take a look at the important elements of rehab.
Detox
Detox is a process that removes addictive substances from your body. This is important as the drugs may continue to influence you negatively as long as there are traces of it in your body.
Detox is often administered with the help of medical professionals. They monitor your dosage of medications as well as the effects they have on you. If ever you feel any unpleasant side effects, you can inform them right away. They will make the necessary adjustments.
Also, it’s important to have doctors by your side so they can help you manage withdrawal. Any time you’re weaned off of an addictive substance, you could experience uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. If you do, doctors can assist you in making them less agonizing.
When you try to do a detox at home, you won’t get these kinds of help. In fact, recovery professionals often advise that detox should only be done under medical supervision. There are just too many risks when you do at-home detox.
If you’re going through alcohol detox, for example, you could experience a condition called delirium tremens. Here, you would get hallucinations, fever, confusion, restlessness, and possibly, deadly seizures. If you detox at home and get delirium tremens, it’s dangerous for you, especially that you don’t have medical professionals close by.
Here’s another example. If you’re addicted to benzodiazepines, detox must be carefully monitored. Otherwise, you could suffer fatal consequences, especially if you try to quit cold-turkey. This is a common thing that addicts try to do, and it often does not end well. Instead, you would need a taper schedule, where your dosage of benzodiazepines would be reduced over time. This needs professional medical help as well.
Behavioral therapies
Addiction recovery professionals usually facilitate these therapies. They require lots of specialist knowledge, training, and experience to do properly. If the people you live with at home are not rehab professionals, they cannot help you with behavioral therapies.
Of course, you cannot do these therapies yourself. They require a two-way interaction between you and the therapist.
Protected environments
In some cases, your home could be where you first got addicted. Perhaps you live with people addicted to alcohol, or a family member is abusing drugs. Or it could be your “safe space” that enabled addictive behaviors. Thus, treating your addiction at home in these cases is just impossible.
When you’re in a rehab center, though, your whole environment changes. You no longer have the familiar temptations at home. The people you’re living with are different too. Everyone is on the road to recovery, so you would be influenced positively to stay on that path as well.
Also, in the protected spaces of rehab centers, you’d be equipped with new skills, coping strategies, and techniques to manage your emotions. That way, you can manage stress well and avoid the triggers of drug use.
Most rehab centers are also designed to be as relaxing as possible. That way, you can avoid any unnecessary extra stress that can make your condition worse.
Support groups
Being part of a strong support group is also key to any successful addiction treatment program. This group of people will support you and encourage you as you go along in the path to recovery. Likewise, you can lift them up as well with your experiences and successes. It’s a two-way street.
At home, it’s possible for you to form a support group. You can gather your closest friends or most trusted family members, and you can even meet anywhere you like. The important thing is that these people are willing to help you recover.
However, support groups in rehab are often facilitated by trained professionals. If ever a member of the group behaves erratically, the facilitators are trained to handle it. This is not the case if you make a support group yourself.
Knowing that, it’s still a good idea to get professional help in this aspect. Your friends and family may have the best intentions, but without recovery professionals by your side, you may be faced with situations that no one in your group knows how to handle.
How about outpatient addiction treatment programs?
Outpatient does not mean to stay home all the time. In these kinds of treatments, you still have to go to the rehab center a few times a week to have sessions with therapists, doctors, or both.
You may stay home most of the time during the course of the rehab, but that doesn’t mean the rehab would be done at home. You’d still need the facilities of a rehab center and the skills of recovery professionals.
So, is it not possible to have addiction treatment at home?
Unless you can convert your home into a makeshift rehab center and hire recovery professionals to work from there, it’s just not doable. You also can’t DIY recovery from addiction. It’s a team effort by you, your loved ones, the people in your support group, and the rehab professionals taking care of you.
If you’re committed to putting an end to your drug habits, call for professional help today. You may have to leave home for a month or so, but it’s your best bet if you want to live a life free from addiction.
