I want to quit drugs: how do I do it?
Addictions are part of the most frequent health problems, and unfortunately, they also stand out for being very harmful both for the person who develops them and for their environment. In addition, breaking with this cycle of dependence and substance use is not easy.
For this reason, day by day there are many people who ask themselves the following: "I know I want to quit drugs, but... how can I do it without ending up relapsing?". Here we will see several tips to achieve it.
- Related article: "The 14 most important types of addictions"
Quitting drugs and overcoming addiction: 6 key ideas to achieve it
Each case is unique, but in general, it helps to have some basic guidelines about what to do if you want to overcome a drug addiction. This is a summary of what to do.
1. Start a treatment from a professional
If you want to leave drug addiction behind while minimizing your chances of relapse as much as possible, you will need to go through a treatment offered by health professionals; and if what you have "hooked" on is an illegal hard drug or alcohol, you should go as soon as possible assuming that this is the only way out.
Ideally, you should have both medical coverage and psychotherapeutic assistance: do not forget that addictions are not simply chemical processes, but that a good part of their existence is due to the fact that when we go through them we internalize patterns of behavior that favors its persistence and that we reproduce without realizing it: always going through a bar area on the way back from work, talking especially with other people addicted etc Psychotherapy will allow you both to identify those behaviors and problematic mental processes and to manage and replace these elements with other ways of living from day to day that keep us away from drugs: it is like a process of training.
On the other hand, keep in mind that the criteria of the professionals who supervise your case is always the one that prevails and the one that you should follow these tips, since they will offer you tailor-made solutions knowing your case and its particularities.
- You may be interested in: "How to promote impulsivity control through habits"
2. Commit to the quit date
Some people need to give themselves time before taking the step to stop using for good. However, it is necessary to set a deadline in the short or medium term (within a few days) so that "leave it for another day" does not become an excuse.
It is advisable regularly display a reminder of that deadline, to take advantage of that temporary barrier and use it as a self-motivation tool.
3. Do not put emphasis on repressing, but on redirecting your interests and attention
The risk of relapse is greater if we perceive the process of leaving addiction behind as a form of sacrifice. This type of mental scheme feeds the idea that only the "virtuous" can overcome this health problem, which generates a self-fulfilling prophecy that plays into against us: the discomfort itself is experienced as a sign of that sacrifice, and at the same time as a sign that we are not "strong" enough to comply with that mission.
Therefore, instead of focusing on the repression of the desire to consume, assume the philosophy of overcoming addiction by finding new sources of gratification, new stimulating experiences capable of capturing your attention and allowing you to concentrate on them without damaging your health.
4. Take steps to prevent all forms of addiction
People who have developed an addiction are very vulnerable to the risk of developing others.. For example, among those who use cocaine frequently there is also a greater risk of ending up developing alcoholism, and vice versa. These pathologies reinforce each other.
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5. Get used to recognizing the thoughts that lead you to consume
If you can learn to quickly identify these tempting thoughts, feelings, and mental images, you will be able to neutralize them without letting them serve as an excuse to relapse.
6. Adapt to the rhythms of the process of overcoming addiction
Each phase of the process of overcoming an addiction works with different “rhythms”. At first you have to be mentalized and take the step of cutting consumption, an action of "all or nothing"; then you have to know how to manage the withdrawal syndrome and detoxify yourself at a time of particular physical discomfort, and finally you have to to avoid relapses by learning to quickly recognize the thoughts and actions that self-sabotage us and expose us to risk to consume again, adopting new habits and new patterns of behavior from which to relate to the environment and with others. the rest.
Are you looking for psychological support in the face of addictions?
If an addictive problem is affecting you, I invite you to contact me. I am a psychologist specialized in the cognitive-behavioral model and I offer my services to individuals and companies either in person (in my office in Madrid) or through online sessions.
Bibliographic references:
- American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
- Kalivas, P.W.; Volkow, N.D. (2005). The neural basis of addiction: a pathology of motivation and choice. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(8): pp. 1403 - 1413.
- Sànchez Turet, Miquel (1991). Drug addiction: terminological and taxonomic aspects. Psychology Yearbook, University of Barcelona, 49: pp. 5 - 18.
- Santos, J.L.; Garcia, L.I.; Calderón, M.A.; Sanz, L.J.; de los Rios, P.; Left, S.; Roman, P.; Hernangomez, L.; Navas, E.; Ladrón, A and Álvarez-Cienfuegos, L. (2012). Clinical psychology. CEDE PIR Preparation Manual, 02. YIELD. Madrid.