Drug Addiction and Rehab in Staten Island, NY

There are millions of people across the United States that are currently struggling with a drug addiction. However, most of those people think that they can overcome their drug addiction without the help of drug rehab or treatment. According to virtually any expert you could ask, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, drug addiction requires treatment through a drug rehab center or other treatment program.

Better Understanding Drug Addiction

An addiction to drugs or alcohol encompasses many factors and issues. One of the main aspects of addiction is known as drug dependence (also often referred to as a physical or chemical dependence). Dependence on drugs or alcohol can start to build even after the first time a person consumes an addictive substance.

Whenever a person consumes such a substance, that substance interacts with their brain and central nervous system by sending signals to trigger or suppress certain actions. As a person continues to abuse drugs or alcohol, their brain begins to wait to perform certain tasks or actions until the drug tells it to do so. This means that the brain is relying on the substance to function normally and this reliance is the definition of a chemical dependence.

While an addiction includes drug dependence, dependence is not synonymous with addiction. An addiction also has to do with the mental, emotional, and other life factors that caused a person to begin consuming and abusing drugs and alcohol in the first place. These issues can include traumas, mental illness (like depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety), relationship troubles, stress, and a myriad of other issues and life events.

How Drug Addiction Treatment Works

An addiction to drugs or alcohol needs to be treated with the assistance of professional rehab or treatment centers. The first step in the drug addiction treatment process is to go through detox, preferably medical detox. Detox is the process of getting the drug or alcohol out of the person’s body and allowing their brain to return to functioning normally without the drug to give it instructions anymore.

Medical detox is the preferable option for this process because it is performed under the care of medical professionals who can administer medications to help the brain more quickly and easily return to functioning normally.  These medications help to reduce the pain and discomfort that withdrawal symptoms cause as well as to shorten the detox process overall in some cases.

Mental and emotional treatments are also important aspects of the addiction treatment process. These can include conventional therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy in group and individual sessions, as well as Moral Reconation Therapy, and family therapy. Alternative therapies like equine therapy, chiropractic care, yoga and meditation, and art therapy can also be used to help a person with the mental/emotional reasons that a person began abusing drugs and alcohol in the first place.

These treatments are designed to not only help a person identify their own personal triggers and reasons for turning to substance abuse, but also to develop ways to better deal with them. They can learn what situations to avoid, how to handle stress in healthier ways, use hobbies and other activities as coping mechanisms, and to develop a specific plan or strategy for worst case scenarios in addition to common ones.

Get the drug addiction and rehab information that you need from Staten Island Drug Treatment Centers. Just call one of our recovery advocates today at (929) 575-5202.