Quitting Drugs Successfully at a Drug Detox Center

The vicious cycle of drug addiction can be broken! However, there are two myths that must be faced as myths before a person is ready to take the right steps for freedom from addiction.

• I am going to just cut down.

This myth sounds like a solid idea, but it never works. Psychologically, when a person has fallen prey to the daily habits of a drug addiction...you can not ease yourself back into a healthy and happy person. Physically, your body will not settle for less, in fact it will constantly need more and more of the drug. There is no happiness when the drug is in the system, but there is a satisfaction (that is not gratifying) that causes a painful emptiness in the absence of the drug.

Drug addiction is a physical and emotional dependency on a drug. If you think you can control it and gradually defeat addiction...you’re kidding yourself.

• I am just going to stop. Cold Turkey!

In contrast to cutting back, cold turkey is the way to do it. When you stop putting drugs into your system, eventually you will stop needing those drugs and you will be able to face daily living without repeatedly relapsing.

The key word is eventually.

When you stop putting drugs into your system, your body will fight this change. The withdrawal symptoms you experience only make it harder for you to "say no". When people try to ‘quit just like that’, it can take anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days before that person will just ‘give up’ and relapse. It’s not that person’s fault, that’s what drug addiction does to you.

When a person is ready to quit drugs, they need to get these two myths out of the way before realizing that their addiction is not something they have any control over. From there, a drug detox center can help that person achieve their goals and quit drugs.

Using the 'cold turkey' method, a person will stop using drugs. However, this will take place in a structured setting that simply won’t provide any opportunities for relapse. Furthermore, a full staff of medical professionals will be standing near by at all times to provide mild sedatives or other medication as needed.

While medication will not make detoxification an easy procedure to endure, they do help ease the pain. More importantly, depending on the severity of the addiction, properly prescribed medication could save your life!

In severe cases of drug addiction, withdrawal symptoms including high temperatures and black outs can be life threatening. This is another reason why a person should never attempt to quit drugs without seeking professional and experienced guidance at a drug detox center.

It’s not only more effective, it’s also much safer to begin your journey at a drug detox center.

Once you have completely eliminated all drug related toxins from your body and restored to a healthier physical being (a process that usually takes 3 to 10 days but could last up to several weeks) your journey is far from over.

A patient should immediately continue a drug addiction treatment program. In most cases, if a patient returns to the streets after detox without continuing treatment, relapse is almost always a given. There are aspects to addiction that can’t be fixed just be detoxification, but withdrawal from drugs should only be done in a detoxification center.