Why Do People Want to Get Clean and Sober?
A: Much has been said about the downside of drug and alcohol use when they no longer provide pleasure or relieve discomfort. People go to varying lengths of despair and degradation before it occurs to them that it’s time to clean up. The pain, boredom and shame encountered from an addiction needs to be accompanied by hope that becoming clean and sober will improve life. With this direction toward something better, addicts and alcoholics have nowhere to turn.
Q: Giving up your primary method of accessing pleasure, avoiding discomfort and pain, and coping with life’s difficulties must be terrifying. What helps people overcome that fear?
A: When someone who has been through addiction and alcoholism, who is now in recovery shares their personal story, it provides a real-life example for someone caught in the downward spiral of addiction. Addiction treatment programs often employ people who have been there who now have experience, strength and hope to give to those in need.
Q: Does drug treatment promise sobriety and recovery?
A: No. Recovery requires willingness and some level of commitment. Changing levels of “readiness” and motivation are typical of people with drug and alcohol problems. It is easier to avoid and deny than to make real change, especially when you have practiced the same solution year after year, even when it no longer works.
Quitting is easy. Staying quit requires a program of recovery.
Q: What can drug treatment provide toward gaining recovery?
A: Mutual support groups offer an essential route to recovery, which includes social support, recovery practices, and a sense of purpose and direction. Participants must be willing and motivated to attend since no one is going to call if you don’t show up.
Recovery from addiction and alcoholism is a life-long process that is taken one day at a time.
Q: Why can’t alcoholics and addicts choose to use less and simply moderate their drinking and drug use?
A: When the brain has been changed by the overuse of drugs and alcohol, there comes a point where the capacity for choice is lost. A single drink or drug creates such craving for the next, moderating use is impossible. Neuropsychologists and brain researchers have discovered the physiology explaining how compulsion to use overrides decision-making and personal control.
Q: Other than stopping the negative consequences of addiction and alcoholism, what benefits do recovery bring?
A: A new life begins with the initiation of sobriety. Though difficult, recovery brings back the capacity to choose, the capacity to change and the capacity to take actions which will result in longer term rewards.
Postponing gratification is difficult during addiction.
Recovery brings back a sense of color and variation, where addiction becomes somewhat black and white.
Recovery restores priorities for connecting with people, participating in enjoyable activities, and for gaining self-esteem by practicing estimable acts.
Twin Town Treatment Centers is immediately accessible to all Los Angeles and Orange County residents, is accredited by The Joint Commission, and is certified by the California DHCS. All network HMO/PPO/EPO insurance plans and Medi-Cal contract with Twin Town Treatment Centers to provide drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Our phone is answered by real people. We can see people on the same day you call. (866) 594-8844
