Recovery signals a dramatic shift in the expectation for positive outcomes for individuals who experience mental and substance use conditions or the co-occurring of the two. Some of the more dangerous addictive behaviors often occur in the middle family support in addiction recovery of the night. People with addictions can meet dealers, overdose, stumble home from parties or get into other situations that family members have to deal with. It’s no surprise, then, that some families in the recovery process struggle with sleep.
However, in the final analysis, it may be up to them to begin the process of recovery. She highlights how an end to substance use behaviors is just the beginning, and many other challenges can be experienced by family members during the first years of sobriety. When people are struggling with addiction, their families are often the first to suffer. The impact of addiction can cause rifts, communication breakdowns, and financial instability. You can’t control your family member’s life, but you may have leverage to keep them in treatment.
As recovery moves forward, hidden and latent issues that fostered drinking or were created by the trauma of the drinking environment may need individual attention. A mental health professional might have a multitude of functions in the beginning stage of transition. The transition stage can be a complex ebb and flow during which the person using alcohol adapts to not drinking, and the family adjusts to the transition of living through the end of the drinking into the beginning of abstinence.
It gets in the way of recovery, self-acceptance, and accessing help when needed. Cravings are the intense desire for alcohol or drugs given formidable force by neural circuitry honed over time into single-minded pursuit of the outsize neurochemical reward such substances deliver. Cravings vary in duration and intensity, and they are typically triggered by people, places, paraphernalia, and passing thoughts in some way related to previous drug use. But cravings don’t last forever, and they tend to lessen in intensity over time.
Even after you’ve completed initial treatment, ongoing treatment and support can help prevent a relapse. Follow-up care can include periodic appointments with your counselor, continuing in a self-help program or attending a regular group session. Many, though not all, self-help support groups use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, help people who are addicted to drugs. Overall, gather as much information as you can about the program or provider before making a decision on treatment.
