Discover Alcohol and Drug Rehab in Norfolk
Drugs and alcohol may give you some temporary relief from loneliness and other painful feelings but in the end, addiction only makes our problems worse. Thankfully there is help available. Multiple alcohol and drug rehab clinics in Norfolk will help you and your family recover from the harmful consequences of addiction.
Why Go to Rehab?
Sometimes people end up getting into addiction in an attempt to cope with difficult emotions but self-medicating with drugs and alcohol only exacerbates our problems in the end.
Using drugs or drink, or any addictive behaviour may help you feel better initially. This is because:
- alcohol and/or drugs and/or any addictive behaviour masks negative emotions, so they never have to be fully experienced and processed
- drugs and alcohol activate the brain’s reward centres, so the abuser will enjoy temporary pleasure
Neither of these means of coping is “real”, so emotional recovery never actually happens whilst you are still using. Sometimes people think that once they put their drug or drink of choice down that their life will be one long preoccupation with using. Your life after rehab will not be a constant fight against relapse, instead, you will have developed tools and ways of being that will allow you to flourish and enjoy life without the use of drugs and alcohol, emotional recovery is possible.
Rehab and the Illness of Addiction
Addiction is a progressive illness that requires the correct treatment in much the same way as any illness needs treatment. Experts agree that a tailored, research-based, residential rehab programme is the most effective way to achieve and maintain long-term recovery from addiction.
Most residential rehab programmes will require a 90-day stay, this should give you enough time to really take in all they have to teach you and to develop healthy and effective coping mechanisms. The programmes in the Norfolk area will enable you to get sober, happy, and to build a life that you love.
One of the most powerful things about recovering in a residential rehab setting is using your experience of addiction to help one another. In therapeutic communities, you will both help others, and be helped by your peers in the programme.
The Norfolk area rehabs aim to create a loving, nonjudgmental space, in which you can heal from the past, recover from your addiction, and flourish in sobriety.
What Is Detox Like in Norfolk?
Detoxing alone and without proper medical care can be both dangerous and extremely uncomfortable. The symptoms of withdrawal are often very difficult to bear, they may include:
- aching joints
- tremors
- sweating
- aching joints
- visual/auditory disturbances
- mood instability- irritability, depression and anxiety,
- difficulty sleeping, and
- Intense preoccupation with drugs/drink.
Because of these horrible and distressing symptoms, attempting to stop abruptly, and without medication, can be both painful and dangerous. If you chose to attend rehab you will be very well supported through this process.
On the first day of your admission to rehab, the doctor will prescribe you a medical detox, tailored to your substance of choice and using pattern. This will help you get through this initial step safely and with as little discomfort as possible.
You will be supported by the counsellors and the support staff throughout, there will be staff on site 24 hours a day. You will benefit from being around peers in the programme who have experienced detox and who know what you are going through.
After detox, you will go on to your therapeutic programme. This will be a blend of individual therapy and group therapy, alongside a holistic programme. This will help you look at the thinking and behaviour which got you into addiction and how you can prevent relapse in the future.
Rehabilitation Programmes for Addiction
The rehabs in the Norfolk area often employ an integrative approach – blending group and individual counselling, with the 12 Steps and other holistic therapies. You will work with the expert therapists to create a programme tailored to your needs and goals.
As a resident with us at our Norfolk rehab you will learn and develop new and effective ways of thinking and behaving that will stand you in good stead for long-term sobriety, fulfilling relationships, and a happy life. The programme will offer you access too many different therapeutic interventions including:
- 12 Step work
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
- Group therapy
- One-to-one therapy
- Regular sessions with a key worker
- Skills workshops
- Art therapy
- Holistic treatments
- Relapse prevention
- Aftercare groups
- Group activities
- Gender Groups
- Health and fitness groups
- Family groups
- An introduction to external support groups in Norfolk
All these interventions are designed to give you the best shot at long-term sobriety
Will treatment be the same for men and women?
One outdated stereotype is that addicts and alcoholics are all men. In fact, far more men than women did access rehab, but that does not hold true today. Now women are one of the fastest growing addicted populations. Studies show that women experience an accelerated progression from the initiation of substance use to the onset of dependency. There may be gender-specific consequences related to a life of addiction, rehab will help you deal with these issues as they come up.
What Is Trauma Therapy?
The relationship between trauma and addiction is complicated and closely related. Often the negative consequences of one disorder can worsen the problems of the other.
What is trauma?
In psychological terms, trauma is a response to a situation or an event that a person simply cannot easily cope with. If you have suffered trauma you may experience many difficult emotional responses like helplessness, confusion, a sense of powerlessness, and profound fear.
Most of the time these emotional responses are temporary and in direct relation to events happening in the here and now but if you suffered a sufficiently traumatic event you may experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What Causes Trauma?
PTSD is a very personal experience. It can be a response to a single occurrence, or it can be developed over time because of a chronic or systematic situation. Some of the causes of trauma might include:
- war
- child abuse/ neglect
- domestic or other violence
- bullying
- accidents
- natural disasters
- domestic assault
- extreme deprivation
- sexual violence
Trauma exposure and substance misuse
Exposure to trauma is much higher than you might imagine. Substance use may a response to trauma and equally the lifestyle that goes with addiction is often a traumatic one.
Almost 75 percent of those who receive treatment for substance abuse have a history of exposure to trauma. Those who have suffered assault or sexual abuse are three times as likely to abuse drugs and/or alcohol. If you have suffered trauma in your life you may have turned to mind-altering chemicals in an attempt to regulate your feelings…this is sometimes known as self-medicating.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can also make it harder for an individual to stop drinking or using drugs because any reminders of the trauma can trigger cravings. The Norfolk drug and alcohol rehabs are very much used to people coming to treatment with coexisting disorders, like PTSD and depression, they will seek to address these issues as part of your recovery programme.
