Admitting to others that you are living with a drug or alcohol dependency is never easy. However, there is pressure that once to tell them what is going on and that everything has to change.
You might be afraid of how they react and how it may change your relationship with them. But more often than not, when you tell a loved one that you are struggling and you want to find help for your problem, they will support you.
By finding a drug and alcohol rehab centre in the Willesden area, you are able to begin to put things in place to show your friends and family that you are serious about changing your life. That you are ready to say goodbye to drugs and alcohol, but you will need a little professional help.
It won’t be easy telling your loved ones you are struggling with substance abuse, but it will ultimately help you. The journey to long-term recovery is a long and difficult one. The more people you have by your side supporting you, the better.
People do often struggle with telling others about their drug or alcohol dependency, but that is not the first step that most people find difficult. In order to tell your family and friends that you need help, you first need to admit that to yourself.
Many people will carry on living with a drug or alcohol dependency so that they don’t have to admit to themselves that their substance abuse has gotten out of control. It is easy to rationalise away any problem if you try hard enough. But, unfortunately, people do this with a drug or alcohol dependency in a few different ways.
They say they just have a high tolerance, and the large amounts of drug or alcohol they use don’t really have an effect on them, so it’s OK. They say they only use socially and don’t try to hide when they use drugs or drink alcohol, so it is fine.
They say they grew up around substance abuse, and it is normal to them, so it is fine. They say they are fine, so they don’t need the help of a drug or alcohol rehab centre in the Willesden area.
Just saying you are fine to brush off any concerns you or others may have is so easy it has become second nature for many people. But, actually, being honest with yourself about what you are feeling and living through can feel impossible.
Especially when by admitting you need help requires having a very serious conversation with yourself that will have a huge impact on your life. We know this is scary, but those excuses to prove you are fine are hollow, and you deserve to be better than fine.
You shouldn’t live your life with just being fine. You deserve the better quality of life that can be achieved through sobriety after a stay at a drug and alcohol rehab centre in the Willesden area.
Why a high tolerance is a sign of drug or alcohol dependency
Many people use the excuse of high tolerance to excuse their substance abuse. They believe that just because it takes more drugs or alcohol to affect them, they must be OK to use as much as they want.
Unfortunately, the human body is not as simple as that.
A high tolerance is often the result of your body getting used to the drug or alcohol levels in your system. When you first start abusing substances, you cause a rush of dopamine in your brain. As dopamine is the feel-good chemical, your brain craves what created the rush.
However, over time your brain gets used to the elevated levels of dopamine and begins to treat it as the base. As a result, you start to need to abuse substances to sustain the dopamine levels and prevent your brain from panicking.
You will also need more and more drugs or alcohol over time just to achieve the same rush you first experienced.
The high tolerance is your brain’s chemistry being changed. It begins to believe it doesn’t make enough dopamine on its own and that it needs drugs or alcohol to do it for it.
This causes the cravings that those with a high tolerance may experience even after a night of abusing substances. When these cravings are ignored, your brain begins to panic and causes your body to experience something called withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms can be very dangerous if experienced alone. They can range from headaches, nausea and muscle pain to vomiting, hallucinations, and seizures.
They are the biggest reason why you should never attempt to work towards long-term recovery on your own. The recovery journey is not as simple as stopping use. It requires the specialised care found in a drug and alcohol rehab centre to be done safely.
In a drug and alcohol rehab centre, you will work through the withdrawal symptoms in a safe process known as the detox. During this, you will be monitored 24 hours a day by a team of fully trained medical professionals.
This team of medical professionals can keep you as safe and as comfortable as possible and even provide medication to relieve the withdrawal symptoms if they prove too much for you to handle.
The danger of social substance abuse
If you try to rationalise your drug or alcohol dependency by using a schedule of social interaction, it is still a dependency. Many people feel pressured to partake in excessive substance abuse when there are others around them also doing it.
This is especially a problem with alcohol.
The UK has a very big drinking culture to the point where it is considered normal to go straight to the pub once you have finished a day’s work. Then once you are out, what may have started with a couple of drinks turned into something more.
Something that is encouraged to happen again and again every time you go out.
Just because substance abuse is done around people, it doesn’t mean that it is safe. It, in fact, creates a mob mentality of invulnerability. The belief is that because you are surrounded by others doing the exact same thing you are you must be safe to do it.
Peer pressure doesn’t just disappear once you leave school. It just changes forms and becomes more of a social convention than people just telling you to join in. A drug and alcohol rehab centre in the Willesden area can offer you time away from this environment.
It lets you take some time to be without temptation so you can focus on why you abuse substances and how you can replace them with a healthier coping mechanism.
We understand you may feel worried that you may lose friends because you no longer wish to indulge in drugs or alcohol with them. But your real friends will understand this isn’t about you not wanting to hang out with them.
This is about you getting healthy and needing their support so you can live a sober life without temptation from drugs or alcohol.
Growing up around substance abuse
Many people who live with a drug or alcohol dependency start young. This is much easier done if substance abuse is frequent in your household.
You would have access to drugs and alcohol in ways most people wouldn’t have.
The danger is that by growing up around substance abuse, it becomes normalised to the point where you may not be able to recognise when your bad habit may become a full-blown dependency.
There is also a genetic component. If you have a family history of drug or alcohol dependencies, you are more susceptible to developing one yourself.
How we can help
We are OK Rehab, and we have years of experience matching people who need help with their perfect rehab centre.
We do this by asking you to call 0800 326 5559 and complete our free initial assessment.
We then are able to use this to refer you to a local drug and alcohol rehab centre that has the facilities and staff to cater for your specific needs. We are here to help and support you during this difficult time.
We hope to hear from you soon so we can get you the help you deserve.
Good luck.
