How Do I Stop Using Drugs?
Many people choose a combination of methods to help them stop using drugs, including slowly tapering off and seeking professional help. Treatment methods may include inpatient or outpatient options, such as detoxification, medication assisted treatment, and counseling.
Preparing To Stop Using Drugs
Preparing to stop using drugs first involves acknowledging there is a problem and making specific plans to stop. Plans often include receiving counseling, attending a support group, or entering a treatment program. People can get help making this decision by requesting an assessment from a healthcare professional.
Ways To Reduce Or Quit Drug Use
Safety must be a priority when quitting drugs, so there are a few things to consider.
Avoid Quitting Cold Turkey In Severe Cases
Quitting cold turkey means abruptly stopping drug use without the help of medications, therapy, or other treatments. Depending on the severity of a substance use disorder (SUD), quitting cold turkey can cause adverse or fatal effects if the body has become dependent on the substance.
Find A Support System
It’s important to acknowledge that the process of quitting drugs can be mentally and physically taxing. Therefore, it’s helpful to establish a core support system for encouragement and accountability when things get tough.
Seek Professional Help
Trying to quit on your own can be challenging and dangerous. Seek help from licensed professionals who can offer both medical and therapeutic support.
Why Quit Drugs?
Anyone considering whether they should stop using drugs is likely experiencing the negative consequences that occur due to drug misuse. Having a SUD can lead to the following:
These are just a few examples of the consequences of drug misuse. Quitting drugs has many benefits and leads to a better life. Recovery helps people enjoy the following:
- Healthy relationships
- Time to spend with loved ones
- Money to save and spend on necessities
- Positive changes in mental and physical health
- Improvements in sleep
- Opportunities to pursue academic or professional goals
- Emotional regulation
- Freedom from the control of substances
Quitting drugs helps people achieve their personal, career, and social goals, leading to a happier, more-fulfilling life.
What Quitting Drugs Feels Like
Quitting drugs may feel like an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes, a person feels great and excited to be getting sober. Other times, the cravings are more noticeable, producing feelings of doubt. Expect to experience a wide range of emotions, such as anxiousness, depression, happiness, pride, exhaustion, and more. It is crucial to learn effective coping skills to manage these varying emotions.
Many people misusing drugs also experience physical withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit drugs. Withdrawal symptoms can start a few hours or days after the last drug use and may include one or more of the following:
Withdrawal symptoms may intensify in the days after the last use, leading a person to experience hallucinations, fever, high blood pressure, confusion, and seizures. Someone may feel as if they are battling their brain, which is trying to convince them to relapse. It’s important to learn how to overcome the urges and temptations by utilizing the help of relapse prevention programs.
Explore Your Addiction Treatment Options
Treatment providers can help you explore the various treatment options available. Have a free, confidential conversation with one today.
Detoxification
Detoxification programs are helpful when quitting drugs because you are kept comfortable while the drug leaves your system. Doctors can prescribe medications that ease painful withdrawal symptoms, allowing you to have a clear mind to focus on learning recovery skills.
Inpatient and outpatient detox programs exist, with inpatient reserved for those who need medical supervision until withdrawal symptoms subside. Inpatient detox offers around-the-clock clinical supervision, as alcohol and benzodiazepine misuse can lead to dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
Not everyone will need inpatient detox. For example, those who misuse stimulants like cocaine but have a supportive home environment can benefit from outpatient programs, including medication assisted treatment. Someone smoking marijuana will not need medication to help ease withdrawal symptoms and can likely benefit from outpatient counseling.
Behavioral Counseling
Inpatient and outpatient programs offer behavioral therapies to teach a person the necessary skills to maintain recovery. Behavioral therapies are effective, evidence-based methods that include the following:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical-behavioral therapy
- Contingency management
- Motivational enhancement therapy
- Family therapy
- 12-step facilitation
Someone trying to quit drugs can benefit from behavioral counseling, no matter how severe their addiction. Alternative or holistic therapies, such as mindfulness-based practices, often supplement behavioral counseling. Each treatment professional may offer different alternative therapies, which you should consider when seeking help.
Medications
Medication-assisted treatment refers to a program in which a doctor prescribes medicines to ease withdrawal symptoms. They help curb cravings and urges to relapse. Currently, medications are only approved for opioid and alcohol use disorders. Medications to treat opioid use disorders include the following:
- Methadone
- Buprenorphine
- Naltrexone
- Lofexidine
Medications used in the treatment of alcohol use disorder include:
Outpatient and inpatient programs are available for medication-assisted detox.
Rehabilitation
Inpatient and residential rehab are programs that require someone to live at the treatment center. While there, they receive medication, individual and group therapies, peer support, and life skills training to prevent relapse.
A person choosing inpatient rehab understands they need to be away from their triggers and the stressors of their current life. They recognize that living in their home environment will likely lead to them continuing to misuse drugs. In addition, their withdrawal symptoms could lead to physical and psychological issues that are life-threatening.
Residential rehab participants do not need extensive medical supervision but realize they are not ready to return to their home environment. Someone in residential rehab no longer has severe withdrawal symptoms and can manage by meeting with medical staff once a day or a few times a week.
Treatment providers work with many insurances, including:
Check if my insurance covers rehab
Addiction Center is not affiliated with any insurance.
Types Of Drug Treatment Programs
Someone wondering how to stop using drugs may be interested in the various types of drug treatment programs, which range from intensive inpatient to outpatient therapy. Once they enter a treatment program, they are in the maintenance stage of change. They are actively engaging in their recovery.
Intensive Inpatient Treatment
Intensive inpatient treatment is a program in which a person stays in a hospital-like setting and is supervised around the clock by clinical staff trained to attend to participants’ physical and mental health needs. Participants have access to medications to help ease withdrawal symptoms, individual and group therapies, family therapy, and 12-step facilitation groups. Many programs also offer alternative therapies.
Residential Treatment
Someone in residential treatment lives in a residence run by a treatment facility, but it is not a hospital-like setting. Participants attend individual and group therapies, peer support groups, and other treatments at night. They spend their nights at the facility’s residence, which may or may not have a supervisor. Although it is not a hospital, there are strict rules to follow to stay in the program.
Day Treatment/Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
A PHP is an intensive outpatient program where participants attend treatment services for at least 20 hours weekly. Services include individual and group therapies, peer support, and family therapy. People learn early recovery and relapse prevention skills necessary to maintain sobriety long term.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
IOP is less restrictive than a PHP, requiring at least 9 hours of weekly participation in individual, group, and family therapy. IOP is usually part of a step-down process from PHP and is followed by weekly individual counseling. IOP is a continuation of learning relapse prevention skills for long-term recovery.
Therapy
Individual therapy consists of meeting weekly in one-on-one sessions with a licensed therapist. Some people start their recovery journey by meeting with a therapist for an assessment and to discuss treatment options. Others end their recovery journey with a therapist after graduating from inpatient or outpatient programs.
Understanding Triggers
When you stop using drugs, it’s helpful to be aware of any potential triggers that could cause cravings for a substance. Many times, the craving is so intense that it leads a person to relapse.
Triggers are unique to each person’s situation but may include common risk factors, such as:
- Negative emotional state
- Relationship problems with family or friends
- Employment issues
- Sleep disturbances
- Peer pressure
- Living in an unhealthy environment
- Untreated co-occurring disorders
- Untreated physical ailments
The higher the number of risk factors a person has, the more likely they will relapse. Knowing their triggers and preparing in advance for coping with them will increase their ability to avoid relapse.
What If I Relapse?
Being worried about relapsing is extremely common for someone working to overcome a SUD. For many, relapse is part of the recovery process. Relapse does not mean a person has failed at treatment or that they can never maintain recovery. Just the opposite is true.
When a relapse occurs, accept it and immediately get back into treatment. Relapsing can be turned into a temporary problem by reentering treatment and continuing to practice recovery skills.
Common Questions About Rehab
Ready To Stop Using Drugs?
It doesn’t matter if you have recently started misusing drugs or if you have been addicted for years; you can recover. Inpatient and outpatient treatments are available to you.
Call a treatment provider today, risk-free, to explore your rehab options and take the first step toward recovery.