Every time we hear the word “addiction,” the first things that immediately come to mind are drugs addiction and alcohol abuse. Addiction, however, means much more than drugs and alcohol. Strictly speaking, addiction is the usual compulsion to use a substance or participate in an activity without much consideration for its harmful effects on the health, social, financial, and mental well being of a person.

Origins of the Term

The word addict comes from the Latin “addictus,” which means “adjudged” or “inherited.” After a war, the Romans held an “auction,” where they gave slaves to soldiers who fought well. Those slaves were known as “addictus.” Thus, we understand that an “addict” is a “slave” of drugs. Most people ignore addiction as they consider it just a bad habit, which is not true. In reality, addiction is a disease and an addict can get rid of it by undergoing proper addiction treatment at a rehab center.

Why is it necessary to get addiction treatment?

Since addiction is a disease, an addicted person cannot recover on his own. To get rehabilitated, he needs the help of professionals who specialize in the field. The rehab process can be carried out via hospitalization, called in-patient addiction treatment, or without the need for the recovering patient to be hospitalized, called out-patient addiction treatment.

Types of Addiction

Addictions can be of several types, i.e., psychotropic substances such as nicotine and cocaine or manifestation of specific behaviors like gambling, video games, etc. The feeling of pleasure produced by the consumption of some substances is caused by biochemical transformations in the brain in such a way that the absence of consumption causes the opposite effect, that is, discomfort generated by the lack of chemicals that relieve tension. This pleasure reduces as time goes by and this progressive numbing is called tolerance.

An addict can be dependent, either emotionally or physically, depending on the drugs used. His intense desires lead him to get the drug by any means. Satisfying the desire becomes the highest priority of the addict, even at the cost of losing everything that was once important such as employment, home, friends, and family. The addiction treatments in rehab centers consist of a series of interventions to help the addict, structured in such a way that they are useful to promote and support the recovery of the affected person toward a better quality of life.

Individualized Addiction Treatment

Since every person is unique with different life situations and needs, each addiction treatment is individualized in a way that best suits the contextual characteristics of each person. Finding the right addiction rehab for the person to be treated is a key factor in the successful outcome. The initial consultation, evaluation, diagnosis, intervention and treatment themselves are part of a process that is not fractured in stages but is part of a continuum of care. Understanding this reality is important to make the relevant decisions at every moment of the addiction treatment process.

Mythomania

An addict falls victim to mythomania, that is, an abnormal or pathological tendency to exaggerate or tell lies. Addicts tend to lie on a regular basis. Since they are interested in keeping their evil deeds hidden, they invent many excuses to hide them. However, the truth sooner or later appears!

This tendency adds to the issues and upsets their lives as well as of others. Also, family and friends lose their confidence in addicts. In fact, this is an additional problem and causes collateral damage that must be resolved. For example, it complicates psychological help because the addict also lies to his therapists and doctors.

The addicts somehow are aware that they perform improper actions. For example, an alcoholic tends to hide bottles. He repeatedly lies when asked what he has been doing. Likewise, a ludopath deceives his family and acquaintances and never confesses that he has spent his money on bets and invents many excuses.

It is worse in the case of drug use. Drug addicts consume prohibited substances and constantly lie to avoid justice. They know that they are breaking the laws. When making false testimonies, it complicates their situation since they commit perjury before the authorities. All this shows that the mania of lying is another shadow over the world of addictions and their problems.

From a psychological point of view, everything gets worse when addicts believe their own lies. For example, there are ludopaths who really believe they have been working, but in reality, they spent so much time in a casino. Sex addicts often invent a fictional partner and fall into the problem of masturbation. Drug addicts come to believe that those who sell banned substances are their friends. This is how the world of lies disrupts reality. Gradually, they distance themselves from reality and invent a part life, different from what they have. The mythomania of addictions is dangerous. Therefore, professional help is needed to eliminate it.

How do people reach addiction rehab centers?

There are different ways by which people go to rehab centers. In general, the person concurs for himself to ask for help, almost always with the already advanced addiction, another possibility is that a family member or friend takes him and the other is that he be sent by the court for his rehabilitation. Whatever reason has convinced you to go for addiction treatment, Therapy Works is at your service.

At Therapy Works, we believe that every person is endowed with capabilities and potential in himself, immersed in a micro and macro social context. Therefore, we consider biological, psychological, and social conditions and patients’ active participation. Due to the diversity of problems and the bio psycho social commitment, it requires an interdisciplinary and comprehensive addiction treatment approach, where the participation of a variety of synergistic disciplines comes together. Each grants the corresponding spaces toward the approach to the complexity of the addictive problem in favor of the service and recovery of the patient.

At Therapy Works, we understand the integral, coordinated, and directed attention to the social incorporation of the patient to access and enjoy the basic social rights. In response to this need for comprehensive care, the treatment that can affect therapeutic, family, and social contexts are employed through a dynamic and multidimensional process. It is all articulated in a flexible and personalized way to offer help to the patients in the development of personal and social competencies that they need to be located in the various social sectors of their environment.

The integrative model allows our experts to look for strategies that allow the addiction treatment to be approached from the environment, the biological, the cognitive, the effective, and unconscious aspects. All of it is necessary to intervene in the process of change to enable rehabilitation.

Family’s Role

The family is part of the primary context in which the patient develops and socializes, and in this area, we can visualize dynamics that are mostly dysfunctional. In this sense, the role of the family is significant in the rehab process and the social integration of the patient. Family is the area in which the patient grows his personality and values and also gets emotional support. Considering its relevance, we can say that interaction with family members can aggravate or perpetuate the problem or help solve it.

Also, we generate in the user a new way of reintegrating into the social environment, enhancing the ability to generate links and actively participate in the social support network. Our integrative psychotherapy helps the patient to achieve a greater degree of knowledge and management of his personality, which constitutes a factor of future protection.

Recovery Time

It should be noted that each patient has their own recovery time. Another important step is the general reintegration of the patient. From the rehab center, the person is placed in some activity so that the return to society is not traumatic. At Therapy Works, we also request family or friends to form a network of people who do not have problems with addictions and can help the patient forget their addiction.