How Does an Addiction Center Make Withdrawal Easier?

Withdrawal can be one of the most uncomfortable parts of recovery. After all, withdrawal symptoms are a physical and mental manifestation of your body telling you to use drugs or alcohol again after you have abruptly stopped use. Unfortunately, using substances again while trying to detox is a relapse. To recover from substance use disorder (SUD), people need to get through withdrawal symptoms and complete their detox.

Why Does Detox Involve Withdrawal Symptoms?

When you take drugs or alcohol for an extended period, your brain will try to maintain homeostasis to ensure you are not receiving more chemicals than your body needs to function. Prolonged use of substances will eventually rewire your neurotransmitters as your brain believes it will get dopamine, serotonin, and other vital chemicals from outside substances. When you abruptly stop using a substance that provides those chemicals, your body will experience withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal symptoms can range from physical to mental effects, with anxiety, nausea, and insomnia as nearly universal symptoms of withdrawal. However, depending on your addiction, you may not experience many or any withdrawal symptoms. If your addiction is severe, withdrawal may become unbearable or even life-threatening.

The best way to ensure that you receive the care you need through detox is to go through it at a qualified detox center. Detoxing at an addiction center can provide the following six benefits.

#1 Addiction Centers Make Detox Safer

Unfortunately, most people do not realize how dangerous detoxing from drugs can be. Depending on the severity of your addiction and which substance you are addicted to, withdrawal symptoms can be severe and life-threatening. For example, people going through alcohol withdrawal may be at risk for severe withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, hallucinations, and suicidal ideations.

When withdrawal symptoms become this severe, it is necessary to have medical supervision. At an addiction center, you will have a care team that will be able to address severe symptoms to ensure that complications do not occur. By using a detox center rather than going cold turkey at home, you may be saving your own life.

#2 Addiction Centers Make Detox More Comfortable

Withdrawal is rarely ever comfortable. With shaking, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and intense cravings as common withdrawal symptoms, many people choose to use them again. This leads to them staying addicted because they could not handle the withdrawal symptoms on their own.

Fortunately, at addiction centers, care team members will have access to medications that can help ease the withdrawal symptoms of certain addictions and make detox more bearable. This can decrease your chances of relapsing and prevent you from going through unnecessary pain during your recovery journey.

#3 Addiction Centers Reduce Your Chance of Caving to Cravings

Depending on your addiction, there may even be medication available that your care team can provide to lessen your cravings. However, if drugs are unavailable, being in an inpatient addiction center can prevent you from giving in to your wishes. In an inpatient detox facility, you will be monitored 24/7 and placed in an environment completely free of drugs and alcohol while surrounded by medical professionals and peers who understand what you are going through. 

Without access to drugs and alcohol, having people surrounding you who support your recovery goals will help provide an environment where you can find ways to be distracted from your cravings.

#4 Addiction Centers Support Your Physical Health

During their detox period, people can experience delirium, hallucinations, intense pain, seizures, and other traumatizing symptoms. Even people who survive severe withdrawals without relapsing may be left with more mental and physical hardships from going through detox alone.

Since recovery involves improving your health overall, it is counterintuitive to invite more health problems by choosing to undergo an unsupervised detox.

#5 Addiction Centers Support Your Mental Health

Underlying traumas often lead people to seek solace in drugs and alcohol. It is not uncommon for an addiction to develop from the need to fill a void, feel good, or find another way to cope with life’s hardships. As such, it should be no surprise that many people who struggle with drug addiction struggle with one or more mental health disorders.

Most treatment centers are equipped to treat patients who have received a dual diagnosis. Finding the right treatment center will depend on understanding your diagnosis and researching facilities with a track record of successfully treating your substance use disorder (SUD) and other mental health condition.

#6 Addiction Centers Improve Your Chances of Long-Term Recovery

When detox and recovery are attempted without support, the underlying issues driving the addiction frequently go unaddressed. This leaves people unable to fully heal. Furthermore, they leave people without proper support from a supportive social group and the development of new coping mechanisms. When these underlying issues are not addressed, people who have detoxed from one substance often begin using others.

At an addiction center, people are taught sustainable habits that can help them cope with emotions, develop healthy relationships, and maintain recovery. Your mental health concerns will be addressed, you will be treated at your pace, and you will be surrounded by caring medical professionals. Remember: detox is only the first part of your recovery journey. You will still have to grow and rediscover yourself, and addiction centers are a perfect place to begin that process.

How Do I Find an Addiction Center That Is Right for Me?

Before choosing an addiction center, you can narrow your list of options by researching facilities with a proven track record of treating your specific addiction and treating you with the level of care you need.

Next, you can take stock of your values. For you to make a full recovery, it is crucial that you feel comfortable with the space you are in and your treatment team. If you wind up at a facility that does not align with your values, you may have difficulty trusting your care team, which can make detox and recovery more difficult.

Speaking to an admissions counselor can help identify if an addiction center is right for you. Admissions counselors will not only help you find a safe and comfortable place during treatment, but they will also help you determine if your insurance will cover treatment at their facility. They can assist you with financial aid and help you find ways to balance school, work, and any other responsibilities you may have while seeking treatment.

The Forge Recovery Center Will Get You Through Withdrawal Symptoms

We know how difficult withdrawal can be. For some, withdrawal symptoms can seem like an impossible roadblock in the way of recovery. That’s why The Forge Recovery Center partners with some of the best drug detox centers in the US.

Through these trusted partnerships, we’re able to provide our clients with comfortable, safe, and effective drug detox. When followed up with addiction treatment, there’s no better way to establish long-lasting recovery.

Don’t let fears of withdrawal stop you from getting the care you need. Contact The Forge Recovery Center today!

Written by

Brian Moore

Content Writer

Reviewed by

Jeremy Arzt

Chief Clinical Officer

October 20, 2022