Trapped in Alcoholism in Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem was originally Winston and Salem respectively up until 1913 when the two cities were untied. Winston was more of an industrial center, while Salem was a city filled with arts, culture and religious undertones. Today, the city is a bustling town with more than 236,000 citizens.
As Winston-Salem was before being integrated, people who abuse substances are often torn between two or more personalities. There is the person who abuses the substances and the one who their loved ones know. The problem is that when someone abuses substances they can become someone else entirely. Alcohol abuse is at an all-time high in the United States. It is the most commonly abused substance, afflicting 17.6 million people or one in every 12 adults.
In addition, alcohol abuse is an epidemic without a cure. People who succumb to abuse are often predisposed to it due to their genetics. It’s just the hand that they were dealt. Genetic predisposition mixed with poor coping skills are the main ingredients in the cocktail of substance abuse. However, not everyone who abuses alcohol has a genetic predisposition. Rather, they could have poorly developed coping skills that alcohol makes worse over time.
Trying to Forget the Feelings: The Deceptive Snare of Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol abuse ravages not only the lives of people who use, but also of the loved ones who in some instances enable their use. The path towards abuse is often paved with good intention. People turn to alcohol because it feels good. And it does. It does at first. Alcohol is known to release certain chemicals that are responsible for feelings of euphoria. People chase alcohol because, like most people in the world, happiness is worth having.
Unfortunately, drinking alcohol for happiness is shooting yourself in the foot over time. Alcohol is a depressant that amplifies any preexisting melancholy residing in the head. Any past scars will be exposed and re-opened in the presence of alcohol. People think they are escaping through the bottle, but they are only adding fuel to the fire of anguish. They are deceiving themselves and stepping into a delusion.
Too many of the of people who develop a problem with alcoholism are hesitant to get help because they think they are fine. As they swallow poison, they wallow in the blurred reality alcohol induces, which distorts their idea of sanity. That’s why it’s important for friends and family to step in to help with abuse. The person abusing probably won’t seek out help on their own since they are convinced of their health as they continue masking pain.
Hold an Intervention, Save a Life
When someone submerges into the sinking sand of alcoholism it will take a team of people to get them out. People who abuse alcohol need help, they have become powerless under the weight of their dependency. It could be difficult to muster up the energy to help them. They most likely have burnt a lot of bridges as they chase the fire water, but it’s important to realize that that’s not who they are. As the saying goes “that’s the liquor talking” and in the case of your loved one, the liquor has stolen their voice. When you are intervening for someone, you are stepping in to save the person who they are, not who they have become through the use of alcohol.
If you are looking to help your loved one, you may not know where to turn. Intervention can be scary as they involve confronting someone who has become a master manipulator. Because of this, it is important to try to seek outside help through an interventionist. An interventionist is trained in psychology and crisis management. They will be able to help guide the intervention and they won’t be easily manipulated by your loved one. If you are looking to obtain an interventionist, A Better Today Recovery Services may be able to help you. ABT can give you the resources to get in touch with an intervention specialist.
When holding an intervention, the most important thing is to remember that the best motivators are not fear, but love. People will be galvanized to receive care when they realize the people in their life love them and want them to get better. Keep in mind that the first intervention may not be successful. They may refuse to get help. But, don’t lose faith, people change their minds and it’s never too late to reel someone in from the swamp of dependence.
If your loved one decides to get treatment, then you should encourage them to travel to our ABT facility. Traveling for treatment is a great way to remove the person from the place that birthed their dependence. And it is a great way to start over in a new place.
Paying for Treatment
While a lot of people don’t go to treatment because they don’t want to quit, an overwhelming number of people may not be able to afford treatment. Fortunately, most insurance companies have included drug and alcohol treatment in their plans since it is a public health issue. At ABT, we make sure that finances aren’t a barrier to acceptance in our program. We offer a bevy of financial options to help get you in treatment. Also, most insurance companies are able to cover most, if not all, the costs of rehab.
Detox and Withdrawals
After your loved one decides to get treatment at one of our facilities, the real work of treatment begins. The first step is going through detoxification. Detox will cleanse your body of alcohol. The difficult part of detox are the withdrawal symptoms associated with it. Your body goes into shock after it’s deprived of alcohol. Some of the withdrawal symptoms include shaking, insomnia and vomiting. In more severe cases the symptoms are hallucination and seizures. The seizures can be lethal.
Given that, at ABT we provide a medically supervised detox cycles. Before the person goes through detox, the ABT staff will conduct a medical examination to determine the treatment plan. We will then give the patient medications to subside the withdrawal symptoms. The length of detox depends on the person and their abuse history. After the patient completes detox, they will be ready for the therapeutic dimension of ABT.
Treatment at A Better Today
The thing that makes ABT unique is that it tailors treatment programs to meet people’s specific needs. There is no standard approach that is applied to every person who goes through treatment. We try and respect everyone’s unique journey through recovery. Another central tenet to ABT is creating environments that are healthy and non-judgmental. We accept everyone, regardless of race, religion, creed or sexual preference.
The two most prominent forms of treatment at ABT are group and individual therapy. Group therapy helps bring the patient in contact with people who are going through similar issues. When someone is fighting alcohol dependence, it is important to surround them with people who can relate and process the experience with them. Group therapy is also important because it helps the patient learn people skills that either deteriorated from dependence or didn’t exist in the first place.
In individual therapy, the patient will be paired with a licensed therapist. The therapist will be able to help the patient go through the various mental pathways of dependence that fuel abuse. The sessions will be grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy, which taps into the idea of healing by learning new, positive thought patterns. In individual therapy, the patient will also be able to vent to someone who is a professional about various people in treatment, in private.
Another component of treatment at ABT is the 12-step program. The program is designed to facilitate healing in a group setting, following a schema that begins with surrender and ends with acknowledgement of a higher power. At ABT we don’t push a particular higher power, but we do encourage people to participate in the 12 steps as they have proven an effective tool for dealing with dependence over the years.
When someone is finished with rehab, they can either go back to where they were previously living or enter a sober living facility. It is strongly suggested that the person go to a facility, because it’s easy to relapse when you are immediately thrown back into the environment where you developed the habit. ABT provides sober living facilities, so you can be sure that you’re staying with our company.
ABT offers alumni programs and is motivated to making sure that people who leave the program don’t leave the family. We are a loving community determined to get people whole. We are a program that can start helping you today.
You deserve it. Your loved one deserves it. We can help you see yourself and be whole again.
