Repairing the Physical Damage of Addiction Holistically

Woman thinking of future
Photo by FluxFactory/iStockphoto.com
 

Our facility provides a holistic approach to helping a person using drugs or alcohol since the physical damage of addiction has several variables to address. A holistic approach to this can address both the physical and the mental aspects.

Oxford dictionary defines holistic as, “characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.” (Philosophy definition) and “characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.” (Medical definition)

Therefore, a comprehensive approach that addresses all aspects of addiction is a more effective approach. Locating and addressing the biological, social, environmental, and mental health in a person’s life that resulted in substance use has a profound effect on their achieving and maintaining long-term sobriety.

Physical Aspect:

Some addicts have the mentality (largely a created mentality) that they need some outside stimulus, such as a pill or other medication to get through the withdrawal period and detox. While there are drugs that may cause seizures and or death from withdrawing, not all drugs are that way. I too was one who thought I had to have a medication to get through withdrawals but have found this is not the case. I have personally experienced and witnessed others successfully get through opioid and cocaine withdrawal without anything but vitamins and supplements, nutrition, hydration, and one-on-one care.

Health practitioners are continually developing new ways to help “wean” addicts off their drugs of choice. This offers limited to no success since users tend to use their maintenance medication as a buffer until they get their next drug. There is a need for medication to use for withdrawals if there are safety risks involved, as in the case of benzodiazepine, fentanyl, and or alcohol detox. However, this is only for a short time and depends on the extent of consumption.

Narconon Withdrawal

Another way to ease the withdrawal symptoms is to actively bring the person’s attention outward with a simple activity or process. These processes have great success as they take the addict’s attention off themselves and onto their current surroundings. This provides quite a bit of relief. Since many bad experiences have happened throughout their drug use and throughout life, many repressed emotions and feelings come to the surface as they sober up. To aid the process, they are monitored throughout by trained and caring withdrawal specialists who help them to remain in the present and not focus on their past.

Replenishing vitamins and minerals help more than one might think. Over the years or months of using, the body loses nutrients it needs to remain healthy and function properly. While in active addiction, one might not feel like anything is missing. This is due to the large amounts of dopamine and serotonin released into the body from using drugs, which masks the lack of nutrition. By replenishing the lost nutrients, the person has a smoother and easier withdrawal and convalescence period.

Drinking plenty of water will prevent dehydration during drug detox. Staying hydrated is also important since the body and liver expel toxins in the urine. Water consumption helps with dizziness, cramps, headache, dry mouth, and restlessness and eases withdrawal symptoms.

People going into sauna

A sauna detoxification in a dry heat sauna helps to speed up the detoxification process as the body releases stored toxins and drug residues. This process may cause the person to re-experience the feelings and effects they had when they were using drugs or alcohol and may trigger cravings. This entire process is monitored in a controlled environment. Some of the primary causes of relapse can be attributed to triggers and cravings. The unique New Life Detoxification process, the supervision and one-on-one care of our trained staff are a few of the key factors to the success of the program.

This above physical approach has definite and practical outcomes for long term sobriety. 

AUTHOR

Aaron

Aaron has been writing drug education articles and documenting the success of the Narconon program for over two years.

NARCONON NEW LIFE RETREAT

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION