By the time I started my journey to sobriety, I was a full-blown opiate addict. It had affected every aspect of my life and was in the process of destroying my mind and body. I used to be all about physical fitness, but after a while I was a shell of my former self. Treatment in Arizona, or anywhere else for that matter, was the furthest thing from my mind.
Opiates made me emaciated and gave me a sickly complexion. I smoked pills and cigarettes and as a result, my teeth were rotting out of my head. I had the classic look of a longtime addict. When I finally did begin to think about recovery, I was surprised at the many different options my state had to offer.
There are so many treatment centers in Arizona that I had no idea existed. Arizona is full of addiction recovery centers, detox centers, and mental health facilities. It’s one of the best states in the country for getting sober.
I was pretty scared to go to detox. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never tried to get clean before, and anytime I had to deal with withdrawal it was a nightmare. Every part of your body feels it.
Aches, cold sweats, nausea, diarrhea, not to mention the psychological pain that you go through. When you get clean you have to face all of the demons that got you to this point. More often than not, people who are addicted to drugs have a traumatic past.
All of us addicts can all agree that substance abuse is the perfect way to avoid whatever internal pain you are grappling with. Drugs are the perfect escape. It all sounds great at first, but when the drugs aren’t there and you have to face your issues with a clear head, it can be pretty tough.
I definitely wanted to do my research in order to find the right treatment center for me. There are a lot of great detox centers in Arizona, so it was tough to decide which one to go to. I ultimately decided on the detox at Pathfinder Recovery Center in Scottsdale.
By the time I got there, I was a very damaged person. I thought that I would be judged and dragged from room to room like a lab rat. It was the exact opposite. The kind people at Best Rehabs In Arizona took great care of me. They took it upon themselves to make sure I was as comfortable as possible in my recovery.
It can be very scary to face a problem you’ve been avoiding for so long. I didn’t want to open myself up the way that I had to. I didn’t want to be vulnerable in any way. Once I broke down those barriers and allowed others in, the process became easier.
You can bottle up your issues for so long, but eventually, they will spill out. The only way to face your demons is to face them head-on with one hundred perfect focus. Being as open as possible about my struggles benefited me greatly in my recovery.
I didn’t think too much about the damage the drugs had done to my mental state. I assumed once I got done with recovery, that was that.
The people I met in treatment were very honest with me about how difficult it would be to adjust to regular life as a sober person. It became clear that after recovery, I would have to take a look at different mental health facilities in Arizona in order to get my mind right.
Following detox, I checked myself into Best Rehabs In Arizona\'s dual diagnosis treatment program. I was unaware that my mental health issues and my addiction were so intertwined.
Of all the inpatient mental health treatment centers in Arizona, Best Rehabs In Arizona really blew me away. They treated me like family throughout the entire process. It instilled in me such a sense of gratitude that I made it a goal to do whatever I could to give back to the recovery community that I was hoping to be a part of.
I take any opportunity I can to counsel others and warn people of the dangers of opiates. Because the opiate epidemic has had such a devastating effect on the entire country, it isn’t too hard to find someone who has been affected by it. I take great pride in trying to give back in any way I can.
Best Rehabs In Arizona has a great behavioral health program that has helped countless people struggling to get their mental health back following substance abuse recovery.
They offer a holistic healing program that is proven to help people integrate clean living into their lifestyle. I live in an incredibly supportive community here in Scottsdale. I never imagined myself being such an enthusiastic member of a community like this. We all understand what each other has gone through, and there is a big focus on mental health awareness.
I am now a part of a recovery community that I never knew existed. It’s so hard to believe you will make it out when you are in the thick of your addiction. The idea of not being burdened by the consistent need to get high was totally foreign to me. How could I go through life without drugs?
This is a great trick that our mind plays on us when we are in that state. If there was an easy way to explain to addicts that they could leave that life behind and one day find peace, recovery would be so much easier. The reality is, you have to find a lot out on your own.
Not only have I grown as a person throughout my recovery, but my family has grown right along with me. We’ve grown together. We’ve all become more educated. They know what makes me tick. They know what to say and what not to say. We don’t harp on the past. We don’t avoid it either. We talk about everything openly and honestly. This was not the case before.
My family was very ashamed of my addiction and never wanted to face it. Now they are much more open about it. The shame has been lifted. Another great addiction support quote that I go back to is “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” This is very true when it comes to making the decision to get clean. When you make that decision, you’re already putting yourself in the right mindset.
There are so many people out there who don’t ever have that thought. They never get to have their moment of clarity. If you’re lucky enough to have felt that clarity, you must cherish that moment. Self-confidence is a key part of the recovery process.
If you don’t believe in yourself then no one else will. It’s a simple fact. If I believe that I can do it, then there isn’t any reason that I can’t. It took me a long time to build even the smallest bit of self-confidence. Once I did, things became a lot easier for me.
The more days I string together, the more my confidence builds. I know now that I’ve had it in me all along, I just didn’t know how to get it to come out. When you’re new to recovery, there’s so much to process all at once. There’s a lot of pain to unwind. Just know that if you go into it with the right attitude, you can deal with all the baggage. You can live again, and so can all the people who love you.