Do you live in fear for yours or a loved one’s life? If there are drugs involved, the possibility of a drug overdose is never too far off. This option increases to a likelihood when you take illicit drugs that may contain unknown strengths and chemicals. But there’s a way out.
Drug Overdose Statistics Paint a Grim Picture
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal a recent quadrupling of heroin-related overdose deaths. These fatalities and their related overdoses have several components in common. For starters, the drug’s seen an upswing in popularity, particularly because prescription pain pill users make the switch. Opioid painkillers are quickly becoming a gateway drug for heroin.
However, the fear of suffering from a drug overdose does not limit itself to heroin addiction. Overdoses also occur with alcohol, pain pills, sedatives, and other substances. Misuse of prescription drugs frequently results in accidental overdoses. Patients don’t realize that they shouldn’t take certain drugs together or in higher dosages.
In other cases, a drug overdose may be the result of the random pairing of multiple substances. Cases in point are individuals who take benzos such as Xanax with alcohol. In fact, alcohol is a common factor in overdoses where it heightens the effect of an opioid or other substance. Although drug users may know, intellectually, that they’re playing a dangerous game, they’re unable to stop themselves.
What Happens When Someone Suffers a Drug Overdose?
The substances you choose to take determine the symptoms of a resulting overdose. In the case of heroin or opioid painkillers, you might suffer from shallow breathing. Your skin gets cold and then clammy. Your blood pressure gets low, and you begin to show a bluish tint around your lips and fingernails.
You see, you’re slowly suffocating. Heroin and opioid painkillers are system depressants. They directly affect your ability to breathe. It’s not unusual for overdose victims to stop breathing gradually.
Unless someone steps in who recognizes the symptoms, you slowly slip into a coma. As your organs no longer get the oxygen that they need to remain functional, your body shuts down. At this point, you require immediate medical attention to stay alive. If you’re alone, your chances of survival are slim.
Other substances present with different drug overdose symptoms. In the case of alcohol, there’s a blackout and loss of consciousness. If you vomit in this state, there’s the possibility of suffocating from it. Other drugs may cause a rapid heartbeat and shallow breathing, followed by severe dehydration.
It’s Never too Late to Seek Treatment
It’s a common misconception that there comes a point when it’s too late to get treatment for a substance abuse problem. That’s simply not true. In fact, there’s never a wrong time to get help. In many ways, fear of a drug overdose can be a powerful motivator to change your life.
Also, don’t let a multiple addiction disorder hold you back from seeking help. You don’t have to get clean first to reach out for assistance. Trained therapists understand that sobriety is something you achieve after treatment – not before.
Getting help at a rehab facility empowers you to make the changes you need to prevent an overdose from occurring. It starts with a residential treatment stay. You live at the facility for 30 to 90 days, which allows you to experience the various treatment opportunities. This process is an ideal answer for the individual with a living situation where a co-dependent relationship might keep you using.
During your stay, you take advantage of behavior modification opportunities such as:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which lets you explore negative feelings, thoughts, and behaviors
- Dialectical behavioral therapy assists you when you don’t respond well to CBT but want to pinpoint one changeable quality
- 12 Step program group therapy invites you to meet with others in similar situations who want to practice accountability to stop using
- Experiential therapy settings create opportunities for healing and personal growth
- Dual diagnosis treatment allows participants to heal from a substance abuse problem as well as a psychological disorder
Why a Mental Health Focus is Vital to Preventing Your Drug Overdose
Co-occurring conditions are common roots of addictions. The other common cause is a past traumatic experience that remains unresolved in the present. Even if you were to break the physical hold that addiction has on you, there’s still the mental element. If you don’t tackle this aspect of the substance abuse problem, relapse is likely.
Drug use frequently results as a need to self-medicate. When you receive the appropriate diagnosis and learn how to manage a mental health challenge, you protect yourself against future drug abuse. You also succeed in developing life skills that create healthy habits to support your mental and emotional health. Within rehab, this level of care calls for a holistic or whole person approach.
Drug abuse is not just a physical or mental condition. For this reason, it makes sense to involve your entire being in the healing process. An example would include the presence of a family program that helps individuals to come together and heal. Another example is a program that teaches you to live in consciousness.
As part of functional living wellness, Healing Springs Ranch emphasizes a holistic approach to health that includes sleep and nutrition education. It’s impossible to overemphasize the importance of these aspects when fighting a chronic disease. Remember that it’s not possible to cure an addiction. You can only beat it into submission and keep it there with relapse prevention techniques.
Putting it all Together–The How-To Guide to Avoiding Your Next Drug Overdose
Whether you’ve already suffered from a drug overdose or want to avoid one in the future, start with inpatient drug rehab. Compassionate therapists help you to break the physical and psychological dependence on a drug. From there, you learn how to avoid a relapse in the future. Throughout the entire time, you’re in full control of the process.
Talk therapy helps you to determine the actions you need to take to make changes in your life. Group therapy provides you with a support network that can have a significant impact on lifelong sobriety. Nutritional counseling and fitness therapy assist you in pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Because of life skills training, you practice what sobriety looks and feels like before you head home.
When you’re ready to experience this type of healing for yourself, free yourself from the fear of a drug overdose. Contact the professionals at Healing Springs Ranch to assist you with your desire to get clean. Dial 866-656-8384 now for immediate assistance.