Sometimes, the therapy, counseling, prescription medicine, and monitored detox services aren’t enough to help someone who is experiencing the worst of withdrawal. Even in a comfortable room, people are known to experience intense fevers, chills, body aches, and vomiting spells, all within the short time that they spend in a detox center. But having faith can open up your mind to the possibilities that exist once you’ve completed detox.
From getting back to work to repairing your relationship with your family, the benefits of detox outlast the evil comfort of enjoying one more drink or substance. Now is the time to have faith while you’re in detox, and here are three steps to embrace it, so your time during and after is more optimistic.
Define what faith means to you
Sometimes, your mind may venture toward a religion like Christianity or Islam while you’re experiencing challenging moments filled with pain and uncertainty. Having faith refers to your total trust or confidence in something. When your days are filled with an upset stomach and body aches, surviving may feel impossible, so much that the possibility of success and recovery eludes you. But having faith can mean believing in your own recurring self-talk that takes place when you’re feeling sick. If you tell yourself everything is okay and believe it, that faith can help you make it through a tough day when nothing else is available.
In the 12-step book found in Alcoholics Anonymous, the second step refers to your ability to accept that only a greater power can help you stay sane. So, faith can come from believing in God, but it can also develop from an understanding of your own unique strengths. As long as you can find something to believe in, you’ll have the building blocks for which to rest easy for another day, start talking positively, or look for ways to use your time in detox to your advantage.
Define how faith impacts your life
You still need to come to terms with how faith has an impact on your life. That’s the next step, as at some point during or after your detox, you’ll have an opportunity to see real-world examples of how faith made a positive impact on your life. Did you feel less cold, lonely, and in pain one night because you spoke a quick prayer? Did the decision to go to detox by itself come easier after you reminded yourself of something special you learned? You’ll see that venturing into detox and surviving your first days begins once you’ve accepted your ability to have faith will get you through the most challenging moments.
Once that happens, you’ll be eager to keep going through detox so you can stop alcohol or drugs all at once. Just look at research conducted on quitting cigarettes cold turkey. According to the 2016 study, quitting smoking was more likely to lead to sustained abstinence than cutting down on tobacco a little at a time. Since cigarettes have harmful chemicals in them, it’s safe to say detoxing today is better than slowing down alcohol or drug abuse over time. After all, conditions like cirrhosis are progressive, so they can get worse while you’re still drinking or if you return to it on another date.
Now, continue your recovery journal after detox
While you battled withdrawal, you couldn’t keep real food down and your body ached for days. You probably had a fever and wondered if stopping alcohol or drugs was worth it. But what about afterward?
Detox is meant to cleanse your body of toxins, but rehab is meant to go a step further, putting you in the captain’s seat where you’re in charge of your recovery, as long as you’re staying clean from drugs and alcohol. You’ll want to continue your recovery with addiction counseling and day treatment programs offered in rehab. By now, your body will be free of inflammation and chemicals that destroy your liver, heart, and brain. You need space to get away from alcohol, but now that you have faith in yourself, go a step further.
