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Who are you stopping for?
page 2 of 4
In order to succeed in your attempt to stop using drugs, you have to
genuinely want to stop. Not for your parents, not for your wife, not for
the court or the probation officer, but for yourself. Of course, all
those other people may play a role in making you want to stop. If you
are upsetting your parents, if your wife is about to leave you, or you
stand a good chance of being sent to jail, that may well make you tired
of using drugs. However, for many people, it doesn't.
If you aren't really sure about it, perhaps you should think about other
options. Some people find it is easier if they attempt to stabilize
their drug use before giving up. If you feel that this may be a better
option for you, then talk it over with a friend or a drugs worker. If
you do attempt to stop using drugs before you really want to, you may be
setting yourself up to fail. After several failures, you may lose
confidence in your ability to succeed, which can lead you to stop
trying. So try to be clear about what it is that you really want, and if
you do want to continue using drugs, then focus on trying to reduce the
harm associated with your drug use.
Why do you want to stop?
Drug use has both positive and negative aspects to it. Everybody who
uses drugs experiences both. People usually only stop when they are
aware that the negative aspects outweigh the positive ones. Some people
are aware that the negative consequences of their drug use are great,
but are still unable to make the decision to stop using drugs. This may
be because the positive benefits that they gain from using are even
greater, or it may be simply because they haven't thought clearly enough
about the consequences. Here is a list of some of the positive and
negative aspects of drug use.
Positive
1.Drugs make you feel good.
2.Drug use helps you gain acceptance among friends
3.Drugs give you something to do
4.Everybody you know uses drugs
5.Drugs make you feel more confident
6.Drug use makes you feel free to be who you want to.
Negative
1.Drugs may be bad for your health
2.Drug use may upset your family and friends
3.Drug use can get in the way of the other things that you want to do
4.Drug use is against the law
5.Continued drug use can damage your self-image
6.Dependence upon drugs can negatively shape the way that you see
yourself
Before you decide to give up, make a list of the positive and negative
aspects of your own relationship with drugs. Then you can see whether or
not you think stopping would be a good idea.
What drugs are you using?
Just as different drugs have different effects, so the attempt to stop
using different drugs has very different results. Make a list of the
drugs that you are currently using and try to think about which ones
might be causing you a problem. Remember, you can lie to parents,
employers, teachers, partners and friends, you can even lie to yourself
- but given that you are only doing this detox because you want to, what
would be the point?
Some drugs are not regarded as addictive, but that does not mean that
you cannot become habituated to their use, or that their use is not a
problem. Cannabis, L.S.D., Solvents, Amphetamine and Ecstasy may all
fall into this category. Some people may experience mental craving if
they try to stop using these drugs, but they should not experience any
physical discomfort.
Other drugs are quite definitely addictive. This
means that when you
attempt to stop using them, you might experience physical withdrawal
symptoms as well as psychological craving. The drugs that fall into this
category include Opiates like Heroin and Methadone, Benzodiazapines like
Valium, Temazepam, Ativan or Nitrazepam, Barbiturates like Seconal or
Tuinal, and Alcohol.
For a long time, people thought that Cocaine fell into the first
category of just being psychologically addictive. However, more
recently, scientists have identified changes in the brain chemistry that
occur after regular use of coke, and so the severe craving experienced
by people with a cocaine problem may well have a physical component as
well. Whether it does, or whether it doesn't, cocaine provides us with
an example of a drug that produces chaotic and compulsive use patterns
prompted by psychological craving rather than fear of withdrawal.
Make a list of the drugs that you currently use regularly. If all the
drugs that you use fall into the non-addictive category, then you will
not need to detoxify gradually. You can stop using immediately without
experiencing any physical symptoms whatsoever.
If you find that you use more than two types of addictive drugs
regularly, then you will probably find it easier if you seek
professional help with your detox.
If you are just using one of the addictive drugs or one addictive drug
and one or more of the non-addictive drugs, then you may well be a good
category for a do-it-yourself detox. read more >
Next > page 3 of 4 |
