The highly influential American psychologist, Dr. Wayne Dyer, once said, “Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone, and the future is not guaranteed.” These are seemingly ideal sentiments by which to live our lives, and many people have lived ideal lives doing so. However, what about the individuals who are struggling with the stages of addiction and cannot yet comprehend the message? They need to be reached.
Just as there are certain stages of all mental health disorders, there are also stages of addiction. Understanding and recognizing these stages can be especially valuable when helping someone achieve lasting recovery.
Helping Someone Understand That They Need Help
Many people agree that the hardest part of helping someone get help is not detecting their problem but rather motivating them to seek proper care to overcome it. This is especially true when that care comes in the form of entering a recovery center.
There are likely three aspects that an individual must commit to if they are hoping to achieve long-term recovery. They are also tenets of 12-Step recovery. These include:
- Admitting that there is a problem
- Accepting that there is a problem
- Taking action to address the problem
When trying to help get someone to go to a recovery center, their focus should be on the second aspect; acceptance. If the individual has already reached out, they most likely have already admitted that they have a problem (though sometimes this may occur on a more subconscious level). Then, if they go to a recovery center, it becomes the responsibility of the specialist at the facility to get them to take action. Therefore, if the key is to get them to accept their need for treatment, then explaining the stages of addiction can help turn that key.
Conveying the Stages of Addiction to Others
While there are certainly variations and differentiations among the recovery community regarding the stages of addiction, many agree that there are four overall stages. These four stages include the experimental stage, the regular use stage, the high-risk use stage, and the addiction stage.
Being able to convey these stages can greatly help an individual understand the need for help because it can help them understand the progressive nature of addiction. When they understand this progression, they can then begin to understand that a chronic disorder is only going to worsen over time without intervention.
The Chronic Nature of the Stages of Addiction
Many people outside of the recovery realm do not understand that issues of mental illness and addiction are chronic. They often simply see addiction as something separate from other health issues. However, explaining to them that a substance use disorder (SUD) is just as chronic as some other health disorders like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, can significantly help them understand the need to address their addiction sooner than later.
Once someone better understands that addiction is a “disease” – and a progressive disease at that – it can open up a window long enough to get them to get help at a recovery center. When this happens, however, it is crucial to have a connection to a reputable highly regarded recovery center that can be trusted to get the job done. This is where we here at The Phoenix Recovery Center can help.
Why the Phoenix Recovery Center?
People familiar with issues of mental health and/or addiction understand the critical life-saving action of getting someone the help they need. This is why here at The Phoenix Recovery Center, we do this at our fullest capacity at all times. When it is time to get someone the help they need, we know that we offer the level of care and expertise that we would be comfortable sending our own loved ones to.
At The Phoenix Recovery Center, our primary mission is to help our clients not just recover, but to achieve a long-term recovery that can carry them throughout the rest of their lives. We work with our clients and their families, friends, and referring specialists in a wholly individualized way, because we know that the best recovery comes from a customized recovery plan.
Revisiting another quote from Dr. Dyer, he also once said that “Our intention creates our reality.” At The Phoenix Recovery Center, our primary intention is always to help our clients succeed, and the reality is that we have helped countless of them recover. We have seen countless individuals go on to live lives that they thought were unimaginable when they were once stuck in the stages of addiction. Moreover, we are able to prove the aftercare and alumni services that individuals need to embrace lasting sobriety throughout the rest of their lives.
For more information on how we can help you help a loved one recover, call The Phoenix Recovery Center at (801) 438-3185.
