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Who Answers?3 Ways the 12 Steps of NA Help You Move Past an Addiction Problem
Drug addiction can change a person’s life in ways he or she never expected. From college students, to business owners to corporate executives, the effects of drug abuse work towards the same ends regardless of a person’s status or willpower.
Trying to ride out an addiction problem with the hopes of getting it under control is a recipe for disaster. Rather than get better, things keep getting worse to the point where your quality of life starts to take some serious hits.
The 12 Steps of NA has a 50+ year track record as a long-term solution for overcoming addiction’s effects in daily life. Whether you opt to enter a 12 Steps of NA rehab program or start out attending support group meetings, at the very least you’ll gain a solid understanding on how addiction works to take control of your will, drive and motivations.
For information on available treatment program options, call our toll-free helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .
The Addiction Lifestyle
The 12 steps of NA help you develop new habits and behaviors that promote a drug-free lifestyle.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the effects of drugs like cocaine, heroin and Adderall change the brain’s reward system in profound ways over time. For the most part, the reward system shapes a person’s thinking, emotional responses and daily behaviors. In effect, these changes work together to create a lifestyle where getting and using drugs takes on top priority.
The addiction lifestyle reflects these changes in the following ways:
- Decline in work performance
- Ongoing relationship conflicts over drug use
- Growing financial problems
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyed pursuits and activities
The 12 Steps of NA approach works to help a person “retrain” the brain reward system and develop a mindset that can maintain a drug-free lifestyle.
3 Ways the 12 Steps of NA Can Help
1. Awareness
According to the University of Delaware, it’s not uncommon for people considering rehab to question whether an actual drug problem exists. While friends and family may plainly see the effects of addiction, the addict is often the last one to notice.
For these reasons, the 12 Steps of NA addresses this lack of awareness at the outset by helping you come to grips with the effects addiction has had in your life. From there, the task of getting past addiction entails eliminating addiction-based thinking and behavior and developing a healthy, drug-free mindset.
2. Guidance & Support
The temptation to sort all this out on one’s own and go it alone may seem reasonable enough, but if you’ve already made multiple attempts to stop using and failed, there’s really no sense in trying to go it alone again.
The support group model used in the 12 Steps of NA works to provide much needed guidance and emotional support. Otherwise, relying on one’s own reasoning only opens the door for addiction to have free rein.
3. Develop a Drug-Free Lifestyle
Addiction, by its very nature, creates a state of psychological dependency that ultimately becomes part of a person’s psychological makeup. In effect, the addict’s thinking and motivations only work to encourage drug-using behavior.
Through the course of working the 12 Steps of NA, you develop a drug-free mindset that’s motivated to develop the types of habits and behaviors that make a drug-free lifestyle possible.
If you need more information on how the 12 Steps of NA works, please don’t hesitate to call our helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction specialists.