800-819-2978
Who Answers?5 Ways to Tell If a 12 Step Program Is Right for You
For many people, the decision to stop using drugs comes with much confusion and heartache. With so many different types of treatment programs to choose from, it can be difficult to determine which one will work best for you.
First developed in the 1930s, 12 Step programs exist as the most established drug treatment approach and is used by a good majority of drug treatment programs. While 12 Step programs may not be suited for everyone, if you’re experiencing certain ongoing problems in your day-to-day recovery efforts, this treatment approach may well be right for you.
Call our toll-free helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) to ask about 12 Step treatment programs.
5 Signs a 12 Step Program Is Right For You
1. Feeling Overwhelmed in Recovery
A 12 step program can provide a sense of direction on your recovery journey.
Stopping drug use opens up the emotional flood gates. Feelings that were once buried by the effects of the drug now surface at will.
Considering most people enter into drug abuse in order to avoid uncomfortable emotions, your ability to manage and cope with this change will be difficult, according to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. A 12 Step program can provide the type of structure and support needed to help you follow through on your desire to live a drug-free life on a day-to-day basis.
2. Limited or Lacking Support System
According to the Alcohol Treatment Quarterly, the people you spend time with will have a considerable bearing on your success in recovery. Old drug-using friends tend to lack the ability or motivation to help you maintain abstinence. Likewise, the ongoing exposure to drugs will likely trigger drug-using urges in full force.
The 12 Step program approach provides a built in support system made up of people facing the same challenges as you are.
3. Feeling Isolated
Having someone to talk to about the difficulties faced in recovery is essential to your ability to “outgrow” addiction’s hold over your life. Unless you happen to have a close friend or relative who’s also in recovery, feelings of isolation will soon become an issue.
One of the key benefits of the 12 step program approach lies in how the power of the group lets you know that your not alone in this process.
4. Don’t Really Understand How Addiction Works
Addiction’s effects most impact the mind in terms of how a person thinks and behaves from day-to-day. In essence, addiction creates its own set of belief systems that dictate how you view yourself and others. These types of effects are all but impossible to see, let alone eliminate without some level of understanding.
Twelve Step programs provide you with a “real-time” understanding of how addiction tries to work against your recovery efforts.
5. Need Direction
Addiction impacts most every major life area, from relationships to self image to daily motivations. More than anything else, knowing how to navigate the recovery process is essential to be able to manage addiction’s effects along the way.
The 12 Step program approach has a built-in 12 step roadmap for rooting out addiction’s effects in your life.
If 12 Step programs sound like they may be right for you, call our helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction specialists about available treatment options.