Drug & Alcohol Rehab in Blyth
As many statistical reports indicate, the town of Blyth has a growing substance addiction problem, with countless residents feeling the direct and indirect impacts of this hazardous condition.
The East Midlands area in which Blyth is located has suffered more than other regions of the UK in recent years with both drug and alcohol use disorders.
The first set of worrying statistics comes from the 2022 Nottinghamshire Insight report [1]: a document outlining their strategic needs assessment for the Blyth locale.
In 2021-2022, the area had an estimated 12,800 people dependent on substances of some kind, with alcohol leading to the highest rates of addiction.
In fact, ⅔ of all addicted individuals admitted their hazardous drinking habits and subsequent need for treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth.
Though these figures indicate a worrying trend, alcohol isn’t the only substance to cause health problems in the Blyth area.
A recent Public Health England report [2] revealed that Nottinghamshire has the highest number of crack cocaine and opiate users in the East Midlands region, with over 4,200 addicted individuals in the county.
This figure seems especially worrying when compared to Blyth’s neighbouring counties, with Derbyshire having just over 2,000 crack cocaine and opiate users.
Start your recovery journey today by calling our expert team to access drug & alcohol rehab in Blyth on 0800 088 66 86
What is Substance Use Disorder (SUD)?
Repeatedly consuming a substance with high addictive potential can lead to a debilitating illness known as Substance Use Disorder (SUD) [3]. More than just a concerning drug or alcohol habit, this disease of the brain requires extensive treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth to avoid long-term health impacts.
Akin to other diseases, SUD is characterised by cycles of relapse and remission and can result in premature fatalities if the right treatment isn’t accessed.
To help people make sense of this complex disease, the ASAM [4] defines addiction as a combination of neurological, environmental, genetic, behavioural, and circumstantial elements.
The medical society stresses that it isn’t a behavioural choice, but rather an illness of compulsive substance use.
Fortunately, scientific research has answered long-standing questions regarding how substances affect the brain. Drugs or alcohol can hijack the brain’s reward circuitry: manipulating neurological pathways to produce higher levels of dopamine: a reinforcer of pleasurable experiences.
Because the brain’s reward pathways are being overstimulated, it will struggle to cope with the levels of dopamine being produced during substance use, and seek to adapt.
This adaptation causes substances to have less effect on the brain over time: a phenomenon known as high tolerance. Further problems arise because, though the brain has adjusted to the substance being misused, psychological and physical cravings remain.
These cravings will eventually override everything else in the individual’s life, including their work, relationships, and responsibilities. To reclaim their lives from the substance that has taken over, SUD victims should consider treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth.
The Danger of Withdrawal Symptoms
The first stage of SUD recovery [5] is to clear drugs or alcohol from the body, and while it might sound like a simple process, the threat of withdrawal makes it a difficult task to undertake alone.
When someone battling addiction stops using or drinking, the changes that the brain has made to try and accommodate the substance are undone: sending the system into overdrive and causing painful symptoms.
Because someone’s experience of addiction is informed by various factors, withdrawal symptoms are often different for everyone.
They can be mild or severe depending on your physical health, age, mental well-being, and the type of substance you’ve been using. This means that the exact experience can range from flu-like symptomology to seizure-like events and mental health symptoms.
It’s also common for withdrawal symptoms to have the opposite effect of the substance being withdrawn from an uncomfortable experience at best and life-threatening at worst.
For example, because alcohol is a depressant, addicted individuals usually suffer from anxiety, hyperactivity, and increased blood pressure, and are at risk of seizures and cardiac issues.
In cases of opiate, alcohol, or benzodiazepine use disorders, a professionally supervised detox is almost always required due to the severity of symptoms.
Because common symptoms include acute cravings, intense depression, fever, and vomiting, sufferers have a high risk of relapse and should be monitored closely at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth.
Start your recovery journey today by calling our expert team to access drug & alcohol rehab in Blyth on 0800 088 66 86
Entering a Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Blyth
While entering a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth is ultimately your decision to make, undertaking the admissions process yourself can be a complicated operation.
You might be overwhelmed by the information you’ve found online, or be battling physical and mental symptoms that make it difficult to navigate the process alone.
With this in mind, the Rehab Recovery team has fashioned a simple yet effective referral process that we customise to the needs of each individual.
Our addiction specialists are available 24 hours per day, and you can give us a call at 0800 088 66 86 [6] as soon as you feel ready.
They’ll guide you through our referral service, ensure all your questions are answered and book you in for a free telephone consultation: an important process in which we’ll assess your mental and physical health.
These consultations usually take between 10-20 minutes and comprise an informal chat with one of our consultant psychiatrists.
To ascertain which drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth will meet your requirements, a confidential pre-admissions assessment is crucial.
This gives you a chance to explain your situation in more detail to one of our clinicians, including your substance intake, treatment requirements, budget, and any symptoms you’re experiencing.
A thorough assessment allows our team at Rehab Recovery to personalise your experience as much as we can. While SUD is debilitating in each case, experiences vary greatly from one individual to the next: making it vital that professionals take a personalised approach.
Based on the information and preferences you give, we’ll refer you to some clinics in the Blyth locale, and can organise visitations if you wish.
Whilst all our partner clinics are certified by the Care Quality Commission, each centre will vary in the experience it offers patients: from the therapy styles it offers to its location in the Blyth area.
After deciding which clinic you’d like to begin your recovery in, you’ll be able to decide the length of treatment and book a date to begin your detox. By opting for a private drug and alcohol rehab as opposed to NHS treatment, you’ll be guaranteed swift admission: whether this is within 48 hours, or weeks in advance.
Comorbidity Treatment at a Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Blyth
Among those seeking treatment for substance addiction, co-occurring disorders are far from uncommon. The term comorbidity [7] refers to the existence of one or more mental illnesses alongside a substance use disorder.
Frequently diagnosed co-occurring disorders range from psychiatric conditions such as psychosis to mood disorders such as bipolar, depression, or anxiety.
While suffering from SUD alone presents health challenges, victims of co-occurring disorders battle additional difficulties that can complicate treatment.
Debilitating mental symptoms can worsen withdrawal symptoms and present challenges after detox that can only be managed via long-term residencies at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth.
It’s often the case that substance addiction has led to the development of a mental health need, such as in the case of drug-induced psychosis or hallucinogen-persisting perceptual disorder.
However, it can work in reverse too, with many people seeking temporary relief from long-standing mental illnesses in the form of substance use.
Though there are many pathways that lead someone to develop co-occurring disorders, an integrated treatment approach should be used in each case, which includes personalised care.
As such, appropriate treatment should be sought at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth or elsewhere, starting with a comprehensive psychological evaluation.
Screening for comorbidity is integral to identifying and tackling both disorders at the same time, with evaluations aiming to determine a variety of factors. Addiction specialists determine the patient’s ability to care for themselves, their current and past symptoms, substance use history and immediate safety.
From the information gathered, they can build a bespoke detox plan and further treatment that reflects both disorders and how they overlap. Integrated care decreases the chances of relapse, and includes a hybrid of behavioural interventions, motivational interviewing, group therapy, and family behavioural therapy.
Dual Diagnosis patients may also benefit from holistic therapies such as mindfulness to help tackle anxiety, restlessness, and agitation.
Types of Therapy Offered at a Drug and Alcohol Rehab in
Addressing the underlying causes of addiction is crucial to long-term success, and the best way to do this is by undertaking a range of therapy methods [8] at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth.
Here, your caseworkers will curate a bespoke therapeutic strategy designed to undo the negative behavioural patterns affecting your well-being.
Efficacious methods for achieving sobriety sustainably include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy [9] (CBT): For SUD victims and those battling mental health disorders, negative thoughts and behaviours can trap them in a vicious cycle. With cognitive reframing at the core of its philosophy, CBT helps patients hinder the thought cycles fuelling their addiction: by offering goal-based activities and skills sessions. Therapists help patients identify a negative thought associated with their SUD, restructure it positively, and test it out in hypothetical situations.
- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy [10] (DBT): Like CBT, DBT helps patients at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth address self-destructive thoughts and behaviours, while implementing mindfulness and emotional regulation strategies. With a deeper focus on emotional welfare and trauma recovery, DBT sessions help subjects learn how to manage their feelings in stressful situations. This has proven to be a powerful relapse prevention tool for those who have previously used substances as a means of coping with their emotions.
- Holistic Therapy [11] (HT): Once scorned for its rejection of traditional, medical strategies, the Holistic treatment philosophy is now used in rehab centres across the world. The term “holism” refers to an idea of wholeness, which in the case of SUD treatment, means seeing addiction as an affliction of the mind, body, and soul. HT therapies encourage the entire well-being of each patient with activities including meditation, yoga, massage therapy, acupuncture, tai chi, and countless more.
- Family Therapy [12] (FT): Making a full recovery from Substance Use Disorder is contingent on many factors, with one of these being the availability of a supportive network. Many patients at a drug and alcohol rehab in Blyth opt for Family Therapy sessions so that their parents, siblings, spouse, or close friends can be involved in their recovery process. FT sessions focus on conflict reduction, improving communication, and resolving mental health challenges present within the familial dynamic.
- Motivational Interviewing (MI): Guided by collaboration between the therapist and patient, MI aims to resolve ambivalence and the challenging, often conflicting emotions that manifest in SUD recovery. During sessions, traditional counselling techniques are used to help patients regain the intrinsic motivation needed to flourish in their treatment. Rather than pushing clients to make positive changes, MI therapists listen empathetically and encourage patients to explore their reasons for entering treatment.
Start your recovery journey today by calling our expert team to access drug & alcohol rehab in Blyth on 0800 088 66 86
Post-Treatment Support at a Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Blyth
Every drug ad alcohol rehab clinic across the world should be ready to meet the aftercare needs of their patients, with this being another crucial element of sustainable recovery.
Here at Rehab Recovery, we liaise with clinics in Blyth that guarantee their treatment graduates an array of post-treatment support. In most cases, these services are provided free of charge for at least 12 months once the patient has been discharged from the clinic.
Former patients can receive emotional support via individual counselling completed on an outpatient schedule, or join a therapeutic community for group sessions.
Known for providing both online and in-person meetings, SMART [13] Recovery is a popular option, alongside more traditional 12-Step programmes such as Narcotics Anonymous [14] or Alcoholics Anonymous [15].
Start your recovery journey today by calling our expert team to access drug & alcohol rehab in Blyth on 0800 088 66 86
References
[1] Substance Misuse: Young People and Adults, 2022, Nottinghamshire Insight https://www.nottinghamshireinsight.org.uk/research-areas/jsna/cross-cutting-themes/substance-misuse-young-people-and-adults-2022/
[2] Public Health England Investigative Report on Increasing Crack Use https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-publish-investigative-report-on-increasing-crack-use
[3] Substance Use Disorders: a Biopsychosocial Perspective https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Substance_Use_Disorders/X7H2DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
[4] ASAM Definition of Addiction https://www.asam.org/quality-care/definition-of-addiction
[5] Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (2nd Ed.) https://books.google.co.th/books?id=mtMdJ3qqSnQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=addiction+treatment&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDlMP3zob3AhXiwjgGHYJtDZ8Q6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=outpatient&f=false
[6] Rehab Recovery: Meet the Team https://www.rehab-recovery.co.uk/meet-the-team/
[7] Co-occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders: A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Co_occurring_Mental_Illness_and_Substanc/vkQ4DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
[8] Innovations in the Treatment of Substance Addiction https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Innovations_in_the_Treatment_of_Substanc/vzbzuAEACAAJ?hl=en
[9] Rehab Recovery: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Addiction Treatment https://www.rehab-recovery.co.uk/addiction-treatments/cognitive-behavioural-therapy/
[10] The Oxford Handbook of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Dialectical_Behav/PE5yDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
[11] Healing and Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Healing_and_Wholeness/XM_CWVYE_KEC?hl=en&gbpv=0
[12] Rehab Recovery: Family Addiction Counselling https://www.rehab-recovery.co.uk/addiction-treatments/family-therapy/
[13] UK Smart Recovery: Our Programmes https://smartrecovery.org.uk/smart-recovery-programme-copy/
[14] Narcotics Anonymous in the United Kingdom: Need help? https://ukna.org/content/need-help
[15] Alcoholics Anonymous: About AA https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/About-AA