Opioid addiction, whether prescription or manufactured opioids, touches the lives of millions of Americans each year. The impacts of opioid use and abuse are not restricted to any one community, state, or demographic. An opioid addict can be a friend, neighbor, community figure, or the local corner store owner. An opioid is a broad term used to classify a variety of prescription and illicit drugs, including prescription painkillers and “street drugs” such as heroin. Without addiction treatment, many who struggle with a heroin addiction succumb to overdose due to its powerful effects. 

A Deep Dive Into Heroin Addiction

Heroin is an opioid drug manufactured from morphine, a naturally occurring substance taken from the seed pod of the opium poppy plants grown in Asia, Mexico, and Columbia. Depending on how it is manufactured, heroin may be a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance with the consistency of tar. The latter of these is also referred to as black tar heroin. Heroin is also known by several other names, including hell dust and smack. Unlike several other opioids, there are multiple ways heroin can be introduced into the body. It can be snorted, smoked, inhaled through the nose, or injected. Some people also mix heroin with crack cocaine to create a more potent drug. This practice is known as speedballing. 

Heroin is a highly addictive drug. The effects on the body are very rapid, and it does not take long for someone who uses heroin regularly to develop a tolerance for its effects. Once someone develops a tolerance, they require larger or more frequent doses of heroin to achieve desired results. In recent years the rate of heroin use and overdose has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the rate of those seeking treatment to help conquer heroin addiction has not increased as rapidly. 

In 2019, nearly 15,000 people lost their lives to heroin overdose. It is believed this is partially due to efforts across the nation aimed at reducing the number of opioid prescriptions provided to patients by the medical community. Because prescription pain medicines such as Oxycontin and Vicodin have similar effects to heroin, research suggests that prescription painkillers are often gateway drugs to heroin. Surveys conducted within the last few years show a percentage of those who misused prescription opioids often switched to heroin. 

Why You Should Turn to Professionals for Heroin Addiction Help

If you are addicted to heroin and experience the physical and psychological symptoms of dependence on the drug, you will likely experience withdrawal symptoms when you reduce or try to stop using. In many cases, these withdrawal symptoms are often severe and overwhelming. In the most severe cases, withdrawal symptoms from heroin (and other opioids) could include severe and life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. These may consist of delirium tremens (DTs), abnormal heart rate, abnormal respiratory rates, and seizures. Depending on the duration and severity of your addiction, withdrawal symptoms can occur in as few as six hours after your last dose. For many addicts who try to quit heroin without professional help, relapse occurs once withdrawal symptoms begin. They are often too powerful to overcome without the support found in a medically assisted detox program like Cal Recovery. 

If you are ready to get clean from heroin, it is highly recommended you do so in a medically supervised detox setting. While detoxing, highly trained staff will continually monitor your physical, emotional health to make detox more manageable and ensure your safety throughout the process. If you, a friend, or a loved one struggles with heroin addiction, don’t wait to seek treatment. Chronic heroin addiction can result in detrimental physical and psychological effects. Ongoing regular use often makes it difficult to admit that you have an addiction. Let the team at Cal Recovery help you begin your journey to freedom from heroin addiction today. 

Mindfulness and self-care are frequently discussed hot topics today. One does not need to look too hard to read or hear about self-care and mindfulness practices, but not many understand the benefits of self-care and how these techniques can help addicts in recovery. Mindfulness practices have been a part of various lifestyle choices for well over 2,500 years. Mindfulness practices and self-care both improve mental health while promoting physical health and emotional well-being. They can also help calm the mind, helping to relieve anxiety and other emotions that may challenge your sobriety. During addiction treatment, you may have learned about mindfulness and self-care practices. Depending on your unique treatment program, some of these practices may have been integrated into your treatment plan as part of a comprehensive, holistic approach. 

Why Is It Important for Addicts To Practice Self-Care After Rehab?

Achieving sobriety and successfully completing addiction treatment is a significant accomplishment. However, it does not signal the end of your recovery journey. One of the most significant challenges many addicts in recovery face consist of challenges to your psychological mindset. Triggers, cravings, and memories of old behaviors all contribute to ongoing difficulties as you continue to pursue long-term sobriety. Continuing to work on healing the body and mind is an essential part of continued health. Self-care and mindfulness practices have proven effective in altering how the brain functions. The brain itself is an organ shaped by experience and practice. Depending on one’s behaviors and habits, that shaping can be positive or negative. Repeated engagement in negative thoughts or actions is likely to propagate your addiction. Self-care exercises allow you to intentionally and positively reshape how your brain works. Such changes can allow you more control over your thoughts and behaviors, especially those pertaining to addiction. 

Self-Care Tips for Recovering Addicts

There are many ways addicts in recovery can practice self-care. It is important to remember that during the early stages of recovery (as well as long after treatment has ended), it can be beneficial to take a moment to sit with your emotions and remind yourself of your beliefs and the reason why you chose to seek treatment. Sobriety is not always easy to maintain. There will be bumps in the road, difficulties along the way, and moments where triggering experiences may take you to the edge of relapse. It is moments like these when self-care can be so beneficial. 

In addition to some more popular self-care options such as those briefly mentioned below, simple breaks to focus on yourself and take a shower or bath, watch a movie, or read a book can allow you the time you need to disconnect from everything else and regulate your emotions. 

Many treatment programs incorporate various self-care options into their treatment plans. Some of the most common examples include exercise, yoga and meditation, and alternative therapies, including art in music therapy. These treatment opportunities not only help enhance the benefits of addiction treatment during the “actual” treatment process, but they provide skills that can be used long term. Many of these alternative treatment options that involve self-care can provide ways to keep you physically and emotionally healthy. It is important to remember that the actual activity of choice is not as important as finding the self-care option that works for you and using it when you need to calm your mind or negotiate a triggering situation. 

You Can Achieve Sobriety With the Help of California Recovery Center

Addiction is a chronic, challenging disease to overcome. Self-care can provide various options in practices you can turn to when you need help with the emotions you may experience throughout the recovery process. The best part of self-care and mindfulness practice is that it can be called upon anywhere, at any time. It does not require you to be part of a support group, participating in a therapy session, or be immersed in a recovery program. Mindfulness can be practiced sitting in your car, while taking a walk, or relaxing at the beach. Self-care is an essential part of addiction treatment aftercare programs. If you would like to learn more about self-care, and the robust aftercare programs provided at Cal Recovery, reach out to our admissions team today.