Struggling with addiction for several years can have an overwhelming impact on your mental and physical health and well-being. Unfortunately, long-term drug use can have a significant impact on the way our minds function. Fortunately, getting help at an addiction recovery center can help you repair your brain after drug use. There are several ways that you can get started on repairing your brain and rebuilding your life.
How Do Drugs Affect the Brain?
Drugs and alcohol have a significant impact on the entire body. Unfortunately, they can dramatically alter the brain’s natural chemistry messengers. In some cases, drug use can cause the overstimulation of the brain’s reward system and have a dramatic impact on a person’s quality of thought, ability to make decisions, and cravings that they experience.
There are instances where drugs alter behaviors, moods, and emotions by making a person believe that the only way they will be happy or satisfied is to turn to some. As individuals continue to use drugs or alcohol, the brain’s reward system completely redesigns itself and enforces these negative thoughts and beliefs. To overcome these problems, it is important that individuals implement healthy habits into their lives in order to repair their brains after drug use.
Utilize a Medically Supervised Detox Program
One of the first steps to overcoming addiction is to go through a medically supervised detoxification program at an addiction recovery center. Rather than quitting cold turkey, a detox program provides you with the ability to gradually rid your body of harmful substances.
When going through a detox program at an addiction recovery center, you will be medically supervised around the clock. This provides you with the ability to safely rid your system without worrying about harmful side effects.
Although it does take time for you to repair your brain after stopping drug use, undergoing a formal detox will provide you with the best chance of remaining sober as it dramatically reduces the risk of relapsing. It also provides the brain with a fresh start.
Implement Mindfulness and Meditation Into Your Life
After finishing a detoxification program, you have the ability to improve your brain function by utilizing meditation and mindfulness. While at an addiction recovery center, you have the ability to learn various ways to implement mindfulness into your daily routine.
Mindfulness provides you with the unique opportunity to exercise your mind by focusing on the present. This type of routine can help to ensure you remain grounded throughout the recovery process. Studies have also found that mindfulness and meditation are incredibly effective when it comes to helping individuals control their cravings and urges. These activities work exceptionally well for reducing the chance of a person relaxing. Additionally, it can also help to repair the brain by aiding in neuroplasticity.
Undergo Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of talk therapy that is incredibly effective for helping individuals overcome their addictions while inside an addiction recovery center. CBT helps individuals who struggle with addiction dig deeper than the surface. They are able to identify leading problems and issues that they struggle with that have contributed to their substance abuse.
Not only is CBT good at helping individuals explore root problems, but it also plays a critical role in neural plasticity. Cognitive behavioral therapy influences vital regions of the brain to help them heal quicker and improve function.
Develop Healthy Sleeping Habits
The unfortunate truth is that having poor sleeping habits can have a detrimental impact on the function of your brain. It can also increase the cravings and urges that individuals who struggle with substance use disorder have.
Healthy sleeping patterns can significantly improve a brain’s ability to repair itself. For this reason, research determined that adequate sleep provides the brain with the ability to eliminate harmful toxins and improve overall thoughts and concentration.
Eat a Healthy Diet and Exercise Frequently
It is incredibly common for individuals to learn new exercise habits and healthy activities that they can implement into their life after leaving the addiction recovery center. In many cases, addiction recovery center staff also implement nutritional classes. Implementing exercise into your daily routine at least three to five days each week can help to improve your thought quality and aid in your decision-making abilities.
Healthy exercise and a nutritional diet can also increase the ability for you to restore areas of the brain that may have been damaged by drug use. In doing so, you can dramatically improve the quality of your thoughts, your ability to make responsible decisions, and your drive to remain sober after leaving treatment.
The unfortunate truth is that stress can have an overwhelming impact on a person and their ability to remain sober after drug use. By implementing exercise and healthy eating habits into your during and after the addiction recovery center, you can help to alleviate some of the stress that you feel. In turn, this can reduce cravings and decrease your chances of relapsing.
How the Brain Heals Itself
Implementing all of these habits into your life can dramatically improve your brain function. The human brain has the remarkable ability to repair and adapt. Even after long-term substance abuse, the brain continues to build new brain cells and neural pathways. As it continues to adapt to change, it has the ability to grow, modify, and reorganize it.
Implementing these healthy habits into our life can help to ensure that our brain is on the right path to healing and repairing. We can implement healthy habits into our life instead of having to turn to substances. By continually implementing healthy habits into our lives after leaving the addiction recovery center, we can reshape the way our brains think in order to remain sober.
Let Glendora Recovery Center Help
Having the right team in your corner to battle addiction is incredibly important. For this reason, our addiction recovery center is fully committed to helping individuals who struggle with addiction overcome their challenges and implement healthy habits into their lives that can help repair their brains and carry them on the path to sobriety.
Our team at Glendora Recovery Center in Glendora, California, has extensive knowledge, experience, and resources available in your addiction and go on to live a happier and healthier life. To get started on your road to recovery, reach out to our team today to get started.
