A guest post by Selena Peters, MD, Addiction Medicine Specialist at SunCloud Health.
Addiction can look different for everyone. However, recognizing the signs, symptoms, and behaviors of addiction as early as possible is important to ensure prompt treatment and recovery. In this blog you’ll learn what behaviors to look for, what to expect during treatment, and why residential care may be the best choice for you or a loved one.
Symptoms of Addiction and When to Get Help
While substance use disorders may come in a variety of forms, there are common warning signs that indicate a problem. These include intense cravings, feeling out of control around the substance, or even losing control of a behavior, such as an overuse of your phone or inability to stop gaming.
The most telling warning sign of addiction is an individual feeling sad, irritated, or upset when they are forced to forego access to a substance or behavior. Often unable to cope with these feelings, struggling individuals will isolate from friends and family so that they can use substances or participate in the behavior they want.
Sometimes these feelings get so intense that individuals end up neglecting their responsibilities or engaging in addictive behaviors despite serious familial, financial, or career consequences. When this happens, seeking professional help from a healthcare provider, counselor, or addiction specialist can provide the support an individual struggling with substance use may need to address a potential addiction. For those in need of more intensive care, a residential treatment center may be the best choice.
Residential Treatment for Addiction and Co-Occurring Conditions at SunCloud Health
At SunCloud Health, we offer guidance, therapy, and 24/7 access to residential treatment programs tailored to each person’s individual needs. Treatment options include therapeutic interventions like individual, group, and family therapy; and skills-based education such as cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapy, and psychoeducation.
Within our program, we enforce a holistic approach that addresses the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of addiction. To achieve this, we incorporate complementary evidence-based therapies such as yoga, music therapy, art therapy, mindfulness practices, and nutritional counseling with uniquely specialized dietitians who understand co-occurring disorders in addition to standard psychotherapy and medication management.
Depending on each individual’s progress, it generally takes 30-60 days to complete our residential program. SunCloud Health has multiple sites for day programs and intensive outpatient programs as well as highly trained and compassionate outpatient providers. We often refer people to other reputable programs if they are not local to the area.
At all times, our medical staff – including therapists, dietitians, counselors, medical personnel, internal medicine, psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, and support staff – ensure ongoing medical care, monitor physical health, enhance psychological health, manage medications, and address any ongoing medical concerns. Their compassion, expertise, and dedication ensure success for our patients. Many of our staff members have been through similar experiences as our clients and therefore are better able to understand and support patients as we create a safe environment conducive to personal healing and growth.
Addressing Relapse and Previous Treatment
Sometimes individuals have a recurrence of symptoms of their addiction; this can happen regardless of past treatment or experiences in recovery. Frequently in addiction treatment, co-occurring psychiatric illness is minimized, overlooked, misdiagnosed, and under-treated. With expert psychiatric providers, we address complex mental health concerns that frequently occur with addiction, like treatment-resistant depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, trauma, and eating disorders. Oftentimes, patients come to SunCloud with past experience in other treatment programs that resulted in little long-term progress. This causes patients to be hesitant when seeking care again and to believe that they can’t recover.
At SunCloud Health, we understand relapse as one aspect of the disease process and we understand the difference between someone failing at treatment and treatment failing them. We’re here to combat relapse, help our patients endure through it, comprehensively and holistically care for patients, and promote full recovery within a highly structured environment.
Our Approach to Relapse Treatment
SunCloud Health’s programs are unique in their approach, SunCloud Health’s programs are unique in their approach, guiding patients as they address the complexity and totality of their psychiatric, medical and addiction needs. By performing thorough initial evaluations, utilizing the strengths of our experts, treating trauma, understanding motivations, collaborating with patients in creating personalized treatment plans, and building individualized continuing care plans to support recovery after residential, we reduce the chances of relapse following the completion of a SunCloud Health program.
If an individual is particularly concerned about relapse, we recommend completing our residential program and then transferring to one of our levels of outpatient care. This way, the patient will stay under our care for longer and will have the support needed when it’s time to transition back to their daily lives. Support and resources are also available for families, ensuring recovery lasts for patients and all parties involved readjust well to life’s demands. This support includes a clinic, aftercare programs, and alumni groups to help people stay connected to the community they become a part of during their stay at SunCloud.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use or addiction behaviors, reach out today to see how the staff at SunCloud Health can help lead you toward healing that lasts.
Call (844) 576-0279 for confidential help
Or visit our webpage: https://suncloudhealth.com/programs/residential-treatment-center
