Take Advantage of Online Counseling to
Recover From Addiction

Addiction can be found everywhere you look, from the person that obsessively cleans their desk at work to the caffeine-chaser. Of course, there is a difference between those addictions that are more of an obsession than those that negatively impact daily life.

Depending upon your point of view this can be the result of smoking, drinking, and/or illegal or unnecessary taking of drugs in the search for relief from one problem or another. Even an addiction to sex is possible and is certain to impact one or more aspects of the victim’s life.

So how do you recognize addiction? There are two basic criteria that define all addictions. The first is that you never want just one drink, cigarette, or a snort of cocaine. Once the first one is gone the need for another is ever-present and you surrender to the draw of the need. The second is that knowing it is negatively impacting your life you continue to do these things anyway.

There are more addicts out there than you might think; these are called functioning addicts who, unless you know what you are looking for, will be able to disguise their addiction and the problems they cause. A good number of these people will be able to handle their addiction, keeping it just on the positive side of survivability.

The problem with addiction is that is progressive and most of these unfortunate folk will eventually step beyond the point of reasonable control; these are called non-functioning addicts and are the type most people are familiar with.

Whether you recognize addiction as a disease or not, it is almost always progressive and will get worse over time. Recovery from addiction requires that you learn about it. You have to get smart about mental health and about addiction.

It is never easy to recover from addiction - hence the word addiction, but there are many ways you can endeavor to help yourself. The first step is to recognize that you do suffer an addiction. If you are reading this you have either recognized your problem or you know someone with a problem.

No matter what your addiction there is certainly help to be had. Quitting is never easy. Getting in touch with groups that understand what you are going through will certainly make the process more bearable. It’s always good to share a problem with like-minded sufferers.

The real work begins by recognizing the signs of relapse. It is almost impossible for an addict to quit and never relapse, so any group that helps will explain to you the signs you should expect.

There are 3 acknowledged stages of relapse. The first is emotional relapse - you no longer have the addiction crutch to support you every day.

Facing the problem that brought you to this place is a tough job and will almost certainly cause an emotional roller coaster for you, swinging between anger and anxiety.

You will lash out at those who try to help, and it is important that your nearest and dearest understand what is going on so that they can tolerate your changes in mood and behavior - the recovery process will impact them almost as much as you.

The next stage is a mental relapse, where your mind will be brought back again and again to the pleasure you felt when you were using; perhaps you will even consider using once more.

This is a really tough phase and will be one you have to wrestle with on your own because it is likely you will lie to those around you about your condition.

The final phase is physical relapse. Of course, this is the most challenging phase when it will be almost impossible not to take the final step and return to your addiction.

If you are a smoker you might buy a packet of cigarettes and even light one, watching almost from outside your own body the apparently inexorable path back to what you now feel made you happy.

Getting to this stage one or more times will almost guarantee your complete relapse so it is important to recognize your feelings before they get to this point. Remember abstinence is not recovery; recovery has to come from within.

If you need help in your recovery, take advantage of online counseling. It is high quality and works incredibly well.