An article from The Huffington Post published last February 12, 2014 features what recovering addicts and alcoholics go through on the road to their recovery. This crucial experience, known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome (or PAWS), can help researchers and medical professionals, such as those in centers for drug and alcohol rehab in St. Louis, examine and evaluate patients’ conditions further to develop more effective methods.
“I’m certain I suffer(ed) symptoms of PAWS,” recovering alcoholic Amy Parrish says. “My sleep cycles were off, my emotions were all over the place; I would alternate between feeling good, really good, and certain, and then like I couldn’t take all the soul searching one more minute.”
Symptoms of PAWS include mood swings resembling an affective disorder, anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure from anything beyond use of the drug), insomnia, extreme drug craving and obsession, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, suicidal ideation and suicide, and general cognitive impairment.
The conditions disclosed in the article are not the easiest to go through, which only makes the process of rehabilitation for substance- and alcohol-dependent people even more admirable, especially for those who follow it through. Drugs and alcohol usually influence much of a person’s body and brain, and with habitual use, he/she may become absolutely dependent on the substance. When these are removed from the system, the body automatically seeks it and makes the craving much harder to ignore.
One of the most prevalent conditions of substance-dependent people is becoming more sensitive to stress, as they are pushed to crave what they are trying to forget. Recovering alcoholics and addicts, often making hasty and reckless decisions, tend to give up easily and have trouble controlling their emotions and actions. This is because of neural activities in the brain, which long for the substances eliminated from the body.
Addicts who wish to quit their dependency on substances should seek help from professionals of a reputable treatment facility like Midwest Institute for Addiction to treat various conditions, such as PAWS. They should find a recovery center which adapts approaches according to their needs and conditions and where they can undergo extensive medical care, like detox procedures and programs that involve their working environments.
Responsive addiction professionals working in facilities, which concentrate on substance and alcohol rehab in St. Louis, MO, can only do so much. They can do everything in their power and resources to help patients recuperate from their addiction, but ultimately, it is going to be up to the patients to keep on improving their lives. Even though there may be relapses, however, at least these rehab facilities can help patients with medical, psychiatric and behavioral care to promote their healing and well-being.
(Source: The Condition Many Recovering Addicts And Alcoholics Don’t Know About, The Huffington Post, 12 February 2014)
