It’s important that whenever you or a loved one find yourself in the depths of an addiction, you’ll want to get professional help.
While some can achieve results on their own, not everyone does, and at the same time, not everyone has the tools they need to sustain that sobriety or freedom from addiction.
Benzodiazepine addiction recovery is a highly structured medical process that’s designed to safely manage the severe withdrawal symptoms. Here’s what the treatment for such an addiction recovery looks like.
Why is Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Dangerous?
The problem with benzodiazepines is that if you’re stopping the addiction to them abruptly, it’s likely to cause life-threatening seizures.
That’s why the recovery requires both a systematic and multi-step approach, which is managed by professionals.
What Treatment Really Looks Like for Benzodiazepine Addiction Recovery
For benzodiazepine addiction treatment, each step of the process is just as important as the next. Not just for the success of recovery, but to keep the body and mind safe from life-threatening harm.
1. Medically supervised detox
The first and most critical step in this addiction recovery is clearing the drug from your system. Medical professionals will begin by slowly tapering you off the drug. Reducing the dose over weeks or months will help prevent severe shock from occurring in your nervous system.
A long-acting benzodiazepine like diazepam is often substituted for short-acting ones like alprazolam. This is a good way of stabilizing the withdrawal symptoms.
Medical staff will track your heart rate, blood pressure, and your sleep patterns around the clock, too, for any abnormalities in the detoxing process.
2. Psychological therapy
Once you’re stabilized, that’s when the treatment shifts to rewiring the habits and any underlying anxieties that triggered the substance use to begin with.
The use of psychological therapy is helpful and may involve cognitive behavior therapy. This is the gold standard for benzxo recovery as it helps to identify negative thought patterns as well as develop healthy coping mechanisms for anxiety.
There’s also dual diagnosis treatment, whereby mental health conditions, as well as the physical side of treating the addiction, are often very effective for long-term success. Group therapy is also great for providing a shared experience, which reduces isolation and provides peer accountability.
3. Alternative co-occurring treatments
As benzos are typically prescribed for insomnia and anxiety, it’s sometimes important for recovery to find safe alternatives to manage those original symptoms.
Non-addictive medications may be prescribed by doctors, such as beta-blockers, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or specific sleep aids.
Patients can also learn about evidence-based, stress-reduction techniques like deep-breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation.
4. Aftercare and relapse prevention
Recovery doesn’t end when rehab finishes. Long-term sobriety is something that requires ongoing maintenance.
This includes sober living houses that provide a drug-free environment between inpatient care and returning home.
Ongoing attendance at 12-step programs or alternative peer support networks is great for keeping recovery a daily priority. Therapists may also map out personal triggers and create an action plan for moments of high cravings.
Recovering from Benzodiazepine addiction is something that requires a professional approach and one that is imperative to safely taper off from the drug.
