Alcohol abuse may seem like a harmless issue. After all, it is constantly showcased in our favorite movies, television shows, songs, and other forms of media as something in which almost everyone engages. However, most people also know that alcohol abuse can potentially lead to addiction, a serious problem that requires professional help, such as alcohol detox and alcohol rehab.

When you seek help from facilities that offer alcohol rehab and alcohol detox in Miami, FL, you will be able to learn better ways to avoid substance abuse in the future as well as methods that will help you cope with your symptoms. Going through treatment for alcohol addiction will change your life in so many ways, allowing you to live happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. If you don’t believe it, keep reading to learn more.

1. You Will No Longer Be Focused on Alcohol.

Addiction is a disease that changes the way your brain works. When you drink consistently for several years, the reward pathways of your brain actually change so that it is harder for you to feel anything good when you’re not drinking. Consequentially, it will be harder for you to experience the same effects drinking used to have on you, which will lead you to drink more and more to experience these effects. This is known as tolerance.

When people say that addicts are selfish or only focused on getting the drug of their choice, they often don’t realize the physical and chemical changes that addiction makes on a person (National Institute on Drug Abuse). If you are frustrated with the way you consistently want to drink, even as it is causing problems in your life and the lives of those you love, you can seek treatment in the form of alcohol rehab, which will help you change this behavior.

After alcohol rehab, drinking will no longer be your main and only focus. You will be able to separate your needs and desires more effectively from your desire to drink and to fight the latter more successfully.

2. You Will Be Able to Focus on What You Want and Need.

When people become addicted to alcohol or other substances, the desire to drink controls them, and they cannot focus on anything else. Once you have gone through alcohol rehab, you will be able to refocus your life onto the important things you know matter to you, such as your loved ones, work, school, and your goals. The therapy you will receive in treatment will allow you to put these important matters front and center in your life, and the medication you take will help make it easier to focus on them.

3. Your Cravings for Alcohol Will Be Minimized.

It’s always important to remember that an addiction to alcohol cannot be cured, only managed, as stated in an article published by the National Institute of Health’s News in Health. Still, the management of your alcohol addiction with the help of medications will make it much easier to say no to alcohol abuse. According to NIDA, there are three medications used to treat alcohol use disorders, including:

• Acamprosate (Brand name: Campral), which reduces withdrawal symptoms associated with severe, long-term addiction, such as anxiety, restlessness, dysphoria, and insomnia
• Disulfiram (Brand name: Antabuse), which causes uncomfortable side effects, such as redness, nausea, vomiting, and irregular heartbeat, in those who drink alcohol
• Naltrexone, which blocks the opioid receptors in the brain, keeping you from experiencing alcohol’s pleasurable effects.

Depending on your specific situation, your doctor might place you on one of these medications during alcohol rehab to ensure that it is easier for you to avoid alcohol abuse and/or that the side effects of your alcohol use (such as withdrawal symptoms) will be milder. You may even start or continue taking this medication long after rehab has ended. In either case, this will allow you to live your life more easily.

4. You Won’t Need Alcohol to Have a Good Time.

In the past, you may have felt you needed to drink in order to enjoy yourself. This is a side effect of alcohol addiction and the changes drinking can make to the reward pathways of your brain over time. Eventually, though, if you seek help from a professional rehab program, you will be able to put an end to your dependence on alcohol and begin to enjoy yourself without it again.

How many times have you avoided going somewhere because you knew they wouldn’t have alcohol available? How many times did you drink because you thought a good time was impossible without it? After rehab, you can start to live your life without alcohol, which will be much more fulfilling than you ever thought possible.

5. You Will Surround Yourself with Loving and Supportive People.

If you have been struggling with alcohol abuse for months or years, it may be hard to tell who wants the best for you and who doesn’t. However, if you seek out treatment for your addiction and stop drinking, it will be much easier to determine who really loves you, supports you, and wants you to be happy and healthy—and who doesn’t.

When you leave rehab, you will probably want to manage your life differently than you did before. You won’t want to relapse back to your drinking days, and you’ll probably be more focused on how you can live happier, healthier, and safer. Some people in your life will be glad to see—and even relieved by—this change and will do what they can to help you maintain it. Others might find it inconvenient or want you to go back to your old ways.

It will be very easy to see who wants you to live your life in a healthy and self-actualized way, post-rehab. Those who don’t may be intimidated by your choice to recover, perhaps because it makes them take stock of the problems in their own life. Whatever the case, you will be able to recognize who supports you in your new life of recovery and who doesn’t, and you will be able to seek out people you want to be around.

6. Your Self-Esteem Will Soar.

Not only will surrounding yourself with people who love and support you make you feel better about yourself, but you will start to feel more confident and happier, simply because you have taken control of your life. Drinking can start in several ways: as an escape route, a way of avoiding our problems, a way to inject happiness into our lives when it isn’t there. But choosing to stop drinking once it has gotten out of control will give you feelings of power and confidence that you may have never thought possible. Once you can build a solid foundation of recovery, you will know you are as strong as possible because you learned to manage your addiction and continue living.

7. Your Happiness Will Grow.

You will no longer need drinking to make you feel happy when you aren’t happy. Instead, you will be able to create and manage your happiness on your own. According to a 2016 study from the University of Kent, though drinking temporarily boosts happiness, those who drink regularly do not see any increase in long-term satisfaction. This might be because the happiness drinking causes is artificial, impermanent, and at worst, self-destructive.

Instead of needing to drink to blow off steam, you’ll be able to feel your feelings and determine the best course of action to take in an effort to deal with the problems in your life. You’ll also be able to fill your days with activities that produce long-term satisfaction, instead of spending your time on the quick highs and lows associated with drinking. You will be able to find out what really makes you happy and pursue this without alcohol abuse getting in the way.

Are You Ready to Change Your Life?

Alcohol addiction doesn’t have to run your life forever. In fact, you can begin to change things and to seek a healthier lifestyle with the help of alcohol rehab and detox in Fort Lauderdale, FL. At Summer House Detox Center, our treatment begins with a full detox program for alcohol dependence, followed by an easy transition into alcohol addiction treatment. Call 800-719-1090 to speak to an addiction specialist any time, night or day, and begin your recovery now or visit us at 13550 Memorial Highway Miami, FL 33161.