If you’re battling addiction, you should know the 12 steps of addiction recovery.

When addiction takes hold, it can be hard to see how much damage you’re doing to yourself. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a life of ugly behaviour and a routine of abuse. Once this routine digs its claws in, you might feel that you can’t escape it.

But, you can. In this article, we’re going to talk about the first step in the 12 steps of addiction recovery: admitting that you have a problem. It’s both the easiest and hardest step to go through. Once you make the leap, however, you can begin on the path to redemption.

Starting the Steps of Addiction Recovery

As an addict, it’s difficult to remove yourself from the situation that you’re in to finally admit that you’ve got a substance control issue. It could be drugs, alcohol, or sex; no matter what you’re going through, your body is working against your brain and vice versa to trick you into thinking that you need these things.

How Did This All Begin?

When you first try a substance, your intention is never to become dependent on it. Maybe you’re at a party and someone offers you something, or maybe you’re doing it to escape from some trauma that you’ve experienced, or perhaps you’re self-medicating for some larger issue.

As much as 38% of American adults struggled with substance abuse in 2017. That’s a staggering number for a country with almost 400 million people. Some of these people kick their habit quite easily, some of them require help, and some of them will never get away from abuse.

It’s a slippery slope when you start taking a substance more than once-in-a-while. It can be hard to recognize when that thing you’ve been doing to feel better is actually hurting you. Once you do realize, it’s often too late.

So, how do you keep yourself from becoming part of the statistics regarding addiction recovery?

Recognizing the Problem

There are some obvious signs that you’re abusing a substance. The biggest part of recognizing whether or not you’re an abuser is the ability to look at yourself from a different perspective. It’s easier said than done, so you have to take a good look in the mirror, so to speak, and figure out where the issues lie.

Here are some telltale signs that you’re an abuser or a potential abuser:

  • If you’re drinking to forget something painful in your past.   
  • If you’re coping with intense emotions with drugs or alcohol.           
  • If binge drinking sessions are becoming more frequent.      
  • If your relationships are directly affected by your use of substances.          
  • If you find yourself in dangerous situations or contemplate self-harm when you’re on a substance.

These are just a few ways to find out if you need to seek counsel. There are other questions that you can ask yourself to determine whether or not you’re an abuser. To find out more about the roots of drug and alcohol abuse, do a little research online. A simple Google search can tell you a lot about where abuse comes from.

Get Help, Get Clean

Once you get past the first step, you can truly begin to recover. Admitting that you have a problem is the catalyst that will lead you through the steps of addiction recovery. You have to want to get clean and the only way to want it is to admit that there’s a problem.

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