Treatment for Sedative Addiction
Purpose Healing Center: Trusted Sedative Addiction Treatment for Lasting Recovery
Overcome Sedative Abuse or Addiction at Purpose Healing
Do you ever wish that life would slow down so you could catch your breath? You might find it hard to ease racing thoughts through the day and especially at night. Or, maybe anxiety is so bad it’s hard to go out in public or do the things that you need to at work.
Sedatives might seem like an easy answer, whether you’re looking for sleep support or something to take the edge off. After all, if something helps you function, it might seem like it isn’t bad. And, it’s possible to get sedatives even without a doctor’s prescription.
Any time that you take a depressant, however, there’s a risk of addiction. It’s even possible to become dependent on doctor-prescribed sedatives.
If you’ve been taking sedatives for a while, you may find yourself wondering about sedative addiction and whether it’s possible. You may have questions about whether you should get help. Fortunately, by the end of this article, you’ll understand sedative addiction, withdrawal, and when to turn to Purpose Healing for help with treatment.
Common Symptoms of Sedative Withdrawal
Any type of long-term substance use can cause dependence, even when you are taking a medication that’s been prescribed for you. With sedatives, your central nervous system gets used to operating in a relaxed state.
Without this outside influence, you’ll feel restless, agitated, and anxious. You’ll likely experience withdrawal symptoms that are the opposite of sedative side effects. Common symptoms include high blood pressure, tremors, rapid breathing, fever, night terrors, and seizures.
Is Sedative Withdrawal Similar to Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome?
Since alcohol and sedatives are both depressants, you might be wondering if they share similar withdrawal symptoms. They do mirror each other, also sharing symptoms with opioid withdrawal.
Anxiety, restlessness, high blood pressure, and tremors are common, and there’s a risk of seizures. Both courses of treatment use a similar approach of prescribing central nervous system depressants for severe withdrawal.
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Sleeping Medications and Sedative Misuse
It’s hard to function after a night without sleep. You just feel “off” the next day. This often presents as psychological symptoms affecting mental and emotional health. It becomes impossible to concentrate at work, your mood fluctuates, and it’s harder to make decisions that you normally wouldn’t question.
Sleeping medications aren’t always a bad thing. When used for support, they help you get a full night of rest and combat the symptoms above. The problem is that if you are constantly relying on sedatives for help, there’s a risk of physical dependence and addiction.
It’s even possible to become reliant on medications considered “non-addictive”. This reliance is known as dependence. Often, you’ll need a higher dose as time goes on. You also might find it’s nearly impossible to sleep without taking sleeping pills.
Risks of Self-Medication with Sedatives
Some of the most commonly prescribed sedatives include benzodiazepines like Valium and Ativan, barbiturates prescribed for sleep disorders, and non-benzodiazepine sedative hypnotics, also called “Z-drugs”. Over-the-counter sleep medications are also sedatives.
Sedatives share a few similarities to alcohol or opioids because of the way they relax your central nervous system. They all eliminate excitability and make it easier for your body to rest.
With self-medication, it’s impossible to regulate your dose. It can be tempting to take more of the drug if it doesn’t seem to work or you are feeling more anxious than usual. As you increase your own dose without outside guidance, it becomes more risky to continue sedative use.
Too many sedatives also increase the risk of side effects like respiratory depression. These side effects mimic an opioid or benzodiazepine overdose.
As your heart rate gets slower and your breathing becomes more shallow, there’s a risk of taking in less oxygen. You might feel lightheaded or lose consciousness. In addition to taking too many CNS drugs, there’s a risk of these side effects when you combine sedatives with other depressants, including alcohol.
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Our Accredited Sedative Treatment Program
Accreditation matters. When you choose our Joint Commission-accredited facility, you can feel confident that you are choosing a better standard of care. It’s a testament to our evidence-based therapies and doing what works. Our accreditation also speaks to the value and accessibility of our treatment offerings.
What Medication-Assisted Treatment for Sedative Withdrawal Looks Like
There is no specific addiction medicine that treats sedative withdrawal. Instead, the process involves tapering.
Your doctor may prescribe a different medication than the sedative you are used to for tapering. Then, your dose is slowly reduced over time. This significantly reduces the risk of severe symptoms like withdrawal seizures. This approach offers a chance to treat withdrawal without being reliant on the same prescription drugs that led you to over-dependence on sedatives in the first place.
Another part of withdrawal management is treating concurrent mental illness. If untreated trauma or underlying anxiety is causing your symptoms, they are addressed through therapy and medication support. This is all part of your personalized treatment plan for benzodiazepine discontinuation.
Individual Behavioral Therapy
The American Psychiatric Association classifies substance use disorder by its psychological and behavioral health symptoms. Whether intentional or unintentional, overreliance on sleep medications points to a behavioral health issue. Here’s a look at a few treatment options for addictive disorders that might help if you are abusing benzodiazepines.
During cognitive behavioral therapy, you’ll work closely with a therapist to evaluate your thinking and how helpful it is. You can learn more about why you’ve turned to sedatives for help. As you learn what drives this usage, you can also learn skills for coping with unhelpful thinking habits.
Dialectical behavioral therapy teaches things like distress tolerance and emotional regulation. If you’ve been self-medicating because of anxiety or stress, you can learn to overcome these things. It becomes possible to calm your mind without the outside influence of sedatives.
Last, motivational interviewing focuses on finding your “why” for staying sober. What motivates you and makes you do better? Whether you need to hone in on your “why” or find one, you’ll work with a therapist during treatment for sedative addiction to do just that.
Group Counseling
As you work in support groups, you’ll find solace knowing you are not the only person struggling with addiction to sleeping pills or other sedative medications. Many people have similar problems.
Whether you participate in counseling in an inpatient or outpatient setting, it’s an opportunity to share your path and listen as others share. You can listen to ideas about what works and doesn’t, and find support to overcome sedative addiction.
Holistic Therapies
The things that you do during the day affect how well you sleep at night. Through nutritional support, you’ll take in vitamins and minerals that help with the production of melatonin and GABA, chemicals important for sleep. With proper sleep support, you’ll wake feeling well-rested and improve your emotional well-being.
Experiential therapies like physical activity, art therapy, and music therapy also have benefits for your sleep. These are outlets for emotions that might keep your mind racing at night. They help you relax without the use of sedative drugs and also promote mental health.
Physical activity produces endorphins, benefiting mood. Doing this outdoors can help regulate your sleep-wake schedule, making it easier to sleep at night.
Dual Diagnosis for Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders
Have you ever wondered if an underlying condition is the root cause of your troubles with sleep and stress? It’s not uncommon to struggle with sedative addiction alongside mental health disorders. Fortunately, this means that it’s also possible to overcome these struggles with effective treatment.
At Purpose Healing, we help treat sedative addiction its influencing factors. We help you heal from anxiety disorders, trauma that might make it hard to sleep, or other conditions resulting in sedative misuse.
By helping you heal from these influencing factors, you’ll find it easier to abstain from sedative use once you return home. This does not mean that you’ll have to do it without medication, though.
Proper medication for psychiatric disorders is important when treating sedative addiction. However, these meds must be balanced in a way that doesn’t lead to dependence. We can help you find long-term support for your conditions, even after leaving our facility.
Find Accredited Sedative Addiction Treatment at Purpose Healing
When you choose an accredited facility like Purpose Healing Center, you are making the best choice for your future. We can help you manage withdrawal symptoms and treat conditions like anxiety and sleep disorders, without using addictive medications.
Reach out to learn more about how we can help you today, no matter the extent of sedative addiction. Whether you’ve been using sedatives for self-medication or want to detox from prescribed medications in a safe, supportive environment, let Purpose show you the way. We’re waiting for your call, so reach out today!
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