Silver Spring, MD Addiction Therapy—Counselors and Therapists
Addiction is a complicated and not completely understood area of mental health. There are a number of competing theories that attempt to explain the causes of addiction. It is clear, however, that there are numerous factors that lead to its development – a combination of genetics, family history and environmental conditions all have a role to play. Experts estimate that one’s genetics and family history account for 50% of the risk of becoming an addict, while environmental factors account for the other 50%. It is not possible to address the genetic and familial causes of addiction, consequently treatments such as addiction counseling focus on treating consequences relating to the environment of an addict.
There are two major subtypes of addiction – psychological, or mental, and physical. Psychological addictions stem from a mental compulsion to carry out the addictive behavior, one is driven to do so without control. Physical addictions, on the other hand, are essentially biological dependencies on particular substances – one’s body becomes so used to the presence of the addictive substance that if consumption is stopped, withdrawal symptoms ensue, often accompanied by dangerous side effects. These two subtypes of addiction regularly occur in conjunction with each other.
No one is immune to addiction, and even celebrities succumb to the power of addiction. Well known celebrities, such as Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson, lost their battle with addiction and even though their legacies live on, their fans and loved ones were and still are devastated by the loss of these two extremely talented men. Addiction is no small task to defeat, but here at Thriveworks, we believe addiction counseling can be particularly effective at helping these individuals manage the behaviors and thoughts associated with their addiction. Work with a Thriveworks Silver Spring addiction counselor or psychologist in Montgomery County today.
Causes and Symptoms of Addiction
Many things can assist in the causation of an addiction. How do you know when your desire to do or have something becomes so severe it is considered an addiction? Signs and symptoms of addiction can vary from person to person. An easy sign to spot is if your loved one begins to neglect putting effort into their appearance and/or their hygiene. With addiction, signs and symptoms tend to snowball, meaning one symptom can lead to the next. Depending on the addiction, symptoms tend to vary, however one symptom that seems to remain consistent between all types of addiction is denying the fact that an addiction is present.
The physical aspects of addiction are addressed through a process of detoxification: an addict stops consuming the drug and progresses through the withdrawal symptoms until he or she is recovered. The psychological aspects, however, have to managed over a longer period of time. Once the addict has recovered from the physical dependency, he or she may still have to cope with a psychological addiction. This is the point at which treatments such as addiction counseling are particularly valuable. Addiction counseling aims to provide the addict with the tools and capabilities to cope with the mental triggers that may drive him or her to relapse into addiction.
Schedule a Counseling Session at Thriveworks Silver Spring in Montgomery County
Here at Thriveworks Silver Spring, MD we endeavor to create a welcoming and personalized environment to treat our patients. We recognize that there are no “one size fits all” approaches to managing addiction and design our addiction counseling around our patients’ individual needs. Why not reach out to us now and book your first session with one of our expert addiction counselors?
At Thriveworks Silver Spring we strive to create a personalized treatment plan for every patient. In this manner we try to ensure that our clients’ individual needs are met in the best way possible. At Thriveworks we accept many different insurance plans as well as offer flexible hours with weekend and evening availability. Thriveworks has a “no waiting list” policy. We want our clients to get the help they need as soon as possible, and new clients can have an appointment set up within 24 hours.
One of our addiction counselors or psychologists would be happy to further discuss the effects addiction can have on someone and ways to overcome it. Our counselors are always ready to talk to new clients. Call to book a session today at (202) 478-9619.
