The Role of Sleep in Opiate Addiction Treatment
Informative and helpful for those dealing with opiate addiction or withdrawal process! -T Brown
Recovery from addiction is a long process that requires extensive dedication and external support.
One factor people often underestimate, however, is the importance of sleep in opiate addiction treatment.
At its core, addiction is an illness. And, just like any other illness, proper sleep is necessary to recover from it.
Let’s take a look at why sleep is so essential to recovery.
Sleep Promotes Good Health
When a person is in recovery, it is important to work on improving their overall health.
Getting proper sleep is a necessary component of a healthy lifestyle. Without consistent sleep, the body cannot fight against infections or chronic illnesses.
In the same way, without sufficient sleep, your body will not be able to break its addiction to opiates.
Sleep Aids Opiate Addiction Treatment
In addition to being important to overall health, there is evidence that sleep actually helps people recover from drug addiction more quickly.
According to recent studies, addiction recovery patients who reported getting a good night’s sleep had more success in overcoming their cravings for drugs and alcohol.
By contrast, patients who struggled with getting sleep also struggled in breaking their bodies’ dependents on harmful substances.
Remember, at its core, addiction is an illness. Like any other illness, your body needs proper sleep in order to fight it.
The Struggle with Insomnia
That said, the process of needing sleep to recover from drug addiction can lead to a frustrating and vicious cycle.
When a person ingests drugs or alcohol, these substances impact the body’s normal functions. Being in an altered state can disrupt the body’s natural sleep cycle, and often causes insomnia.
Additionally, when a person uses drugs their body becomes dependent on them. For this reason, insomnia can get worse when a patient quits drugs.
Thus, the vicious cycle. In order to overcome drug addiction and cravings, the body needs sleep. At the same time, addiction can make it difficult to sleep, which in turn makes the cravings stronger.
Getting a Good Night’s Rest
Even so, there are things that opiate addiction patients can do to get a better night’s sleep.
One recommendation doctors make is to eliminate distractions. A good way to do this is by making your room a dedicated sleep space.
Removing televisions, radios, and other electronics from the bedroom signals to your brain that the room is a place for sleeping, not entertainment.
Additionally, while it may be tempting to just lie in bed until you fall asleep, this strategy can actually be counterproductive. The longer you lay awake, the more anxious you will get about your inability to fall asleep. The more anxious you get, the harder it will be for your body to relax.
Instead, if you’re having trouble sleeping, it’s a good idea to get up and do a relaxing activity. Reading a book or listening to soft music are activities that can help your brain settle down and get ready for bed.
Even with good sleep, however, addiction recovery requires a lot of support. If you or someone you know is ready to start opiate addiction treatment, contact us so we can match you with the program that is right for you.
Reviewed and Assessed by
Taylor Brown, B.A.Com., MAADC II
Tim Coleman, M. of Ed.
Staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Medical
Midwest Recovery Centers believes strongly in a client-centered approach. Substance Use Disorder is not what it was 5 or even 2 years ago. The substances on the street are constantly changing and so are the number of contraindications and fatal threats that substance use imposes on the person suffering. Our Medical team continues to stay up to speed with new advances of evidence-based approaches in treating those with both substance use disorder as well as their co-occurring mental health diagnosis. There are many varying pieces to each client’s situation when it comes to tackling the puzzle of a medical detox, and each step in the treatment planning is carefully selected, reviewed, and communicated for the best possible outcome of each client. We understand that consideration of the medical history, family history, past trauma, past and current substance use are all key indicators to most effectively give each client the best chance at developing a recovery process. Each client may present with a different scope of medical needs whether it’s their blood work or the most effective medications for them. Midwest Recovery Centers is proud to have the finest medical team to meet these individual and specific needs of each client that walks through our doors.
Clinical
When it comes to the therapeutic treatment of patients with substance use disorder, Midwest Recovery Centers believes in a client-centered approach guided by evidence-based practices. Substance use disorder has been identified by the American Medical Association as a disease, but because addiction is a disease that impacts behavior, treatment of this disease is often heavily focused on modifying behaviors and thoughts as well as establishing a new way of life. We place a strong emphasis on educating patients about this chronic illness and empowering them to practice treating it as such. Our clinical team is composed of leading experts in the field. We believe in having a staff as diverse as the clients we serve; from Licensed Professional Counselors to Licensed Clinical Social Workers, our staff is highly trained and educated in not only addiction but the mental health issues and life circumstances that often accompany it. Many of our clinicians have their own personal experience in long term recovery which lends them to an even better understanding of what our patients are experiencing. Our staff is highly skilled in choosing the most effective therapeutic modality for each client’s needs, to give them the best chance of securing the recovery process that will change their lives. Our clinical team understands that this is a family disease. This is why clinicians will offer weekly updates to families as well as concrete tools for families to utilize as they journey through this illness with their loved one. Those tools will be offered by the patient’s individual clinician as well as at our free Family Night on the first Wednesday of each month, offered to anyone in the community.
Our Origin Story
I began Midwest Recovery in honor of my mother, Betty Lou Wallace, who taught me responsibility in life and sobriety.
Mom was born, raised, and lived most of her life in Missouri, a state I'm still proud to call home. She had five children. The youngest were my older brother Don and me.
We knew that the disease of addiction ran in the family, but it wasn't until Don and I grew older that we realized we were falling into addictive patterns. Through it all, Mom was supportive of her children but firm about one principle: whether the disease was inherited or developed through your environment, you were responsible for your recovery from addiction.
"I will be supportive of your recovery but I will not enable your addiction," she was fond of saying.
Ultimately, I stayed sober from 1990 to 1997, when I relapsed. With Mom's support, I was able to get sober again in 2002. Tragically, Don was not so lucky. He passed away in 2005 from complications of an injury and continued addiction.
Mom wanted no parent to suffer from the sorrow and anguish of losing a child, so in 2002, she helped me establish my first treatment center business.
As Mom grew older, she shared with me some lessons she had learned through her affiliation with Al-Anon, a support group for family members of loved ones struggling with addiction. She asked me to stay clean and sober one day at a time and to use the lessons I learned in my own recovery to help others who were suffering.
In 2008, Mom passed away from throat cancer, one day after my six year sober anniversary. I still remember that one of the last times we spoke, she told me she was proud of my recovery.
Mom would be so happy to know that myself, our partners, and our team are carrying on her legacy in her home state. I don't know if my own recovery process would be intact without her and the lessons she shared. So much of what we share with our clients at Midwest began with Betty Lou.
Above all, Mom imparted several teachings that I carry with me every day: that people are inherently good, and if they fall into addiction, this makes them sick, not bad. She taught me to be patient, tolerant, loving, and kind to myself and to others.
Most of all, she taught me that recovery works if we are able to be honest with ourselves about our own behavior. That’s what she helped me accomplish and that’s what we strive to accomplish with every Midwest client.
On behalf of Betty Lou, I thank you for your interest in Midwest Recovery.
Jeff Howard