Anxiety is the physiological response of your body to real or apparent danger. It is a natural process that most people have to deal with at one time or another. Often, people use the term anxiety as a blanket term for worrying, uneasiness, and nervousness. However, there is a significant difference between anxiety and having an anxiety disorder. The latter involves several chronic conditions that interfere with your daily life, like panic attacks, obsessive thinking, and a consistently elevated heart rate.
Anxiety During Drug Detox
Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of withdrawal in people who are detoxing from alcohol or some specific drugs such as heroin detox. The anxiety feeling can appear in the form of panic attacks. At the time of medically supervised detox, the doctors and other supporting staff work to limit the severity of anxiety, panic attacks, and other such withdrawal symptoms. Medical detox is one of the best ways to deal with anxiety and panic attacks at the time of drug and alcohol detox.
Getting occasional anxiety feelings is a normal part of life, but those people who have anxiety disorder often have to go through frequent anxiety, panic attacks, fear, and terror in daily situations. Those feelings are not healthy when they start affecting your quality of life and prohibit you from normal functioning.
Some of the common symptoms of anxiety disorders are
- Nervousness
- Helplessness
- Enhanced heart rate
- Sweating
- Hyperventilation
- Trembling
- Obsessive thinking
Those anxiety feelings and panic attacks during substance abuse treatment can also interfere with your daily activities and sometimes become very difficult to control. It is important to consult your healthcare provider when your anxiety feeling starts having an impact on your daily life and relationships. Your healthcare provider can assist in ruling out underlying physical health problems before you see any mental health professional.
While most people getting anxiety attacks during heroin detox require psychotherapy or medications to get their anxiety under control, certain lifestyle changes and dealing strategies can also make a big difference.
Here are a few ways by which you can deal with anxiety:
- Medical supervision: Some medications, such as buprenorphine, clonidine, and methadone, are used for easing withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety. These medications assist in stabilizing your body and mind at the time of detox. In many cases, short-term use of benzodiazepines might be prescribed for managing severe anxiety. However, their use is monitored very closely because of the risk of dependency.
- Support: Cognitive behavioral therapy and other such counseling forms can assist in addressing the psychological traits of anxiety. These therapies offer coping strategies and emotional support. Group therapy can offer a sense of community and strong understanding, which can assist in alleviating anxiety by decreasing the isolation feelings.
- Consider your thought pattern: Irrelevant thought patterns can make the house in your mind and disturb the situation’s severity. One of the best ways is to challenge your fears, ask if they are true, and check where you can regain control.
- Practice deep breathing: Several breathing practices can assist you in managing your immediate feelings of anxiety. Breathe in for about counts and then breathe out for counts for five minutes in total. Through this, you can easily slow down your heart rate, which can assist you in calming down.
- Aromatherapy: Several research suggests that aromatherapy can assist in decreasing the feelings of anxiety in some settings. The practitioners of aromatherapy and its supporters often report several anecdotal advantages of these practices. Whether they are in the form of oil, incense, candles, or natural scents, they have a soothing effect.
- Exercise to remain physically active: In some cases, one of the best ways to stop anxious thoughts is to leave a situation and keep on moving. Focusing on your body and not on your mind can assist in getting relief from anxious feelings. Some of the low-impact exercises such as walking, tai-chi and yoga often help people to decrease stress and manage anxiety symptoms. Doing some quick exercises can assist in boosting your mood.
- Grounding methods: Some of the grounding methods like journaling can also assist in calming down the immediate feelings of anxiousness. Write down which feelings are making you anxious and it makes it less daunting. Reading your thoughts and feelings can assist you in taking stock of your emotions in that immediate moment.
Conclusion
Heroin detox is one of the most challenging processes for anybody looking to recover from addiction. That is true, as anybody going through the withdrawal can develop substantial symptoms of anxiety. Withdrawal can also trigger a wide range of extra mental and physical effects like mood fluctuation, headaches, nausea, mental agitation, and skin clamminess. Good detox centers are well prepared for dealing with such withdrawal symptoms and anxiety and panic attacks at the time of detox. Treatment of anxiety at the time of heroin detox is an important part of the whole detox process, as withdrawal symptoms can be both mentally challenging and physically difficult.
