It is possible to free yourself from a drug addiction and begin a new, completely drug-free life. If you’re addicted to drugs, you will have to take action to create a completely new lifestyle for yourself. It will not be easy, but it is possible and definitely worthwhile.

Here’s how to succeed with freeing yourself from a drug addiction:

Cut All Ties With Other Addicts

If you’re serious about getting free from a drug addiction, one of the most painful aspects of rehabilitation is cutting ties with the other addicts who are your loved ones and friends. If you fail to take this step, your odds of successfully detoxing are much lower. It’s hard to do, especially if your significant other and close family members are addicts, but do it. Change your phone number and don’t look back.

Move if Necessary

A recovered teenager addict named Timothy had been living with his divorced mother in Hawaii when he became addicted to drugs. He was unable to stop using the drugs until he made arrangements to move to his father’s home in California. In California, he joined a church, became active in his high school soccer team and made a new circle of drug-free friends. After beating his drug addiction, he was able to get a part-time job, graduate from high school and attend UCLA. Unlike many addicts, he was able to stay totally clean after he made the move and began his new life.

Timothy says he would never have been able to get clean without having moved. He tried unsuccessfully for months; he suffered numerous relapses despite his intentions to get clean because he said his friends wouldn’t leave him alone. They kept showing up at his house and giving him drugs, and he kept falling into the same old trap of going out to party with them. His addict friends were so numerous and so persuasive that he was unable to cut ties with everyone who was contributing to his failures to rehabilitate. Moving away from them was the only effective solution.

Enroll in a Suitable Drug Rehab Program

Be aware that 12-step and other such willpower-based rehab programs can be effective for rehabilitating from alcohol abuse and some types of drugs, but they do not work well for healing opioid drug addictions. If you’re addicted to heroin, Fentanyl, Percocet or another opioid, your chances for success will be best if you are able to transition to a drug-free status after therapy that includes an opioid substitute such as methadone or Suboxone.

In many locations, including Australia, there is an overwhelming amount of demand for the limited numbers of spaces available in effective drug rehabilitation programs. As a result, you could find yourself waiting indefinitely to get the help you need. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, you’ll need to be proactive about making other arrangements; waiting is a recipe for self-destruction.

You can become a medical tourist and travel to a location where drug rehab is much more available or affordable than it is at home; or you can seek care through the private healthcare system. While paying out of pocket is prohibitively expensive for many addicts, it’s possible to find private health insurance that will cover some or all of the costs of detoxing from drugs. You’ll want to do a health insurance comparison to find the best possible provider of the rehab services you need.

Find a Way to Meet Your Underlying Needs Without Drugs

There are various reasons people use drugs. Finding a resolution for these underlying issues can be helpful for ensuring you don’t relapse into substance abuse again after having detoxed.

Many people acquire their drug addictions after serious accidents cause them horrific pain; their doctors prescribe painkillers, and they get addicted. If that’s your situation, you might find it helpful to seek other sorts of pain treatments such as massage therapy and physical therapy.

Some people get involved with drugs because they’re bored, and drugs provide a convenient escape. If that’s your situation, finding a new circle of friends and a new passion could be an important key to your healing. Actively seek out a new hobby, a new job, a new religious faith, volunteer work or graduate studies to alleviate the boredom in a positive way.

Beating a drug addiction requires a multi-faceted approach involving more than just willpower; it requires action towards a well-considered recovery plan. Many addicts will find that all the above steps are necessary for true recovery.