Detoxification treatment in the COVID-19 crisis.

In times of global pandemic, special support is provided for people with addictions.

The coronavirus pandemic has very quickly placed us in a scenario of uncertainty and vulnerability that we did not expect.

One night we went to sleep with a strange mixture of relative normalcy and worry, and awoke the next morning to find that many of the rules that governed our world and our known reality had already changed.

Faced with this new and disconcerting paradigm, we all (addicts and not) became blocked, unsettled. If we want to overcome it adaptively, we will have to do a good personal work and rely on the right professionals.

Since the state of alarm was decreed, and with it the beginning of the confinement, there are many people with different diseases and pathologies having a very bad time. People with addiction problems are no exception. This being so, it is also true that people with addiction must make an effort to rationalize and relativize the discomfort derived from their situation of confinement..

How to cope with detoxification treatment in the face of the coronavirus health crisis

The low tolerance to frustration, impulsivity and anxiety that characterize addictive behaviors are fatal companions in this context of global pandemic. Even so, we must be aware that as uncomfortable and annoying as it may be for everyone, we cannot assign this situation the status of a catastrophe just because we are overwhelmed in a confinement for health security reasons.

Looking around us and empathizing with other people's lives, we can find many very precarious personal situations and illnesses for which this new reality is really catastrophic in terms of treatment and evolution. If we stop to observe the reality of people who, sadly, have been infected, become ill, are in an ICU and have even died, our anxiety becomes ridiculous, almost bordering on disrespect for our fellow human beings.

People with addiction problems, in these days of confinement, may or may not be actively using.may or may not be actively using (I would not know which may be worse), but what is clear is that their personal and especially family situation at home will be even more complex than usual. In this context, discussions, crises and conflicts of a much higher intensity and repercussions can arise due to the confinement situation (stress, consumer anxiety).

If you are reading this, you have an addiction problem and you are having a hard time, I invite you to make a couple of reflections with a constructive spirit.

How do you think you would be living this situation if you had already gone through rehabilitation treatment?

You would probably be prepared to manage it in a more mature, coherent and adaptive way. You would have more self-control over your thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and anxiety management skills..

Now you probably have multiple problems related to cravings, withdrawal syndrome, abuse and substitution of other substances, problems with your family, with neighbors, with authorities for non-compliance with regulations, etc.

Don't you think that the bad things you are going through are indicating the need to make a change in your life?

You can (and should) always learn from every experience, especially from those that clearly show us our shortcomings and limitations.

It may be an excellent time to consider making a change and get ready to undergo a treatment that will help you to break with the servitude of your life. that will help you break with the servitude and slavery of addiction. Perhaps this global crisis, even with all its bad things, can be the starting point to break with the past and make a good decision.

The need for therapeutic support

During these days, at Llaurant La Llum we are having a lot of contact with former patients who, today, are totally rehabilitated.. We are happy to see how they are being able to manage this situation from abstinence and personal stability, a way of dealing with problems very different from the one they had unfortunately before doing their program, full of anxiety for using and/or all kinds of alterations for having used.

In these convulsive moments we can access in the network to a Wide range of advice and recommendations (very appropriate) on how to stay active, busy, maintain a good attitude, the importance of controlling our thoughts and know how to direct them in order to have a better emotional state... All this is very useful as guidance for people without major pathologies, but for people with a complex disease as complex as the consumption of drugs. but for people with such a complex disease as addiction, an immediate treatment is required to help them to redirect their that helps them to redirect their situation, and in these moments more than ever.

Fighting addictions in times of pandemic is possible

In Llaurant La Llum (Therapeutic Community and Outpatient Clinic) we respond adapting to the current circumstances by promoting preventive protocols to curb the effects of the coronavirus crisis and to ensure the health safety of our patients. We continue to work through an intensive program that our Therapeutic Team has adapted to the current circumstances.

We have always done so, but now more than ever we ask patients and their families to ensure that they seek treatment at properly registered and accredited centers. treatment at centers duly registered and accredited by the competent health authorities..

This guarantees, on the one hand, quality standards in the treatment to be received, quality of facilities, methodologies, professionals... On the other hand, there is a very important issue at this time when looking for a detoxification center: to ensure that the center in question has preventive health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

In Llaurant La Llum we have all the measures and protocols established by the public health services of reference.. In addition, we have established a series of objective measures to ensure the peace of mind of our current and future patients.

To this end, we make available (as a mandatory requirement) to anyone who wants to enter our center, tests to verify that they have not been infected by the virus. Specifically, two tests are performed, a laboratory test, and if the first test is negative, a second rapid validation test is performed immediately prior to admission.

From the moment of admission, the person is ensured to be in a safe environment at the sanitary level and an intensive treatment of about 12 weeks is planned. treatment of about 12 weeks during which detoxification, detoxification and relapse prevention are addressed. We are in a privileged environment in the middle of nature where we can perform multiple sports activities, in addition to having all the telematic means to maintain a fluid and effective relationship with the family, make personal arrangements, access to training...

All social and health professionals have a role to play in this coronavirus crisis. and those of us who are dedicated to the field of addictions at Llaurant La Llum will continue to provide the necessary service to patients and families who require it in these difficult times.

"This virus we stop it together" .... And addiction too.

Author: José Miguel Camacho Fernández-Medina, Coordinator of the Therapeutic Community Llaurant La Llum