"Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town." -- George Carlin

It can be a challenge to quit using drugs or alcohol when there has been a dependency or addiction. The first challenge is to stop using. That is hard enough in itself.

The second challenge is to deal with the thoughts and feelings that were being numbed out by the substance of choice. The user is generally self-medicating, using the substance to try to cope with depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger or low self-esteem.

Quitting the substance can be the emotional equivalent of the freezing wearing off after a visit to the dentist. While the mouth is frozen, you do not feel any pain while the dentist works. When the freezing wears off, you feel the soreness.

When a person quits using, they may begin to feel things that were blocked out before. The discomfort can be so intense that the person starts using again. This is why it is so important to have support. Twelve-step programs are excellent, providing ongoing support and encouragement.

Often though, more individualized treatment is required. Psychological therapy can assist the individual to get to the heart of difficult emotions and dysfunctional patterns. This can be critical to long-term success, for unless changes are made at a deep inner level, the same conditions exist that allowed the addiction to develop in the first place.

Gwen Randall-Young is an author and award-winning Psychotherapist. For permission to reprint this article, or to obtain books or cds, visit www.gwen.ca.