Pushing oneself into freedom : the lived experiences of coping with detoxication

Abstract

The aim of this phenomenological study shall be to describe what motivates and engages drug addicts to undergo or keep on undergoing detoxification in either rehabilitation programs or using other ways or services provided in Malta. This study concentrated on what factors contributed to motivating and engaging the drug addict to seek help or affectively change, the interviews will give a better understanding on what might be that the drug addict sees as helpful towards seeking help and rehabilitate themselves back to society. In depth interviews were conducted with four male ex drug addicts who's ages varied from 20 to 40 years of age. Thematic analysis resulted in five main themes namely (1) Becoming an addict (2) Social life and Drugs (3) Need to change (4) Types of support (5) Keeping the addiction away. Findings from this research saw that abusers pass through stages of change before detoxifying themselves completely. Drug addicts find various things as supportive but each individual regards the treatment in his own way. Not all agree with current treatment.