The Goal of Establishing an Updated Personal Baseline

There are a variety of different issues to tackle when it comes to getting through treatment. One of these is finding a new personal baseline. West Coast Recovery Centers is focused on not just reestablishing a client's previous baseline but one that is better, stronger, and manageable.

What Is a Personal Baseline?

Our baseline is essentially where we are at our most neutral. This means that we are not too high and not too low. Due to the fact that human emotions exist on a sliding scale, it is important that the scale has an even balance.

Some people who have conditions such as bipolar disorder have a skewed baseline. This means that their highs may be too high or their lows too low (or both). When this happens, it can make things harder for them to deal with. Their emotional scale is tilting far too much to stay balanced. In these cases, medication can often help with putting them in a better headspace.

How Can a Personal Baseline Change With Substance Use?

Many people see substance abuse as separate from mental health disorders. However, substance use is very much a mental health issue.

People who struggle with addiction are addicted because the substances have altered their brain chemistry. This alteration has left them with a skewed thought process and certain physical needs that must be met to achieve what they believe is their baseline.

However, baselines change. People with substance use disorder (SUD) often find that the baseline they are attempting to reach is far from what it should be. Because their addictions have taken them so far afield, they may not see a difference or may see the substances as the only thing keeping them balanced.  

This is unsound logic but is shared by most people with this type of disorder. Add to that the fact that people may also have undiagnosed mental health issues. In these cases, their baseline is already skewed, leading to even more issues once addiction is thrown into the mix.

How Does Treatment Help Establish a New Personal Baseline?

When a person enters recovery, they are making a promise to themselves. This promise involves multiple goal, including the following:

• Detoxify the body
• Find a diagnosis
• Create a plan of action
• Understand issues
• Establish a new and regulated baseline
• Learn the skills to maintain baseline post-treatment

Each of these goals must be completed to create a healthy and rewarding post-treatment life.

A treatment center such as West Coast Recovery Centers assists in this process by providing clients with every opportunity to reach these goals. The trained staff understands the need for a deliberate and established plan of action. They also realize that the process takes time and cannot be rushed.  

Clients must be treated as individuals. When this happens, baselines are established based on the needs of the individual. Without this approach, people would be treated in a herd mentality, being churned out with the same everyone-is-the-same mode of thinking. This would be less than ideal.

That being said, treatment poses the same question to each client: Based on where you have been, where do you want to be next? This question may seem cut and dry. However, its answer is far from simple.  

Clients must explore whether their baseline was balanced even before treatment. Some people have found their way to SUD based on previously unbalanced baselines. When this is the case, it is not a matter of asking for treatment to help with finding one's way back. It is asking for assistance to establish something completely new.

How Does a New Baseline Help Post-Treatment?

Post-treatment life can be a difficult but rewarding place to be. The goal is to get to a place where one can go about life in as carefree a way as possible. In the beginning, the difficulty lies in attempting to find one's footing.

Recovery puts a person on the path to a better life, but the main thing it offers is the chance to create the bridge from old life to new life. This new life is primarily identified by a person's new personal baseline.  

With this new baseline, a person has firm ground to step on. It provides them with the knowledge that, at their most basic, they are safe. They have, in essence, successfully reprogrammed their mind to act on a different level. Instead of the frenetic back and forth of emotions they were feeling before, they have an idea of what calm feels like.  

For people who have never experienced this type of thinking and for people who have lost this mindset, a fresh baseline may feel unreachable. With the assistance of West Coast Recovery Centers, a new baseline can mean that the next steps are that much easier.

At West Coast Recovery Centers, we are prepared to assist clients in becoming their best selves in the post-treatment world. However, we understand that this is no small feat. One of the hardest pieces of the puzzle is how to get a person to a better, more updated baseline. This means various types of therapy and guided introspection. The end result is someone who feels balanced and in tune with their body and mind. When we know a client has achieved this new, clearer mindset, it becomes obvious that they are well on their way to learning self-love and personal growth. To learn more about West Coast Recovery Centers, call us today at (760) 492-6509.