Enroll in Treatment After all this legwork, now the hard part begins. You enroll or get admitted to the treatment facility and undergo a comprehensive interview and evaluation. This is similar to what you went through with your family doctor, if you took that initial step, but different in that this is a specialized facility that only deals with treating clients who are trying to overcome their addiction. Following the interview and evaluation, a personalized treatment program will be created for you. Everything will be explained, including the length of the treatment plan, what, if any, medications will be prescribed (to help minimize discomfort and cravings during detox, for example, or to help with anxiety and depression), and how treatment will progress. Then, if the facility includes medically-supervised detoxification services, you’ll go through a period where your body safely purges itself of harmful substances. Detox generally doesn’t last that long, but it’s vitally important because no treatment can begin until you are clean. After detox, active treatment begins. While treatment is tailored to the individual, it generally consists of psychotherapy on an individual and group basis, educational lectures and discussions, various treatment modalities, as well as recreational and leisure activities. Each client is assigned a core treatment team that consists of a primary therapist, family therapist, psychiatrist, medical doctor, nurse and any other appropriate professionals. Most substance abuse treatment programs also include participation in 12-step groups. Mindset During Treatment Makes a Huge Difference Once you’re in treatment, you will do yourself an enormous favor by adopting a positive mindset. Treatment is not always going to be pleasant, although there will be many rewarding aspects about it that you will come to appreciate later. And you’ll become acquainted with individuals who can help you discover things about yourself that you didn’t know or talents that you never thought yourself capable of. But treatment isn’t a cake-walk. Don’t expect it to be. Expect that during treatment you will have good days and bad days – and some in-between. Look at it this way. You’ve spent a lifetime abusing substances. It’s bound to take some time to undo all that damage and put your life back on track. For some, treatment affords them the opportunity to be clean and have a normal life for the first time in decades. Time will go by very quickly. Before you know it, you will be creating your recovery plan with your therapist and getting ready for discharge. Make the most of your treatment time by learning all you can about how to deal with cravings and urges, how to manage depression, what to do when anxiety strikes, and how to live a healthier lifestyle. Make it a point to find out what aftercare or continuing care services are available to you, when and where they are held, and any and all specifics about this invaluable care that you can get before you leave the treatment facility. Home Again – Now Reality Sets In Whether you were in treatment for 30, 60, 90 days or longer, the time comes when you leave the facility and go home. For long-term addicts, there may be a transition to a sober living home or other facility to assist in the reintegration back into society. But let’s say you do go home. You have a family that’s there to support and encourage you in your recovery efforts – or you don’t have anyone. Either way, you’re bound to face some intense pressure, anxiety, bouts of depression, uncertainty – and some overwhelming cravings and urges. It’s different for everyone, of course, and coming home is harder for some than for others. You can help yourself by sticking to your recovery plan, making your daily schedule and going to your 12-step meetings as often as you can. You need to take good physical care of yourself as well, since the ravages of addiction have likely resulted in a lot of accumulated damage. Be sure to eat well-balanced meals, drink plenty of water to hydrate yourself, and get 8 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Don’t forget the value of physical exercise. This is often overlooked as something unneeded, when just the opposite is true. Not only does exercise help you become healthier physically, vigorous physical exercise produces endorphins. And these feel-good chemicals in the brain are nature’s natural pleasure resource that can wipe away depression and give you an emotional boost just when you need it most. Prepare for Changes One thing you’ll need to be ready for is a great deal of change. Your life can’t go on like it did before you entered treatment. That means that you’ll need to change your social life, avoid the so-called friends that you used to hang out with and get high, even change where you live or work, if that’s what it takes. While drastic changes are discouraged during the first year of recovery, that only applies to deliberate change of major life events. You shouldn’t plan to get married or divorced, buy or sell a house, decide to have children, or up and quit your job the first thing when you get out of treatment. But you do need to change the way you behave, the things you do on a daily basis, how you think about life and what it means to live clean and sober. And, again, it won’t be easy. Some days you may dread getting out of bed. Some nights you won’t be able to sleep for the cravings that keep you up. If you’re anxious, depressed, feel a total lack of self-confidence, call your 12-step sponsor, go see your therapist, or ask for the support and encouragment of your loved ones or close friends. Don’t be afraid to say you’re having a rough time. If you do feel the least bit uncomfortable, understand that this, too, is normal. After all, you’ve been living for years under the cloud of substance abuse. It takes time to just figure out what normal is. Give yourself time to adjust. And you will adjust. You do need to make new friends, people who are sober and share your desire to live a healthier lifestyle. You can start with your 12-step group members. They have all been in a situation similar to yours, although each person’s story is naturally different. What doesn’t change is that they’re all committed to helping newcomers to recovery. They’ll be invaluable allies as you face crises and opportunities. Listening to their stories and what’s worked for them will give you new insight into how you may be able to adapt their suggestions to your own situation. What if You Relapse? The “R” word shouldn’t cause you undue anxiety. The fact is that relapse, while common, doesn’t always happen – not even to those who have been addicted for years. Granted, it may be more likely with some long-term addictions than others, but it’s not automatic. So, you shouldn’t fear it. Fear is counter-productive, anyway. Recovery experts and 12-step groups like say that relapse should be looked at in a different light. It isn’t a failure if you have a slip. It’s an opportunity to learn what didn’t work and to concentrate instead on the things that do work – and do more of them. In fact, as long as you learn something from a relapse, you should just get back on track and keep moving forward in recovery. It doesn’t mean you have to start all over again. If, on the other hand, you have a major relapse, don’t get disheartened. Some individuals who had long abused substanves need to go through treatment more than once. If your heart and mind are in the right place, if you truly want to undo a lifetime of substance abuse, perseverence and determination will help you get there. Will Others See the New You? You’re no longer the same individual that walked through the door into treatment. Over the months after you are in recovery and making progress each day, you will start to see for yourself the major changes you’ve made in the way you choose to live. This is, after all, your life. What you create for yourself in the future in terms of goals and dreams begins with what you do today. Others will begin to notice the changes as well. You will have a light shining from within you that was all-but extinguished before when you were in the depths of addiction. You will have hope where you had none. You will be able to laugh, experience joy, make friends, learn new things, perhaps even love again, or for the first time. Everyone loves a winner. Going through all the things that you did to overcome your lifetime of substance abuse, you are a winner of the first magnitude. Be proud of what you have accomplished, and keep living in the present, alive and grateful for the gift of life that you have chosen for yourself. A few years from now, when you look back on the long-ago days when you wondered if you had what it takes to undo a lifetime of substance abuse, you will smile and acknowledge that, yes, indeed you did. Make the choice today. Your life in recovery awaits.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 17:52:50 +0000
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