I think treatment centers are the best thing going for problem drinkers, and for those alcoholics and addicts who are desperate to be detoxed. I think treatment centers actually do a pretty good job at detoxing, and educating.
So here are a few of the problems as I see it.
- Being alcohol free sounds like a great idea...until you are.
- No matter what a heroin addict says, being heroin free is never a place they want to be.
- Being pain pill free seems like the way to go until the pain comes back.
- Seeing the family visit and be "all happy" because you are clean and sober..."feels like" you have to be miserably clean in order for them to be happy. Being responsible for the families happiness starts feeling like an anchor very quickly.
- Alcoholics and addicts in treatment get a clear understanding that no one wants them around unless they are rigidly sober, going to meetings, going to aftercare, taking drug tests, going to halfway houses etc. When a newly detoxed person weighs all of that against getting high it seems way too huge to tackle. This is way too much direction for a newbie unless they are desperate to be clean and sober.
- As soon as the detoxing is done in a treatment facility you can almost see the wheels turning in their heads trying to figure out a way to get out of this, to get back to comfort no matter how uncomfortable the comfort had become.
But then I've discovered through sobriety that I don't know every damn thing.
5 comments:
I think everything you just wrote is 100% right. So what should the family do? Seriously, because I can see that the pressure my girl feels by our joy or disappointment is too much for her carry. I am happy when she is clean. I am worried and concerned when she is not. I am tired of tweaking my moods, acting like its her choice to do what she feels is best.....when really in all honesty, I want her clean and sober more than just about anything else. More than she wants it at this point. I want her to LIVE. Not just exist. It is just the craziest situation to find oneself in .....let go of your sick child so they can hopefully live. I know thats the only way... but it goes against our instincts as a mom. I know you get this because you are the kind of mom, like me, who makes picture led notebooks for their child to better be able to take care of themselves. How? That is my question. How do I do this? Again.
"Negative feelings and emotions, remorse, guilt, shame, shattered self-esteem, self-doubt, even self-loathing; loneliness, alienation, apartness, isolation, depression and feelings of hopelessness, futility and a pervasive sense of meaninglessness of life."
This is a clinical definition for a psychopath. I think it also describes the addict and why I use substances to feel better. A 30 day program (and I've been through a few) doesn't fix this. The next course in recover is addressing the spiritual malady.
I believe you are saying treatment centers do not do anything for the true alcoholic or addict(other than exposure to the 12 steps). I agree.
Heroin is a sweet siren. If there was a way to use "responsibly" Andrew would be all over it. When the shit hits the fan, heroin is still the first place his mind goes. However, he says it gets to be really hard work when you are in deep. And he hates working hard.
I don't know much about rehab centres because we have so few out here and they are very expensive. But I do think there are no quick fixes for a chronic long-term intractable problem like alcoholism. Thanks for this Pam
I thought that I left a comment on this but maybe I was having a brain fart. Anyway, I don't know much about rehabs. I do know that medically supervised detox is a good thing. What someone does after that is largely dependent on them and their Higher Power. I know that my wife detoxed on her own but she was a high functioning alcoholic who wasn't drinking a lot every day. She is still sober. A friend who was taken to hospital detox with seizures and went through their dryout and has not had a drink in 21 years. It can be done without expensive rehab centers. That's all I know.
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