Changing My Life Through Substance Abuse Treatment
I used to scoff at people who went to a drug rehab program or an addiction treatment center. I figured they were just pansies who couldn't get their life sorted out on their own. It was a strange way to judge people, in that I myself had a habit that I just couldn't seem to fix...or rather, I could fix in all the wrong ways. A good friend of mine who had spent a few weeks in a drug rehab center before relapsing kept talking about all these skills that he was supposed to have learned in those few weeks. It seemed to me that the skills he kept mentioning were ones that would take a great deal longer than a month or so to really pick up on enough to take with you when you left.
It's not so hard to have really great habits and practice newfound skills when you are surrounded by other people going through substance abuse treatment. After all, you're all in the drug rehab treatment center together, so you're not exactly out on the street where there are people who might lure you back into using. Heck, just being able to walk outside and ask somebody on the street for a cigarette might throw you off track. You've got the cigarette in your hand and the next thing you know you're daydreaming about how nice cigarettes taste with beer and before you know it, you're off the wagon, drunk in some pub.
As it turns out, I was wrong about people who seek treatment. Addiction isn't something that just goes away on its own, it's something that sinks its bloody claws deep into your life and never lets you go no matter how hard you try to shake it. The only way to send the addiction dragon on its way is to deal with the underlying issues that caused you to seek out an alternate version of reality. Checking into a drug rehab center was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Every second of the way there I felt like screaming "no, turn around, take me home," but I knew that I couldn't do that, that my life would never change if I didn't get help.
What I learned in rehab was mostly about myself and the way that I view and interact with the world. Nothing is as black and white as I tried to make it out to be. When I was told to try having a plant, and then maybe a pet, before I actually tried having a girlfriend again, I thought they were being silly. Of course, I was once again proven wrong as I killed two plants before I figured out how to care of the durn things properly. I think that all my previous judgments were based out of fear- fear of change and fear of weakness. Now, I know that I have a weakness, but knowing what it is means that I can make sure I'm not putting myself in bad situations. I guess that's why we call it "recovering" and not "cured."
Written by Melissa Bryson. Sober College is a young adult drug rehab program for substance abuse treatment located in California. More addiction treatment center information available at http://www.sobercollege.com .