›› Drug And Alcohol Treatment
Drug and alcohol
treatment is something I have become familiar with over the last ten
years of my life. Not only have I spent some years training
and working in the field, but I myself have been through the gauntlet
of drug and alcohol treatments more than once. While its
certainly not a pleasurable experience, going through different forms
of drug and alcohol treatment can teach you a lot about
yourself. At almost five years of sobriety now, I feel almost
grateful for the opportunity for personal growth.
When you’re in the midst of an addiction or have just had a
relapse, opportunities for personal growth don’t really mean
a whole lot. All you really want is the suffering to
end. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the suffering does
not stop with drug and alcohol treatment. If you’re
familiar with treatment you already know this. Though you
will of course begin to feel physically better once you start a
treatment program, the emotional and mental distress can often get much
worse before it gets better.
There isn’t any quick fix or pain free drug and alcohol
treatment, so be prepared to do some work and be prepared to learn
humility. While drug and alcohol treatment varies a lot these
days, which is a good thing, they all have one thing in common;
breaking down the old you and building up a new one. This
sounds a little daunting and kind of scary, but don’t worry,
its really not so bad. Essentially, the essence to every form
of drug and alcohol treatment that I’m familiar with is
training your brain to use new networks and patterns of thought instead
of the old ones that got you into trouble.
Since the brain is involved in everything we do, there are a lot of
routes one can take to retrain it and that is why drug and alcohol
treatment is so varied. Writing, art, music, sports,
exercise, prayer, meditation, counseling, and support groups are all
common examples of tactics used in modern drug and alcohol treatment
centers. To best improve your odds in getting and staying
sober, it’s a good idea to try as many things as you can
because what works for some people doesn’t work for
others. Trying out a lot of new things boosts your chances of
finding something you like.
In the end, drug and alcohol treatment is a personal battle, and it
will be a unique experience for everyone. Therefore
it’s very hard to make sweeping generalizations or to provide
advice that’s sure to work. There is one Alcoholic
Anonymous saying that stands out for me as summing up the key point in
drug and alcohol treatment; “You don’t have to
change anything, except everything.”
››
A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
