By: Lakeview Health
If you go to enough AA or NA meetings, you will learn that everyone who ends up in drug or alcohol rehab has pretty much the same story. Sure, the specifics are a little different, but, in the end, they could not control their drug and alcohol abuse and their lives became unmanageable. Nobody ends up in addiction treatment because their lives are going well. Now, what happens after drug rehab? What separates those who stay sober from those who relapse? The outcome has to do with which road to recovery the individual decides to travel on. Any quality drug rehab is going to set up a specific aftercare program for each of its clients to follow. People who go to rehab for 28 days start to feel better, clear their minds a bit, and think that they have their lives under control. Nothing could be further from the truth. An attitude like this is a recipe for relapse. Those who follow the suggestions of the treatment center they attended, however, are far more likely to avoid relapse and achieve long-term sobriety. Such aftercare suggestions may include 90 meetings in 90 days, getting a sponsor, and working the 12-steps of AA or NA. They also might suggest living in a halfway house or sober living facility, attending outpatient classes, or having ongoing therapy.As much as I didn’t want to, as much as it was against everything I did in my active addiction, I took the suggestions of the drug rehab I went to. I went to 90 meetings in 90 days, I got a sponsor, I worked through the steps, and I went to a halfway house for 3 months. 4 years later, I am sober and happy.The purpose of going to drug rehab is letting other people tell you what to do and guide you through recovery. People who take the suggestions from the professionals at their treatment center give themselves a very good chance of staying sober. All you have to do at drug rehab is give up your old habits and open yourself up to taking suggestions.
