Getting Better One Step at a Time in Drug Rehab

  To get my drug addiction under control, all I thought I needed was to detox and to sleep. I felt this would be more than sufficient help to getting over my drug and alcohol addiction and I would be able to go on to live the sober life that I so badly wanted. I had no idea what I was in store for when I got to drug rehab. The detoxification process was exactly how I expected it would be. I ate, slept, and was administered medications to help me cope with withdrawal symptoms. It was what happened after detox that shocked me. During my treatment in drug rehab, the facility brought in outside speakers to share their “experience, strength, and hope.” Until that moment, I had always thought that people who had “real” problems with addiction were homeless, low-bottom drunks and addicts. On the contrary, the people that spoke at my addiction treatment facility were individuals who were like me. They were middle-class people who let their addiction reach a point where they were homeless or doing unthinkable things so they could get their next “fix”. This got me thinking that, if I didn’t take drastic measures, I could easily wind up homeless or in jail. At this point, I decided to give up control of my own life. I surrendered to addiction treatment. I started listening intently to the therapists that I worked with and the other clients I interacted with, especially the ones that had relapsed in the past. I figured that I would be able to learn from others’ past mistakes to better my recovery experience. Taking all the advice that was offered to me, sometimes begrudgingly, I started to think that it was possible for me to stay sober. After drug rehab, I continued to swallow my pride and started to attend an aftercare program. I learned in drug rehab that my decision making was probably not the most reliable at the time, so I decided to let others call the shots for me for a while. Giving up control of my own destiny in drug rehab and aftercare saved my life. If I had diabetes, I would listen to the physicians treating me, so why wouldn’t I listen to the physicians treating me in drug rehab?