If you have come upon this article while searching for drug rehab information or other forms of help with an addiction problem, first let me just say welcome! You are a brave person for taking that first step, reaching out. When I say that, I mean it will all sincerity. I am pretty sure you have already heard that from family, friends or even counselors repeated times. So, pat yourself on the back, then be assured that you will not find AA platitudes or empty promises here. As an ex-alcoholic and perscription drug addict I can tell you with 100% confidence that those sort of solutions are short term, like putting a bandaid on a gaping wound.
Certainly checking yourself into a drug rehab center is a positive step. However, the thing you should keep in mind is that the only way to kick an addiction is if you want it more than anything else in the world. A drug rehab program can only do so much for you. The rest is up to you; your resolution, your mindset and your sincere desire to stop taking drugs or drinking. If you want the outcomes of drug rehab to be positive, you must take the bull by the horns and buckle down. Recovering from alcoholism and/or drug addiction is definitely possible, but do not let anyone fool you into believing it is easy. It is not. But being clean and sober is worth every ounce of pain and struggle you will go through. And you WILL go through pain, and you WILL struggle. Don’t kid yourself. I will use one simple platitude that is very old but totally true. Anything worth having is worth working for.
Just try to imagine a day when you wake up feeling good; free from the need for drugs or alcohol, unburdened by those constant thoughts of where the next fix or drink will come from, where you will get the money, what pharmacy or doctor you haven’t used yet, or what friends you haven’t driven nuts with your addiction. Imagine smiling, appreciating the sunshine, a good cup of coffee, a soda, a great meal, planning your day, which is busy with productivity that makes you feel the sense of satisfaction you always yearned for and sought in drugs and alcohol. That day WILL arrive. I guarantee it. The day when you begin to feel human again, when you are not filled with guilt and self-loathing, when fear doesn’t control you.
These emotions are the main culprit, the demons that led you to drink or do drugs in the first place. See, the thing you should understand is that addiction is not about drugs or alcohol. It is about you, the way you feel about yourself, your past, your future, and the world around you. To recover from addiction, especially if you plan to check into a drug rehab clinic, you must learn first of all to be completely honest with yourself. That is harder than it sounds, believe me. But being honest with yourself for the very first time is the most freeing feeling you will ever know. No high can match it.
I would like to offer some resources to help you begin that journey. There are some really good places, first of all, to get rehab loans if money is a problem. Most of these kind of loans do not require you pay them back, the ones funded by government programs, that is. Never before has there been so much help in the quest for recovery. If you are looking for a good drug rehab in california, you can actually afford to go even though you may not have the money.
Do some research, using the terms “state funded drug rehab” or “help with drugs.” These programs also cover alcohol abuse. If meth is your drug of choice there is great help at meth rehabilitation stanislaus county for those of you in that area.I have several friends who have successfully gone through meth rehab. They are some of the most interesting, happy people I know, (though they look pretty rough from years of using meth!) Still, they accept that and even laugh about it.
I hope this information has been helpful to you. I wish you the best of luck in your journey to sobriety.
Being sober is starting a brand new life. Welcome to yours!
As very often happens, a person with an alcohol or drug problem, but more especially their family and close friends, may not realize that there is a problem and drug rehab should be considered until it is too late. “Too late” does not mean there is not hope for the sufferer. It only means that the addiction has the upper hand and the addict no longer has a choice in the matter.
However, do not fool yourself into thinking that just because you don’t have an addiction that what you are consuming cannot cause you harm. Take note of the sad story of Karen Quinlan, an innocent girl who simply took a Valium while drinking and ended up in a coma for 20 years before her family finally unhooked the life support. Any drug can kill instantly with the right–or wrong, in this case–person’s chemistry and the wrong mixture of chemicals, no matter the dosage. (Alcohol is also a chemical, a drug, for the record. Anything that alters your mind is a drug.)
If you feel that you DO have a problem with drugs or alcohol, the first thing you should understand is that there is nothing for you to be ashamed of by asking for help or checking yourself into a drug rehab center. As you have probably heard, the majority of cases of addiction are hereditary, as well as many mental illnesses, which is often the catalyst that leads to drug or alcohol abuse. A person with a chemical imbalance in the brain often finds relief from their anxiety and pain in alcohol or drugs. If you interviewed ten homeless drug addicts or alcoholics, you can bet that seven of them are also mentally ill. Too bad a drug rehab program doesn’t cover mental illness. (But that’s fodder for another article.)
This article is for you, the addict. The first thing to do if you are reading this article and see yourself in the words is to admit to yourself that you have a problem. Now please don’t back off, thinking “next comes the twelve steps.” There aren’t going to be any. Though Alcoholics Anonymous and having a sponsor has helped millions of alcoholics and drug addicts maintain sobriety, that is not the only road to recovery from addiction. In fact, in the AA Big Book itself, there is a passage that states that if you are sincere you can become sober by yourself.
Each of us are unique individuals. Maybe your problem is meth, for instance. The good news for you is that there are rehab programs specific to a particular chemical. You can find a meth rehab to sign up with. Also, if your circumstances don’t allow you to go in for inpatient treatment like the celebrities all do, a drug rehab clinic can easily set you up for outpatient treatment. Whatever your situation, there is a program or organization that can help you. Say you can’t afford to go to rehab but you know you need to. There are rehab loans available through the government that you won’t have to pay back. These choices cover just about every excuse you can make for NOT going into rehab.
Good luck to you if have decided to reach out for help. Just remember that the outcomes of drug rehab are, like you, unique. If you truly want to get clean and sober, sobriety CAN be your outcome.
If you believe that addiction is something new simply because Mary Kate rehab pictures are splashed across your favorite tabloid then think again. Addiction has been a problem in our culture dating back as far as the pharaohs. If there had been tabloids back in Cleopatra’s day the story would have been the same as today, famous people over-imbiding in mind altering substances.
However, famous people are far from the only ones afflicted with a substance abuse problem, they are just the only ones we hear in the news. And man is it news! The story of britney rehab was more popular in the news than the war in Iraq. Lindsay rehab pics were the most downloaded item online for several weeks running. Think about the number of newspapers sold the day John Belushi overdosed, or the news coverage of the Heath Ledger overdose.
Celebrity drug and alcohol problems are not just fodder for the celebrity rags or the tabloids anymore. They are breaking news stories on major television networks. It seems that our fascination with all things celebrity has reached critical mass. Could it be that our own lives are so boring that we must fill them with the trials, tribulations and successes of someone else’s life? Maybe that is a cynical attitude, but what other explanation could there be?
As a culture, we have always been awed and highly curious about the lives of celebrities. Though as of late, within the last few years, it appears we have begun to pay more attention and give more credence to the thoughts, actions and ideas of celebrities than to religious leaders, heads of government, and other leaders who formerly were our role models.
What is really worrisome about this is that young people actually want to emulate people like Amy Winehouse. If you don’t know who Amy Winehouse is, congratulations! You fit into the miniscule percentage of people who have not been subjected to the whining, skeletal and scary rock star from England. Just knowing that the percentage of folks who don’t know who Amy Winehouse is so small is the part to worry about. When winehouse rehab was splashed across the tabloids, in modern day fashion, sympathy went out to this sad sad rocker girl in droves.
In contrast, take the case of steven tyler rehab. Steven Tyler is the lead singer of Aerosmith, one of the most popular bands of the 20th and 21st century. Tyler’s stint in rehab was kept relatively quiet in relationship to the rehab of modern day stars like Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan. Coincidence? I think not.
What appears to be happening is that going into rehab has become just one more way to drive the publicity machine and in turn the money machine. No longer is a role model’s problem with addiction or other personal demons they might struggle with seen as something negative. In fact, our society embraces the troubled celebrity even more than before.
It is hard to discern if this means we are more empathetic and realistic or whether being screwed up is becoming a state to aspire to. I guess it’s all in the way you percieve the world.