REHAB

No two people are going to have the same experiences or the same end results where rehab is concerned. Some will rebel against it, as I have seen on many occasions; they just don’t want to be there. It depends greatly on why you are there and what you want to get out of it, or put another way, whether or not you are serious about your recovery. You have to want sobriety more than life itself for any type of therapy to work, including rehab, otherwise it just become ‘dry time’, and all you think about is getting out and having a drink. Been there, done that.

Many of the people I met in rehab were there because they had been sent by the courts, as an alternative to going to prison. Many of them did not want to be there, and indeed, had no intention whatsoever of giving up their drug of choice. They were just ‘doing their time’ in a much easier place than prison, and basically having a good time winding up the staff and doing their utmost to disrupt the normal day to day routines of the place.

To me, the Diana Princess of Wales Treatment Centre was my life saver. I went there because I had reached rock bottom and I believed that rehab was my last chance. Of one thing I am certain. If you really want it to work, then rehab is the best place to help you succeed in your desires to bring a halt to your addiction, whatever it is.

There are always going to be those who want to break the rules, bringing in, or having somebody else bring in, alcohol and drugs. Random breath testing and urine testing were a regular feature of my last rehab. Thankfully I managed to stay clear of all of that nonsense, but several people didn’t, ending up being made to leave or return to the courts for further decisions to be made about their future, possibly being sent to prison.

As in any institution with such a mix of people and emotions, there are sometimes physical altercations, and I also managed to stay clear of them. My experience is that rehab is basically a safe place, if you want it to be. If you can concentrate on looking after your own recovery, and not get involved with the politics and cliques, then rehab can work, as it finally did for me.

Rehab only worked for me when I got myself involved. It’s not enough to go through the motions, just being there and doing the minimum amount of work.  You need to go to the AA meetings, which were not compulsory in my rehab, but so important. It’s there that I learned about the big book and the third step prayer, which I believe saved my life.

You need to go to the relapse prevention classes to learn about how to cope with cravings and temptations when you get back out in the real world, and learn about the dangers of going back to the same old stomping grounds and the same people that you used to mix with.

It’s important to join in the group therapy sessions and learn how to be honest with other people and with yourself. Don’t hold back, we all do the most incredibly stupid things when we are drinking, share them with others, you’ll hear a lot of very similar stories. When it comes down to it, you’ll find that you have more similarities with the people you are sharing with than you have differences, no matter what your background is. In rehab, you are all just addicts, and it matters not one jot what you are addicted to, or whether you are a pauper off the streets, or a managing director of a huge corporation. Addiction is a great leveler.

Don’t be afraid to talk to the counselors, many of them will have been through exactly the same as you, they are there to help, not to punish. Some of the residents that I knew saw them as authority figures, like prison guards or the police. They only harmed themselves with this view point. By the time you reach rehab, you are probably very vulnerable, but you need to be able to trust somebody, because you sure as day is day, you can’t trust yourself. Listen to what they have to say, it may just save your life.

Rehab is not a great place to be, it really isn’t. Three months or longer away from friends and family is tough. But it is worth sticking it out and learning as much as you can about yourself and your addiction. It may introduce you to organizations like the AA or NA for the first time. Above all it gives you hope that there is a better life for you out there, you don’t have to live this way. I can say with complete honesty that without my rehab experience which led to the AA, the Big Book and the third step prayer, I would most definitely not be alive today. So, in my case, the best thing I ever did in my entire life was to go to rehab.