Change is something most people struggle with at times.  Drug rehab represents such a huge change of lifestyle, priorities, social interactions, and more.  One of the biggest changes is to a person’s state of mind.  When they go to drug and alcohol rehab, they know they will be coming back to reality, away from their constant escape.

Drug Addiction Escaping Reality

Addiction Is A World Of Escape

Everyone needs an escape sometimes, but people with drug or alcohol addiction live in a world of escape.  Despite the physical, emotional, and social problems that come with addiction, they continue to pursue the escape.  Why keep at it if it pulls your life down?  Because the escape becomes the most important thing in an addict’s life.

It’s not that someone with an addiction seeks to destroy their life.  They are actually making a desperate attempt to preserve whatever sanity and peace they might have left.  By escaping from the pain, they get some form of relief from having to face it.  They can “fuzz out” for a while and forget about losing their job, the fight with their spouse, their overdue bills, their painful memory flashbacks, or whatever piece of reality that seems to assault them.

Drug rehab often seems to threatening to a drug addict or alcoholic.  They don’t feel they can function without the drugs, much less cope with the really difficult things.  Drug rehab brings the drug addict back to daily reality.  It helps them begin to adjust to daily life with awareness instead of constant escape.  They learn different ways to handle pain besides covering it up or running away from it.  This is not an easy thing, but it begins a habit of self-honesty.

Drug Rehab Teaches Addicts How To Face Reality

Drug and alcohol rehab teaches about having a life of balance.  Healthy temporary escape can be listening to some good music, reading, doing exercise, talking with a good friend, dancing, etc.  These things get the person closer to their authentic self, while drinking and drugging gets them further away.

The purpose of healthy temporary escape is to take a break with the intent of returning with a fresh mind and calm emotions.  Unhealthy escape from drugs and alcohol often make emotions and thoughts even more agitated when they are forced to see reality again.  Healthy escape includes the expectation of returning to reality - unhealthy escape hopes to avoid reality forever.

Drug Rehab Resisting The Return To Reality

Drug rehab can be a tough ride sometimes.  Making the transition from escape to reality can be jarring and uncomfortable.  But like many difficult things, it gets more familiar and easier to manage with time and support.  Drug rehab sets up the addict with positive connections and a network of people that care long after they leave the program.  Reality and pain can be tough to face, but drug addicts don’t have to face it
alone.

There’s a new advertising campaign I keep hearing about “buzzed driving”.  It’s main point is to show that you don’t have to consider yourself really drunk to be a hazard on the road.  You can be a little buzzed with one or two drinks and still be dangerous.  Take a look at a few facts about driving and alcohol.

2009-06-28_055

Alcohol Shuts Down Good Judgment For Driving

Alcohol Shuts Down Good Judgment

Alcohol is a depressant drug, which means it slows down the body’s functions.  However, being just a little drunk can give a slight euphoric feeling.  It increases confidence and decreases inhibitions.  In other words, you think you can do more than you really can.  And you don’t have a second thought about why it might be a bad idea.

Overconfidence and lowered inhibition - these two factors alone are very dangerous, and you haven’t even gotten into the car yet.  Your ability to make a good judgement about traveling in a two-ton metal vehicle goes out the window.

Driving Impairment Happens With Just One Or Two Drinks

You don’t have to be legally drunk to have a problem with your visual reaction time.    According to this chart by the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, many women can be impaired with just one or two drinks.  Alcohol impairment is dictated by a person’s body weight and their gender.  Even men and women of the same weight don’t have the same level of impairment with the same amount of drinks.  Unfortunately, women have it the worse.  It takes less for women to become impaired with “just a few drinks” than it does for a man.

If you are bar hopping or hanging out somewhere after work, it’s extremely important to keep track of a few things - your current weight, the time you began drinking, the time you finished your last drink, how many drinks you had, and being sure you got the equivalent of just one drink for either beer, liquor, or wine each time.  That’s 1.25 ounces of 80 proof liquor, a 12 ounce beer, or a 5 ounce glass of wine.  Can’t keep all of that straight?  Then be sure you aren’t the driver when you go out.

Drinking With No Control Could Mean Alcohol Treatment In Your Future

Drinking responsibly requires some thinking and planning, especially if you know you might end up driving later.  If you tend to over-drink, drive when you are impaired, or can’t clearly remember how much alcohol you’ve had most times, you may need alcohol treatment.  If you get a DUI charge, you are likely to receive some form of alcohol treatment or education to help you learn about responsible drinking.

Some people discover that they have a bigger problem than they had realized.  Getting into an accident or watching a friend go through a DUI and alcohol treatment process can shake you into reality.  Just remember that it can take less than you think to make driving dangerous.

A family can help their loved one after drug rehab in many ways.  The first post I wrote on this topic had too many ideas.  I’m happy to give you the other part of the list today.  If you have a family member returning home from alcohol rehab or you have become recently sober, this is vital information for you.  Read this list and the previous post on supporting someone after drug rehab.

Family Support Returning From Drug Rehab

Family Can Really Listen To You

Sometimes, all you need is someone to listen to you for a while.  I know I “think out loud” a lot.  The ideas in my head change when I put them into spoken words.  Then, I can also get feedback on my thoughts.  This practice of active listening can be done by anyone in the family who is committed to helping the addict.

People in pain just want to be understood, to have their feelings heard and validated by another person.  Even if the listener doesn’t agree or doesn’t completely understand, they can still help the addict express
themselves.  In many cases, just the open supportive atmosphere is all the addict needs to feel better.

Family Can Help You With Healthy Eating

Good habits can take a long time to learn.  If an addict has been eating poorly and not taking good care of their body, then healthy eating can be a challenge to keep up.  Drug rehabs with nutrition programs can help addicts start new habits.  But like with any new habit, they can be hard to stick to.  After the newness wears off, it can be hard to get motivated to keep the change.  Have a supportive family member cook with you to make it fun.  You don’t have to feel like it’s such a battle on your own to make healthy changes.  Plus, you get more social support time by making it a joint activity.

Family Can Exercise With You

Everyone needs exercise, and it’s often much easier to keep up when others do it with you.  Plus, it keeps physical activity fun when the muscle strain or exhaustion gets challenging.  Addicts are all about whatever’s going on in the moment, and they may be easily tempted to quit exercising when it gets hard, boring, or they don’t see quick results.

Doing exercise with family members does more than just improve physical health.  It shows that a family member (or more) are showing a committment to the addict.  The addict gets a regular social opportunity plus ongoing evidence of the family’s committment to the addict’s life after drug rehab.

Get The Family Involved With Drug Addiction Recovery

As you can see, there are so many ways family members can support someone returning from drug rehab.  It can feel awkward at first, but it helps to have a plan.  More than anything, it’s important to understand
that drug addiction is really a family problem.  It’s not just about the drug addict, it’s about everyone making self discoveries and positive change.

The first post about dealing with drug addiction cravings offered a few great ideas.  There were so many great ideas, they couldn’t fit on just one post!  Here are a few more good ideas for helping you through a
drug craving.

Get Your Heart Pumping

Exercise does so many good things for the body.  It starts pumping natural endorphins through your body, which give a pleasurable feeling.  It also gets oxygen flowing better to your brain and muscles.  Drug rehabs often have exercise programs to help a recovering addict get in touch with their body in a healthy way.  If you have been to drug or alcohol rehab before, you probably know the benefits of exercise helping with sobriety.

Perhaps most importantly, exercise is a great distractor.  When you really get your heart rate raised for several minutes, it gets tough to concentrate on much else.  The next time you do aerobics or get on the treadmill, push your heart rate for about 10 minutes.  Your breathing should be slow enough so you can still carry on a conversation, but you should be able to feel you are working your muscles.  Once you get that going, just try to get emotionally consumed by something.  It’s tough, and that’s why this really helps.

Call Someone You Trust Right Away

Sometimes, just hearing the voice of a person you trust can make all the difference.  You know you can say anything you need to and they will listen.  Talking to one of the people you trust the most can help you
calm your feelings.  This could be a good friend, a past counselor from drug treatment, your support group sponsor, or family member.

They can help you find ways to get through your craving, remind you of your good progress, or just spend time talking with you while it passes.  In our world of instant communication, this is a good reason to get
instant gratification.

Do Something Different Right Where You Are

Let’s say you are somewhat trapped in your location for a while for some reason.  You can’t get a ride for a few hours, bad weather, stuck on a long subway ride, whatever the case may be.   A real basic way to
change your mood is to do something you know will change it.  You might have to improvise because of your location somewhat.  The basic principle is this - feelings follow actions.  You start doing something you like and the positive feelings will follow.

For example, you might not be able to play a game of football wherever you are.  But you can read your football magazine, practice a few moves, tell a few stories (to whoever might listen) of the greatest football games you’ve ever been to.

In fact, planning for this situation is an even better idea.  You have a small crossword puzzle, your extra notebook, your Gameboy, your extra sports magazine - a small collection of things you enjoy to take your mind off a craving wherever you are.

Don’t Be Caught Off Guard With Drug Cravings

The most important thing to remember is that drug cravings happen.  After you go through drug rehab, understand that cravings can be a normal part of the recovery process.  When you expect that they may happen, you won’t feel so surprised when they do.  Having that expectation and a plan will help you get through your cravings more easily and with less risk of relapse.  Know yourself and you will know how to get through your cravings.

Let’s see the difference between a functional person and an alcoholic person in the exact same circumstances who thinks they are functional.  If you aren’t familiar with the experience of being alcoholic, you may not understand how this could get so bad.  Or, if you are actively in denial about being alcoholic yourself, you may have plenty of excuses ready to dispute the truth.  Take a look at how the following scenario differs with and without addiction.

Scenario #1:

With Alcoholism:  A few extra bills come in the mail one week.  Julie really needs to stock up on her secret alcohol stash for the next few days and they also need to get groceries.  Her husband asks that she control her spending this week until their next round of paychecks come in.  They will be OK but it will be close.  She promises her husband she’ll be careful.  She goes to the pantry to see if she can squeeze out meals from what she has, plus buy a few regular items like milk and juice to make it look like she got some groceries for the week.  Then she plans to use the money she would have spent on a regular grocery trip on her alcohol for the week.

Without Alcoholism:  A few extra bills come in the mail one week.  Julie really needs to get groceries.  Her husband asks that she control her spending this week until their next round of paychecks come in.  They will be OK but it will be close.  She promises her husband she’ll be careful.  She goes to the pantry to see if she can squeeze out meals from what she has.

The Difference Between Alcoholism and Sobriety

The first scenario sets up a conflict between doing what the family needs (getting groceries) and what the alcoholic wife needs (filling up her secret alcohol stash).  She doesn’t just dig in the pantry to reduce her grocery bill and get some other essentials.  She created a deception of having gotten some groceries by getting a few essential “high profile” items, but actually got less than she probably needed to.  She needed to be sure there was enough money left for her alcohol rather than being sure there was enough money to not bounce any checks or feed her family sufficiently.

This is the process of an alcoholic who maybe goes to work and takes care of her family most of the time (or at least it appears that way).  But in a desperate family moment, she puts her alcoholism ahead of the financial safety net.  If she were not alcoholic, she wouldn’t have the alcoholic thinking trying to sway her against the more logical family-oriented choice.  Alcoholic thinking is self-serving - it makes excuses, deceives, and keep secrets so that it can keep surviving.  It divides families deeply because it goes against
cooperation and trust.

If you thought the above scenario was a little too familiar or you suspect this is happening with a friend, you may be discovering an alcoholic addiction in the works.  Alcohol rehab can detangle the alcoholic thinking that distorts the way a person sees the world.  Alcohol rehab usually offers family services as well.  You can see from the scenario above that the husband and wife would need some marital therapy.  Also the husband would need some help and support understanding the nature of alcoholism.  The wife may need to be in
more than just alcohol rehab to settle into sobriety.  She will likely need some form of aftercare, maybe some outpatient alcohol treatment, and a support group.

Functional Doesn’t Mean Living A Good Life

Just because you haven’t gotten arrested and you still have your job doesn’t mean you aren’t an alcoholic.  If you drink frequently, spend a lot of time protected and caring for your stash, and your decisions are impaired by your use, you may have alcoholism.  It’s important to get alcohol treatment sooner rather than later.  Find out more about alcoholism before you have a deep family problem.