What are some of your experiences with rehab? I was going to go tomorrow, but i don’t think i’m ready. I really want to try by myself, but don’t know if I can be successful. Really torn about this.
Looking for some advice and some experiences people have had going to rehab.
I went in 2002 it was the best thing I could have done. If it’s what you want it’s worth it, if you’re forced to go it’s a waste of time. You can make the best of it, or you can be miserable. All I can say is it was worth it for me
I have never completed a 28 day residential program, i went to one for 7 days then left voluntarily because i wasn’t ready ( i had just turned 21 so i thought it was a fluke) What i have had experience with is going through a detox center in order to safely go through your withdrawals especially if you have been a heavy drinker. Outpatient rehab is where i really found some tools that i still use today, such as HALT and mindfulness. I would give outpatient a try if you are skeptical about going residential. I dont know how familiar you are with outpatient but typically you go 3-5 times a week and they give you a breathalyzer as soon as you walk in and you have to give a urine sample either weekly or monthly (depending on your DOC). It usually consists of multiple group therapy sessions with each session being focused on a certain topic ex: triggers, relapse prevention, coping mechanisms. I hope this helped some what lol
I did go to an inpatient facility. It saved my life. Or a better way to say it is I actually have a life now. I showed up thinking I was just meant to exist the rest of my life as a drunk. Within 3 hours I met several people that shared a story similar to mine and these assholes had found peace, happiness or serinity (not sure what I saw in them for sure). I decided that night I would give it a real shot. Went to my first AA meeting that night and started to talk with several different patients that first night. There are two people I met that night I talk to daily! That was 9 plus months ago. It’s scary at first but are you happy with where addiction has delivered you currently? If you want help it will serve you well. I was a sponge and soaked up everything I could. Made friends with people I would never of thought I would. The key is if you want help. If the pain you are in has been enough for you to change. If you give it a go let us know how it goes. Best wishes
For me rehab was necessary. If nothing else, it’s a month long detox in a safe place. I did after care in a recovery house, which I’m still at and have been here for 9 months after 1 month in rehab. Rehab was a great place to detox, clear the fog, relate to people, and learn a thing or two about addiction. Thinking you can do it on your own is your disease talking to you. Things like job or people finding out or not being able to use anymore is what kept me away from rehab at first. I was pretty sure I wasn’t able to do it own my own and to be honest by the time I got to rehab I didn’t have much of a choice. I was out if options. But in the end, I got there and that allowed me to see what it is that I really wanted for myself. It’s not about what’s right or wrong, it’s about what’s best for you, for your sobriety, and ultimately for your life. That’s my experience.
I went in 2010 for 72 days and it was the best thing I have ever done! I was a heroin addict to the max and rehab helped so much - I have never had a relapse… I went court ordered but I’d consider it divine intervention.
It had an old gf who went voluntarily and left in abt 4 days. She said it was bc of her kids, but admitted to herself that it was bc she wanted to drink. She went from an RN certification and a $300k house, $70k Mercedes to My Sister’s House in Atlanta and did six months. She lost everything. House, car, RN Cert, kids, total implosion. While we no longer have contact, she is just over 4 years sober today. She will tell you it worked.
Only you know if “on my own” will work, but be honest with yourself.
Best,
Chandler
Worked for me. But I think because it was time.
I was pretty close to my life imploding.
Emotionally it gave me a break and a chance to think.
I don’t think there’s a miracle cure. But there’s always hope. Always.
my brother met many drug contacts in rehab
Rehab saved my life. Best thing that i could have done at the time.
Rehab worked for me. Getting that initial forced sobriety was a must for me. Sober 2 1/2 years now with a couple road bumps in the first year.
I relapsed after rehab but I am still using what I’ve learned from rehab whenever I do try to stop drinking (hopefully for good this time). The best advice I could give you is to totally embrace the program. Give it your all. Learn as much as you can. Don’t make rehab friends. Make sure you follow your after care program!
It’s a good thing to go. I relapsed on Sept 19 after 7 months clean. NA wasn’t doing it for me. Started a 90 day intensive outpatient. 1 hour counseling a week and 6 hours of group.
I’ve learned that no one just does drugs or alcohol and gets addicted for shits and giggles. There’s always a story to it. Mine is I don’t handle stress and anxiety well and set medicate for that. In outpatient I’m learning how to cope with my stress and anxiety so I don’t use. I didn’t get that in NA. You can get the skills you need in treatment. I highly suggest it.
I was super delusional in my thinking when i first decided to give sobriety a chance. So in retrospect, my addiction has required near daily interaction with sober people and their sober idealism/experiences. Rehab was a useful “gateway drug” into that type of lifestyle for me. I followed that up AA, 90 meetings in 90 days, and still go to 4-5 meetings a week. I also get crazy sensitive drug tests weekly. This has all been in effort to protect my sobriety from me; an unfortunate but honest necessity for me. In my case, it’s gonna take far longer than 28 days to change my thoughts on using. In my addiction, i racked up a ton of insulation against the need for sobriety. Things like money, degrees/intelligence, success; are all strikes against us getting better. For normal people (and I’m just guessing), youd think that having all the trappings of a successful life equals happiness. But for me it’s just further motivation to get loaded.
So yea, rehabs worth it, but it’s just a jumping off point to where the work actually began. Real change takes real time, patience, work. 7.5 months today
Rehab worked for me. I was given like 24 hours to get there, so I didn’t have time to change my mind. I did not think that rehab would work for me and I did slip when I got home but then I got sober for 7 years. Then had a slip again recently but sober again now. Not a perfect record or anything but overall success for me.
I didn’t realize how old post was until sent my reply. Don’t know even know how I got here. Lol
I’m still early in my sobriety (6 months). I feel that rehab was a good starting point and was very much needed at the time. I took it seriously and had a great experience. Since I’ve been out I do a little recovery related stuff everyday ( mostly reading). I skipped 2 days and I found myself just feeling kinda off. My therapist is such a big help as well, I started seeing her back when I was still drinking. No meetings. I kinda made up my own program and so far it’s working.
The saying goes that you have to want to do it otherwise it’s pointless, and I agree with that to an extent. I spent 4 months in a residential rehab (was meant to be 3 but I requested another month due to bereavement-i was hell bent on not missing anything). If you’d asked me the day before I went, I would have said I absolutely didn’t want to go, but there was no other way this was going to get sorted. It was intense, difficult at times, but the bigger picture is that it is a place where you have literally nothing to do but work on yourself and your addiction for a period. So on the one hand, it’s fine to not want to do it (because it’s scary and we’re only human), but the real question is wether you want the end result. The amount of time becomes less important in the grand scheme of things as long as you can see the end goal. Hope that helps.