Why Going to a Detox/Rehab Can Help
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Long Beach, CA
Posts: 705
Why Going to a Detox/Rehab Can Help
Hi Newcomers!
I've been sober almost five years now, but I've been a Newcomer many, many times (I hope and believe I never will be again, but life is funny...You never know). I love to come to the Newcomers forum, like most alcoholics/addicts who've got some sober time. It reminds me on a visceral level how it felt to be new and scared and confused, and I hope some of my experiences can help newbies as they navigate the rough waters of early sobriety.
In the last few weeks, I've been reading some very desperate posts from people struggling so hard to stack up sober time...seconds, minutes, days. Many of you use some of the excellent resources available in addition to SR, including therapy, medication and meetings. Some of you are white knuckling it, just trying to make it from minute to minute by sheer willpower alone. Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows that willpower doesn't always work. In fact, it rarely works. Sometimes you need more.
When I had become out of control, a blackout drinker, I tried over and over again to stop. Even though I was what could be seen as an upper middle class housewife, Mom to three, living at the beach in Southern California, we could not put together the kind of money necessary to go to rehab, where even the least expensive were or priced at around $30,000. Dealing with two college tuitions, with one more on the horizon, economy issues, not to mention the craziness of an alcoholic spouse (me) within a marriage left nothing extra. So I tried repeatedly to stop on my own.
When things had become so bad that it was truly life or death, my husband had finally had enough. I was once again on the dark end of a binge, and so sick and suicidal that something drastic had to be done. Our solution was a sober living. My husband found one that looked okay, a Christian women only place about forty minutes away from where we lived. The price was $500 per month, and I provided my own food.
Yes, most of the women were not from the same background as me . Many had far, far less money, little or no support system and hard as it was to believe, far worse issues. It was not especially nice, just a decent place in an okay neighborhood. I shared a room with another girl, who had been living in her car before she came there. I will be forever grateful for that place. Moving there became absolutely the crucial element I needed to get sober. It took me out of my home, into a place where all I could focus on was recovery. I had no illusions of entitlement. I was happy to be there, grateful for what every single woman had to give me to help me learn to be sober. I never, ever thought I was any better, worse or different than anyone else. I gave away any and all judgement so that I could learn to be humble and grateful. And, after two months, I went home, and have never drank again.
I'm telling you newbies this because I hope that you will see that treatment is out there at all price ranges. I feel that getting help away from your comfort zone may be the thing that's missing in your search for sobriety, and if you can get out of your own way, maybe this is an option that will give you your life back. I wish with all my heart that every one of you finds the peace and happiness that comes with a life free from the prison of alcoholism and addiction.
I've been sober almost five years now, but I've been a Newcomer many, many times (I hope and believe I never will be again, but life is funny...You never know). I love to come to the Newcomers forum, like most alcoholics/addicts who've got some sober time. It reminds me on a visceral level how it felt to be new and scared and confused, and I hope some of my experiences can help newbies as they navigate the rough waters of early sobriety.
In the last few weeks, I've been reading some very desperate posts from people struggling so hard to stack up sober time...seconds, minutes, days. Many of you use some of the excellent resources available in addition to SR, including therapy, medication and meetings. Some of you are white knuckling it, just trying to make it from minute to minute by sheer willpower alone. Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows that willpower doesn't always work. In fact, it rarely works. Sometimes you need more.
When I had become out of control, a blackout drinker, I tried over and over again to stop. Even though I was what could be seen as an upper middle class housewife, Mom to three, living at the beach in Southern California, we could not put together the kind of money necessary to go to rehab, where even the least expensive were or priced at around $30,000. Dealing with two college tuitions, with one more on the horizon, economy issues, not to mention the craziness of an alcoholic spouse (me) within a marriage left nothing extra. So I tried repeatedly to stop on my own.
When things had become so bad that it was truly life or death, my husband had finally had enough. I was once again on the dark end of a binge, and so sick and suicidal that something drastic had to be done. Our solution was a sober living. My husband found one that looked okay, a Christian women only place about forty minutes away from where we lived. The price was $500 per month, and I provided my own food.
Yes, most of the women were not from the same background as me . Many had far, far less money, little or no support system and hard as it was to believe, far worse issues. It was not especially nice, just a decent place in an okay neighborhood. I shared a room with another girl, who had been living in her car before she came there. I will be forever grateful for that place. Moving there became absolutely the crucial element I needed to get sober. It took me out of my home, into a place where all I could focus on was recovery. I had no illusions of entitlement. I was happy to be there, grateful for what every single woman had to give me to help me learn to be sober. I never, ever thought I was any better, worse or different than anyone else. I gave away any and all judgement so that I could learn to be humble and grateful. And, after two months, I went home, and have never drank again.
I'm telling you newbies this because I hope that you will see that treatment is out there at all price ranges. I feel that getting help away from your comfort zone may be the thing that's missing in your search for sobriety, and if you can get out of your own way, maybe this is an option that will give you your life back. I wish with all my heart that every one of you finds the peace and happiness that comes with a life free from the prison of alcoholism and addiction.
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