The last in a series of posts addressing different issues you may face after drug rehab, today we are talking about the most romantic issue of all: new relationships in recovery. Good idea? Bad idea? What are the pros and cons?

The Positive: What Those New in Recovery Gain from a Romantic Relationship

New relationships are fun. They take your mind off your problems and give you something to look forward to. If you’re having a hard time filling your days with positive, non-drug abusing activities, a new relationship can provide you with a number of options. Plus, feeling good about someone else can make you feel better about yourself and help you avoid some of the depression that often goes along with early recovery as you begin the process of rebuilding what you’ve lost to addiction. New relationships often bring with them a hope for the future and an excitement of possibilities – what could be bad about that?

The Negative: What You Risk by Pursuing a New Romantic Relationship in Recovery

If there were only the positive, good feelings that come with new romance, then there wouldn’t be a problem for newly recovering addicts and alcoholics. Unfortunately, there’s a reason why every relationship you enter – except possibly one – will end: romance isn’t easy. If you’re dating someone new to recovery as well, there are often a lot of emotions and expectations on both sides that can cause problems. If you’re dating someone who has a “normal” relationship with drugs and alcohol, you may feel tempted when you see them drinking or getting high. If you’re dating someone who’s been in recovery for awhile, resentments and irritations are a risk. In all these situations, relapse is more a matter of “when” than “if” and relapse can mean losing everything you’ve worked for and returning to a full blown, active addiction.

Romance or Not to Romance: When You Want to But You Probably Shouldn’t

During the first year after drug and alcohol addiction recovery, stability is the goal but rarely the reality. That takes time and lots and lots of work. If you’re spending your time losing yourself in someone else, then you aren’t spending time creating the independent life that you want for yourself. In almost every case, it is recommended that you avoid pursuing new romantic relationships in the first year after you leave drug rehab. Focus instead on yourself, your health, your goals for your life and then, and only then, will you be equipped to handle the pitfalls and stresses that usually come with romantic relationships after drug rehab.

Employment is a big part of an active and positive recovery. You need goals. You need something positive to fill your days. You need a way to pay back your debts. Finding a job is one of the best ways to do those things, but here are a few things to consider as you undertake the process.

Finding a Job You Can Deal and Assessing Your Career After Drug Rehab

Many in recovery report that the atmosphere at their job and how they feel while at work can make or break their recovery. This isn’t just a money issue. You may find a job that pays you six figures, but if the stress is too much for you to bear or you are surrounded by people who are actively abusing drugs and alcohol and you ultimately relapse back into addiction, it won’t matter at all. Here are a few “must-haves” when it comes to choosing a job after drug addiction treatment:

• No drug abuse or use. If you are surrounded by co-workers who smoke marijuana or do crystal meth on the job or come into work while high, it’s only a matter of time before you relapse. Avoid these jobs at all costs.
• Low stress. Any job that causes you stress due to a demanding boss, intense hours that are difficult for your schedule, work that is hard for you to undertake, or too much work expected in a short period of time can ultimately push you to relapse.
• Interesting work or advancement opportunities. If you find a low-key, laidback job where you get to work with good people – great! But if it starts to bore you or you find that you have a hit a ceiling in terms of your advancement opportunities, this too can be an obstacle to your sobriety.

The best idea is to find a job that is interesting to you that provides you with room for growth and progress, allows you to work with positive people, and means working hours that allow you to attend 12-step meetings or personal therapy and care for your physical health. Ultimately, if your current career path or the career you were in before drug rehab no longer serves you, it’s time to change focus.

Living Your Life After Drug Rehab

Stay tuned for the last post in the series, After Drug Rehab: The Question of Relationships. In the meantime, check out other posts in the series:

1.       After Drug Rehab: Getting the Support You Need to Succeed

2.       After Drug Rehab: Create Your Own Treatment Plan

3.       After Drug Rehab: Focus on Relapse Prevention

4.       After Drug Rehab: Paying Off Your Drug Addiction Treatment Bill

We began this blog post series by looking at how to get the support you need to succeed after drug rehab, and fighting relapse, and creating your own treatment plan in order to stay on track in your recovery. Today, we look at one of the biggest issues facing those who opted for financing to pay for their drug addiction treatment: how to pay back what you owe while remaining dedicated to your recovery.

Debt and Recovery: Finding Balance

Many people take out a large loan to cover the full cost of their drug rehab bill when health insurance is either non-existent or doesn’t cover the full amount. And most in active addiction have a fair share of bills well before they even begin the process of paying for drug addiction treatment. Handling this debt may not be easy but it’s possible to handle it without minimal stress and low risk to your recovery. Here’s how:

• Contact those you owe. Call credit card companies. Call your financing company. Explain your job situation and let them know what you can pay going forward. Ask for a reprieve on interest or a lower interest rate, and let them know that you are in recovery for a medical illness and will need more time to pay back what you owe.
• Consider debt consolidation. Non-profit debt consolidation companies are often a solid way to handle overwhelming debt when you can’t manage the minimum payments. Most will contact those you owe and negotiate a lower interest rate and set a repayment period, allowing you to make one payment that they disburse among your creditors. NOTE: Avoid debt settlement companies at all costs. These ask you to break contracts and often result in lawsuits.
• Create a budget. Figure out what you need to pay rent, bills, and food as well as the payments for each person you owe. Assign any extra funds to pay off the smallest debt first so that you can get rid of a bill. Once that first bill is paid off, make that payment to the next smallest debt on your list until that, too, is gone. Stick to it!
• Consider a second job. Don’t overwork yourself so that you are no longer prioritizing your physical health or your drug addiction recovery, but if you can’t handle the minimums and you can’t get the companies to lower the amount of your monthly bill, consider getting a second job until you can make some headway.

Handling Finances in Drug Addiction Recovery

No matter what your job situation, make sure to stay in contact with your financing company. If you go through a hard time, ask if you can lower your payments for a period. If you get a job that pays more than expected, make an effort to pay off the loan early so that you can more quickly be released from debt. In the meantime, if you don’t have a job you love, consider getting the education you need to move forward or changing locations if you get a job offer. Paying bills is important but doing so by doing a job you love is even moreso to your recovery!

Antonio Banderas, actor and husband of actress Melanie Griffith, recently reported to the UK tabloids that his wife was making great strides in her fight against prescription drug addiction.

Says Banderas: “We had problems and she had problems which she had to put together. She did and she’s working again, and I am so happy.

“She was addicted to pills – that was her problem, but she totally recovered in the last three years and has been totally sober and great. We had to deal with that – professionally. I am telling you now about our personal life, but professionally that is why she just disappeared. Because in Hollywood that is anathema.”

Recognizing Prescription Drug Addiction

It’s not always easy to see when prescription drug use turns into an addiction that requires medical attention. Because most prescription drug addictions start with a legitimate prescription and many painkillers and other addictive medications have significant side effects, it’s often hard to tell what is “normal” and what isn’t. In general, here are a few tips that can help you identify prescription drug addiction in yourself or someone else:

• Continuing prescriptions when they are no longer necessary. Too often, those with a short-term pain issue (after surgery or an accident) are given a month’s worth of a painkiller prescription when they only need 10-days’ worth. If you continue to take the medication when your body no longer needs to fight pain, addiction can develop.
• Taking more than prescribed. If you feel that your pain is not assuaged by your prescribed dose, contact your doctor before making any changes on your own to the timing or amount of your dose.
• Drinking while on prescription medication. A synergy happens when you combine alcohol and prescription painkillers or sedatives. This means that together the two substances are exponentially more potent than the sum of the effects taken separately. If you are regularly abusing alcohol or taking other drugs in addition to your prescription, addiction may be an issue.

Fight Prescription Drug Addiction

If you believe that prescription drug addiction is a problem for you and you don’t feel that you can simply step down your prescription over time with any success, prescription drug rehab is the next best move. Contact us at The Canyon today and learn more about your options in prescription drug addiction treatment and how we can help you fight the disease.

This month, we’re presenting a series of blog posts on how to get through after drug rehab. Today, our discussion focuses specifically on relapse prevention and what you should do when you feel like you’re going to get high or drink. Though you likely learned a little bit about relapse prevention during drug rehab, it’s not always easy to remember the actionable steps you should take when faced with the temptation to relapse in real life. Here’s what to do:

1.       Call someone. If you have a sponsor, this is the time to call the number they gave you. If you have a supportive friend or family member, call them. Talk about what’s happening to you and, if necessary, arrange to meet them somewhere right away and spend some time until the feeling passes.

2.       Get to a 12-step meeting. In some places, there are 12-step meetings available to you around the clock. Go online or call their 1-800 number to find the next meeting that’s closest to you and get there.

3.       Walk away. If you are in a situation where someone is offering you a drink or to get high and you feel like the next words out of your mouth might be a “yes” or you are concerned about being rude or looking stupid, simply walk away. “No, thanks” or “no, that’s alright,” is all you need to say and then turn and walk out the door. Don’t stop walking until you get somewhere safe.

4.       Blow off some energy. Many people report feeling antsy, like they can’t sit still and just can’t seem to do anything to distract themselves from the thought of getting high right before a relapse. If you feel that way, do something active to work off the energy: lift weights, go running, play paintball, walk an energetic dog, go for a bike ride, vigorously clean the house. Anything physical that will help you get rid of the excess energy that is pushing you toward relapse.

5.       Write it out. If you feel calm but still tempted to get high but can’t get anyone on the phone (e.g., therapist, 12-step sponsor, supportive friend or family member) then talk it out to yourself on paper. A journal is an excellent device to work through what you’re feeling and why, write what happened leading up to the feeling that you wanted to get high, what has worked to help you avoid relapse in the past, and how to avoid or get out of the situation if it comes up again.

If you have yet to enroll in a drug addiction treatment program, contact us at The Canyon today to learn more about how we can help you heal from drug and alcohol addiction.

Stay tuned for our next post in the series, After Drug Rehab: Paying Off Your Drug Addiction Treatment Bill.

The cost of drug and alcohol rehab can be high, and if you opt for a high-end addiction treatment center to ensure that you have access to everything you need during your recovery, you can end up with a hefty bill. Health insurance may cover part of the costs, and you can always get financing to cover the rest, but when it comes to tax time, can you recoup any of the costs?

As of right now, there are ways to claim the cost of drug and alcohol rehab on your tax return – as long as you itemize your deductions on Schedule A. In fact, any medical and dental cost is deductible in the same way, as long as it exceeds more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income for the year. For example, if your adjusted gross income is $50,000, you can deduct the expenses that exceed $3750. So if your treatment costs $10,000, then you can deduct $6250.

So which addiction treatment costs are included as acceptable medical expenses that can be deducted? According to §213(d)(1)(A) of the Tax Code, medical costs are defined as “the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.”

Not a lot of guidance. The only other directives point out that illegal treatments or operations are not tax deductible and that a few services are definitely included. Some of the ones that relate to drug addiction treatment include x-rays, hospital and nursing services – pretty much any diagnostic, evaluation, and treatment services. If you are enrolled in a drug detox program or a drug addiction treatment program and incur costs for psychological treatment or medical treatment – even an ambulance ride somewhere in the process of healing and getting better – then your costs are covered under the circumstances described above.

Does drug and alcohol addiction qualify as a medical and/ or psychological disease according to the IRS? Absolutely. Even if the general public is split on the question, the medical establishment and the IRS are not. They agree that costs incurred in the treatment of drug addiction is absolutely a medical expense and as such qualifies as a deduction for those who itemize and whose expenses exceed 7.5 percent of their income.

If you would like assistance filing your taxes in a year that you pay for drug and alcohol rehab, tax accountants can help. If you are seeking a drug rehab for yourself or your loved one, we can assist you. Contact us at The Canyon today.

Last week, we began the conversation about how to find support after drug rehab and this week, we’re continuing the discussion about how to be successful in recovery with a new topic: creating your own treatment plan.

During your stay in drug rehab, you had a treatment plan designed for you that included medical care, psychological addiction treatment, group therapies, alternative treatments, exercise, and good food meant to promote detox. When you leave drug treatment, you can create a treatment plan for yourself that includes these elements as well. Get an organizer that includes a calendar and create a schedule for yourself that will help you stay on track during recovery after drug rehab.

Here are the main points to focus on and some ideas to include in your daily schedule:

• Medical care. Regular doctor and dental checkups are important, and if you have chronic health issues or any medication of any kind, regular doctor visits are essential. Don’t forget these! Schedule them in advance and mark them on your calendar so that you don’t forget.
• Psychotherapy. At least once a week, meet with a therapist or a counselor on a one-on-one basis. This person should have a solid understanding of drug addiction treatment and recovery. Use their guidance to help you navigate difficult situations and learn how to work through emotional issues and issues of perspective that may be causing problems in your life. If you suffered trauma prior to or during your addiction, it’s important to work on this as well. NOTE: Many patients in early recovery benefit from two one-hour sessions each week until they can adjust.
• Group therapy. It’s essential to have the support and social interaction with peers who are nonjudgmental and understand what you’re going through and what you want for your life. You can get this from 12-step meetings or addiction treatment groups that are designed to provide support in recovery.
• Exercise. If you don’t feel good physically, you won’t feel well mentally, and if you’re not happy, you’re more likely to relapse. Feeling better about yourself and life in general starts with regular, gentle exercise and a focus on fitness. This can be as simple as incorporating regular walks into your day or brief weight lifting or as serious as a regimented exercise plan that includes a trainer and regular workouts – whatever works best for you.

What will you add into your treatment plan after drug rehab?