Family Ties Help Addicts Heal After Drug Rehab
Family Support After Drug Rehab
The uneasy waiting that descends upon a family when a loved one is in drug rehab can be both a welcome relief and an agonizing experience. Drug addiction brings chaos into the home: unpredictable outbursts, guilt, manipulation, lies, thievery, and violence. It’s an ugly time that requires a momentous change in attitude before drugs and alcohol are viewed by the addict as the source of their problems.
Learning to Stay Sober with Support and Patience
Drug addiction changes a person — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Essential chemistries have been altered, neural pathways have been damaged, and life seems difficult, dull, and boring beyond compare. It’s frustrating and uncomfortable, and an addict in recovery can be easily agitated, at times bringing back all those memories of what life was like with drugs around. In a sense, they still are. While detox rids the body of the toxin, the effects are usually permanent.
Emotional Wounds Heal Faster with Love
Choices are choices, and people are people, but people are not their choices. Mistakes made in the past may be haunting memories that surface whenever the person is thought of, and the pain from those memories may cloud our judgment and reactions to that person, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect the choices they will make today. Every day is a new chance for forgiveness.
Breaking the Silence of Shame
It can be a heartbreaking revelation for a person to finally understand the hurt and suffering they have brought to those who love them. Guilt for the things they have done, and shame for the person they have become may be unbearable obstacles during the process of drug addiction recovery. Learning how to accept one’s self and be at peace with who we are is an ongoing struggle for most people, even without the pain of addiction.
While our challenges may be unique and from our own original perspectives, the simple act of talking about out struggles opens us to the possibility of deeper understanding of our own selves and others. And it doesn’t have to be after we’ve conquered our struggles, either. Vulnerability is what we all have in common, sharing our suffering through words (not actions) brings us closer than we ever thought possible.
Continued therapy (for both addict and family) can ease the anguish and provide an outlet for expressing fears and concerns in a safe, secure environment. Social networking with other people who have been where you’ve been can be of tremendous help, too. Volunteering or charity work can help keep you focused, and new hobbies and interests will bring back the zeal you once knew for a life lived beautiful. The work of recovery is never done, and there might be incidents of relapse. But knowing what you know now about addiction and recovery, chances are good you’ll be back on track in no time.
Tell Us: Who has been your biggest source of support during the process of rehab and recovery?
Tags: drug addiction recovery, Drug Addiction Treatment, drug-rehab
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