The Importance of Slowing down in Addiction Recovery
Throughout my years of experience in the addiction industry, one of the most upsetting and incredibly complicated pitfalls of recovery, is the desire for individuals to “Hurry up!!”. Family members from all over the globe want their loved ones to get clean and sober, get a job, pay their own rent, pay their own utilities, phone bills, handle medical issues as well as dental problems, get their children back, take care of them, support the children and themselves financially and all else that goes with being a productive member of society, and they want the formerly addicted person to do it “right now!”. The unfortunate side of this is that they can’t. Pressure to preform after years of addictive behavior, failures, relapses, and emotional devastation can create the perfect recipe for disaster. The one thing families don’t want. But still, they persist. “Get yourself together, make good decisions, stay clean and sober, pay your bills, take care of every little thing in your life!”
I have, over the years, watched countless individuals afflicted with substance abuse issues succumb to pressures of outside influencers or immediate family members. Families believe it can all happen right this minute, it just can’t. Never having suffered from having your life ripped apart, by addiction problems, others cannot imagine the difficulties individuals face. Once a person completes some type of inpatient treatment, normally 30 to 60 days, they are confronted with the following: Finding a place to live, finding a continuum of care in sober living, intensive outpatient treatment (I.O.P) and therapy. Once that part of a person’s recovery is underway the real work starts. The hard stuff. In speaking with current clients, we have found the following list of continuing problems that must be handled, to be very thorough and unfortunately also very extensive:
- Vision Health Issues
- Medical/Health Issues
- Dental Health Issues
- Legal Identification
- Ongoing Legal Problems
- Debt Collectors
- Court Fines and Restitution
- Back Child Support
- Probation/Parole
- Emotional Problems
- Unresolved Family Conflicts
- Building Trust
- Relationship Issues
- Lifestyle Changes
- Unhealthy Friendships
- Mental Health Issues
- Leftover/Permanent Tics
- Health Insurance
- Housing
- Food/ Hygiene Items
- Clothing
- Phone
- Resume Writing
- Employment
- Transportation
- Staying Clean and Sober
It’s a very difficult thing to remain motivated while dealing with the devastation drug and/or alcohol addiction causes in an individual’s life. Families mostly never look at the actual on what needs to be handled in a person’s life after they accomplish sobriety. Hanging on to that is hard enough, imagine having just a part or even all that list to accomplish on top of it? We have watched time and time again, clients who can’t handle the pressures of trying to correct all that has gone wrong, they become vulnerable, overwhelmed, and frustrated. This is a pivotal moment in their recovery and many people relapse behind times like these.
To avoid situations like this we highly recommend that a person remain in treatment as long as they can so that good case managers, therapists, and counselors can assist them in compiling a list of items that must be dealt with prior to exit. Helping them to handle every little thing possible while under the supervision and care of others. A long-term sober living environment and intensive outpatient treatment (I.O.P) program that continues after treatment is invaluable when it comes to redirecting clients when things get difficult in looking at all that needs to be repaired and handled.
We are here to help. We are experts in assisting clients with long-term goals and to be successful in recovery.