Life After Addiction Treatment

After completion of an addiction treatment program is where the real battle begin.

Life after completing an addiction treatment program

There are certain important points to recognize when you or a family member has completed an addiction treatment program. Anyone who is battling with a drug or alcohol addiction is, in fact, working hard to keep from having to face some hidden unwanted personal condition. All drug addictions are there to suppress or mask some particular situation that has been annoying the person for some time. It could be a physical, emotional or psychological condition or just some embarrassing inability the person has. In either case, it is something that one does not wish to live with, yet is stuck with the condition with no immediate solution. Soon enough, most people find out that drugs or alcohol will ease their suffering, even if just for a few hours or days.

This solution of drugs or alcohol can have an enormous impact on a person and their family. The so-called solution to their unwanted condition has now become a problem. Like other serious health issues, we seek professional help; toothache we see a dentist, sight problems we see an optometrist, a drug addiction problem you contact a drug addiction counsellor, a specialist in his field. There is a large variety of addiction treatment programs available from faith-based to ranch and spa environment type programs and everything in between.

So what it the next action once you or a family member has completed their addiction treatment program, and you see them smiling and alive again? What are the precautions? Is this the end of their battle? Far from the end, in fact, many drug rehab centers will state that “now they completed the program, the real program begins.” They mean that this is where the person must now use, apply, or use all the information given while in treatment.

If you or someone you know has just completed a drug and or alcohol addiction treatment program, you should be ready for the following issue:

  • The person must have a plan, a sort of step by step action plan to do upon leaving the drug treatment facility.
  • The person should stay clear of ANY form of drugs or alcohol for at least another three to four weeks. Be sure there are no bottles of beer, wine or alcohol in the house until the person has stabilized in their daily routine.
  • The person should stay busy with a daily schedule of activities to do.
  • The family member must be supportive. Be there to help them get back to a daily routine. At the first sign of relapse, you should contact the person’s counsellor and get them to talk to the recovering addict. A mistake family members often make is to justify one’s behaviour when they should be contacting their counsellor.
  • Never order or tell the recovering addict what to do, ask what they should be doing.
  • The best way to provide help is to be a friend and have a high level of understanding. The person is trying to get back to a healthy lifestyle after years of neglect and self-inflicted harm. Listen, acknowledge, and be compassionate and not overbearing. Give the person a bit of time to readjust.

The most important of all is; when things get rough, don’t ever give up.