Intervention is Only a Start

I was having coffee with a friend of mine from Southern California this afternoon and we got to talking about intervention, treatment and recovery. We both are in the field of addiction recovery; he has been in this business for over 30 years. We both agreed that intervention and treatment are mere beginnings, a bridge if you will, to recovery. Recovery is long-term . . . a lifelong process if we are lucky. Intervention and treatment are short-term, the start of this lifelong journey. Comparatively, they are simple and easy when you stack them up against long-term recovery. Staying sober in a facility is not hard. The real challenge begins when addicts and alcoholics leave treatment.

Sadly, most don't make it . . . at least not the first time. They relapse, usually within the first year. Those who are most likely to do so are easy to spot. They are the ones who don't follow their discharge plans, don't follow them fully, completely and with vigor. They are the ones who want to rush back to a "normal" life, however they define that. It's madness. They have sunk to a place of such desperation and illness that they need to be in treatment for at least 30 days and then they want to fly on their own, unaided professionally, making their own decisions, picking and choosing what discharge recommendations they will follow expecting that they have the ability to do this successfully. What?? Typically, they will not go to the meetings recommended for the length of time recommended. They won't go to extended care or an SLE or if they do they won't go for the length of time recommended. They will want to get back to work or get a job if they weren't working before treatment and they will want to work long hours to make up for lost time and fill their damaged bank accounts. Then they are too busy to go to meetings. They won't engage in monitoring if that has been recommended. They begin to see recovery as a "waste of time" because they are now so busy. They might engage in some of the discharge recommendations, but not all of them. They pick and choose which ones they will do like it is a smorgasbord.

This almost always spells relapse. It is as predictable as April showers. Families are often complicit in their addict's unwillingness to do everything recommended instead urging them to get "back to a normal life", to engage in the things that normal healthy people do because that is what their loved ones so desperately want to see (normal, healthy behavior), thus bolstering their hope that their loved one is really "okay."

When the relapse comes, as it inevitably does under these circumstances, they are all dismayed and surprised. "Treatment didn't work", they claim. "Twelve step programs don't work, either", they go on. Not so. These things do work and there is living proof around us every day that they do. As my friend quite correctly pointed out, "It's not the 12 steps do the work, it is we who need to work the steps."

A final comment: it is naive and unrealistic to think that this very ill person can go from the cocoon of treatment where they are getting 24/7 care and regimentation back to an environment with no professional support, guidance or structure and expect to make it. Those who fare best will be those who continue with professional help, guidance and structure of some sort.

There is Help~There is Hope

Intervention: Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Intervention usually happens as the result of some crisis. Think about it . . . arrest, divorce, fired from job, accident, injuries. It is never done when people are having a good day. But, people do not usually act with the first crisis. The arrest happens, lawyers fix it, time passes . . . the pain of the crisis goes away. Then there is the threat of divorce, big arguments, tempers calm, time passes . . . the pain of the crisis goes away. Then the job is lost, there is the scramble to find a new job, interviewing, finally getting the new job, time passes . . . the pain of the crisis goes away. And, the addiction all this time marches merrily along, getting worse . . . and worse . . . and worse.

Crisis is a golden opportunity to professionally intervene. It doesn't get better. The trick is not to wait for crisis after crisis after crisis. The trick is to take the crisis that you can recover from and intervene NOW.

Yes, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Will you waste your next one?

Election Day: The Power of Choice

Today is election day! Regardless of the outcome, today will be an historic one in our country. The right to vote, in essence the right to choose, is a powerful privilege. Not everyone has this privilege and those who don't suffer.

Addiction takes from addicts and their families many things . . . relationships, reputation, marriages, money, jobs, freedom, health. The first thing it takes is the addict's ability to choose. The ability to say "no" to alcohol or drugs and mean it reliably, consistently and permanently is gone despite escalating and increasingly devastating consequences. Recovery restores that.

At the polls today I expressed my choice. I also expressed gratitude for my right to do that and for my restoration of choice vis-a-vis alcohol and drugs.

If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or drugs, please choose to get help. If you don't seek help here, please get it somewhere.

These is Help ~ There is Hope