“His addiction was to cocaine and for 3 years after rehab he avoided
alcohol all together. Then he decided to go out one night and have a few beers
with some friend. Since he never had a problem with alcohol, he figured what
the hell…”
The conclusion to the
above story is that this particular person spent the next two months drunk and
once again addicted cocaine.
He stated
that alcohol was never his “drug of choice”, but what he forgot was how too
much alcohol “freed” him up to make the same destructive decisions that cost
him everything the first time around.
I too have been to
drug rehab, but my “drug of choice” just happened to be alcohol. I cannot for
the life of me remember any of the counselors tell me how lucky I was to be an
alcoholic so I could finish my alcohol treatment program and try oxycodone or
heroin! I guess the reason for this is obvious - it just seems to be an
absolutely ridiculous question. Never the less, it is asked over and over
again.
There are countless
cases of relapse by those addicted to drugs, other than alcohol because the
addict “never had a problem with alcohol”. In cases of people who became
addicted to prescription pain medications after injury for example, most
believe that drinking after drug rehab is simply not going to be an issue. The
problem with this line of thinking is that the replacing of one drug with
another simply because it was not a problem before, almost
guarantees an eventual relapse.
As a former
alcoholic, I can tell you one thing is for sure; if it was not for the fact
that I was drunk at the time, I would have never used other drugs. I hated
marijuana because it made me fall asleep before the party was over, but when I
was drinking I used it none the less. The same with cocaine, I do not believe I
would have tried it had I been sober when it was offered to me.
The bottom line is
that when anyone is recovering or recovered from an addiction, any substance
that impairs our judgment could result in another bad decision. This inability
or impaired judgment almost always leads us back to where we fought so hard to
break free of, our “drug of choice” addiction and drug rehab.
There are those who
believe that after a length of time a glass of wine with dinner or a
celebratory glass of champagne is o.k. for them. My suggestion is that the
length of time be extensive before testing this theory. Please do not be so
arrogant as to believe that one drink cannot send you right back to a life of
addiction and misery. I tested the theory of avoiding my “drug of choice” and
using other substances. It was not long before I was back to my old friend
alcohol, and back to rehab.
I was fortunate to
enter treatment at Suncoast Rehabilitation drug and alcohol treatment Center
where the physical cravings of my addiction were removed with the sauna
detoxification phase of my program. I no longer feel the need to drink alcohol
because the physical craving is simply gone. I feel now that I am better
equipped to make smart decisions, and the decision to “test” myself by using
another substance because it is not my “drug of choice”, is just not logical to
me.
If it seems logical
to you as a person in alcohol and drug rehab, or in recovery after treatment,
then you better realize how you ended up where you did and if you want to go
back to that life.
“To
me addiction has been broken down into just two decisions that I make, DO THAT
or DON’T DO THAT. Because of the tools I was given at Suncoast Rehabilitation
Center, I know what I can have if I simply make the right choice…”
