Hurdles On The Journey To Recovery

I recently watched a trailer for a new movie called “Body Brokers”. Other than seeing the trailer I know nothing about the movie except that it is heartbreaking and appalling. It is based on true events, whatever that means, and depicts how the system and more importantly people are taken advantage of, that infuriates me. For as long as I can remember I can not stand to see the hurting and weak taken advantage of. Sadly, everything that surrounds addiction can do this, from dealers that cut everything with Fentanyl and Carfentanyl, countries that export these deadly concoctions in amounts that could wipe out entire cities, big pharma that got the world hooked on pain meds(by telling us they were not addictive), treatment organizations and groups that manipulate broken people, all of it is often used to hurt the people they pretend to be helping, that is cruel, and evil.

While I know there are abuses, that is the nature of the broken world we live in, but there are also groups and people trying to help that are successful. The old adage “Buyer Beware” is important in evaluating the sincerity and effectiveness of treatment options. I am a huge proponent of finding the recovery approach that works for your loved one. These 5 posts can help with that: “One Size Does Not Fit All” , “If Anything Can Work This Might”, “Starving for Knowledge”, “Inside the Brain of Your Addicted Loved One”, “An Unexpected Solution”

Today I want to talk about four important hurdles that need to be faced along the journey to recovery for yourself if you are facing the addiction or your loved one if you are someone that cares. If you have thoughts to add please post a comment.

Four Hurdles to Pass on the Road to Recovery:

Surviving Withdrawals: Surviving is the right word. Withdrawal from drugs is very painful and, in some cases, can be life-threatening. LaLa detoxed at home more than once. It was heartbreaking to watch and while some might say “Going through that pain will help them stop”, ahhhhh it didn’t! Knowing what I know now about the risks and pain involved in detoxing I would not let Lauren do it on her own. Here is a great link that explains the reasons to find medically assisted detoxification and how to find it in your area https://www.addictions.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-break-an-addiction/

Winning Out Over Cravings: While physical withdrawal and addiction is over in two to three weeks, psychological addiction and cravings go on for quite some time. Medically Assisted Treatment can be very helpful in giving a person time to build healthy coping skills but must be supported with Counseling and proper management. Here are two posts that explain this in detail, Finding Rescue and So Much Lost, So Much to Gain

Rewiring My Brain: This may well be the hardest hurdle to overcome because it takes what most of us do not like, an investment of time. These three posts will explain more for you: ReLearn , ReWire and Snap Back .

Navigating a New Life: Let’s be honest, it is because we couldn’t effectively do this that we ended up addicted in the first place. But if we get to this hurdle having overcome the first three, we can make it happen. The truth is life is hard, lots of junk happens, relationships can be hard and often painful. In short, life can really suck, but it is manageable. How do I know that, because there are people everywhere who have faced what I have and may still be facing it and did effectively? The question is can I learn from them? Can I change the ways I am responding to life that aren’t working? A big part of this is relationships, relationships, relationships, and relationships. I think you have the point.

What can I do about relationships? First ask, “How is the way I interact with relationships all around me?” “Is the way I am interacting helping or hurting?” Check out this post to learn a little about this. Second, “how can I begin to heal the relationships that are truly important?” This will involve action and not worrying about what the other person is or is not doing. This is where we often get stuck, we want the other person to act first, we may end up waiting a very long time. Finally, “Are there relationships I need to let go of?” There probably are and it is not necessarily that the other person is a bad person, it may be that they are dealing with their own baggage, but that may not be helping you. To reach wellness tough decisions will need to be made.

I was reading a book this week that pointed out we often do not take things serious enough in life. Addiction should be taken seriously. Let me illustrate with one simple statement, ”I would give almost anything to relive any moment with my daughter Lauren, even the really hard ones. Get the point!

Todays featured image is by Brooke Shaden, “Take You Down the Rabbit Hole”.