We cannot get well on our own. How true this is. Most of us tried really hard to give up the drink or drugs on our own, to do it our way. But we couldn’t. We thought we could because we were strong willed and we knew we should. Or we knew we should at least cut down or switch to something that wasn’t quite so strong in its effect. But however much we tried we failed to give it up. Or we managed to give it up for a while but still thought about it all the time and knew that one day we would drink or use again, when the opportunity or an excuse arose. Some of us even tried AA or NA. But it wasn’t for us (or so we thought at the time) and we didn’t stop.
Cannot Get Well On Our Own
Once we realised we were not alone, that if we accepted defeat. Then accepted help, we found we could stop and stay stopped. Some people (I think of them as the lucky ones) manage to stop from attending their first AA or NA meeting. They admit defeat and accept that the support from these groups and following its simple principles works. They work the AA programme and get happy.
Rehab
Others, like myself, have to go into an addiction rehab centre to get that space away from the home environment. To detox in a safe and protected place and to focus on ourselves to understand why we have got into the mess we are in. What it is about us that has lead us to the addiction we have developed. However, even in a rehab clinic it is not just about the individual. But the individual gets well with their fellow peers in treatment and through the power that the group of them develop in working together. It is truly amazing how group therapy is more than ten times more powerful than having one-to-one counselling. Take my word for it – this is the truth. Almost everyone who has been through rehab treatment will tell you this is so.
Journey of Recovery
So what happens when we begin our journey of recovery? Once we begin to hear the truth from others in the same boat, we begin to change. We become less judgemental, we open our minds and we find ourselves smiling – and laughing. People who come into the Haynes Clinic find themselves laughing for the first time in a long time – described today by one of our patients as the ‘first real belly laugh I have had in months’ (this from a lady whose life has been made miserable by prescription medication). We begin to realise that we are still loveable and loved – and can love in return.
AA – Cannot Get Well On Our Own
Many of those who try AA are put off by what they perceive to be a religious programme because the word God is used. AA is not religious but it does say that those of us who are emotionally depleted. Have no self worth will receive a ‘spiritual awakening’. I think that feeling loved and love, smiling and laughing again is exactly what this is. A spiritual awakening and the feeling that there is hope for a happy and fulfilled life in the future.
Call The Haynes Clinic on 01462 851414 for confidential help and advice.
