Part One
If you or a loved one are engaged in a battle with drug and alcohol addiction, you are not alone. According to the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) initiative, you are part of a group of 23 million Americans. Sadly, only around ten percent of that number are receiving treatment. Good addiction treatment is a key element of entering recovery and sustaining it and identifying the facilities that work best for your situation is critical.
Where you end up choosing to go may be the most important decision you will ever make in your life. Like all decisions with such major consequences, there are many things that you need to clarify to make the most informed choice possible.
So, in the coming weeks, we will point out some of the questions you should be asking.
Today's Question: Should I find drug and alcohol rehab near me or should I go out of town?
We start with the old real estate adage. Location, Location, Location. Should I go to luxury rehab in Florida or California, or should I find the drug addiction facility nearest me?
So, just how important is the physical location of the place you choose to restart your life?
Very!
Some people think that getting on a plane and getting as much distance and isolation from the old stomping grounds is a benefit for getting clean. Its not that simple. Often, being far away creates cons that outweigh the cons.
So, am I saying that the initial question you should ask is, “Find the addiction treatment facility nearest me?”. Not definitively. But many times, the answer is yes.
Staying away from a feeling of isolation when you are in treatment near where you live
Addiction treatment is hard work and being in an area you are familiar with can help you stay grounded and feel a sense of stability. The isolation is not as strong, and within the framework of a protective treatment center, you can gain the clear head and safe feeling we humans get from being in a place that you know.
Healing and Maintaining Relationships
For those that have important relationships in their city, such as spouses or children, it is even more important to be able to stay in touch. Some of these relationships will need healing, and the importance of a supportive family cannot be understated. With the guidance of your treatment team, and the advantage of being in an addiction facility near your family, they can be involved in your recovery, see your progress, and cheer you on as you make each step forward.
Preparing for a Safe Reentry into Your Old Life
Another huge sticking point is understanding what comes next. After completing a course of treatment, particularly an inpatient program, you will have to reenter society, with all the temptations and triggers that come with it.
Imagine that you live in the American heartland and your addiction treatment was in a fancy rehab somewhere in Florida. It was great. The weather was perfect, the food tasty, and the bedrooms comfortable and spacious. But with all that, came an illusion that everything is fine. The struggles were far away, in a different time and place. Maybe you never envisioned what it would be like to be back to where life was real. And then you get off the plane. The places and people you forgot about are still there and waiting to bring you back to that awful place you had worked so hard to leave. It can be so overwhelming, so dangerous. You feel strange, without roots, floating.
Changing the Script
Now, change the script. You located a treatment facility close to home. You were protected within the walls of a safe environment, but your community was in the background. While you did the work of recovery, you prepared yourself for what was waiting outside. You felt the support of your family and the people who really want what’s best for you. Sometimes, you went out on a field trip back to the old neighborhood. You felt comfortable that you can live again, in the places and with the people you know and care about.
There are good elements in the community that you belong to. If your treatment happens within that community, you will be able to identify the good stuff and weed out the bad, while still belonging to something.
Aftercare
Another critical part of staying clean is aftercare. A drug and alcohol treatment center that cares about its alumni will find ways to stay in touch. If you do the program in an area near where you live, it is so much easier to stay in touch. You can get together with the people that helped you get to where you are today. 12-step meetings can be done with people that did the work together with you and have personally seen your strength and perseverance. And you can get together and celebrate milestones, like your sober date! When you do your treamtent close by, your support system is close by too, and you can continue to encourage each other.
Ask Yourself What's Best For You
Don’t rush to leave town. Ask yourself first this question. "Is there good drug and alcohol treatment near me, a safe place close to my family, my job, and the pizza shop I love. An addiction treatment facility where I can become part of a community within my community."
One day, very soon, you will complete your course of treatment and graduate with flying colors. You will be clear headed and firmly planted in the world of recovery. And then you will be asked to go back out and live a meaningful and productive life again. Your family will be waiting with outstretched arms, ready to embrace the best version of yourself.
If you found addiction treatment close to you and it is good, professional, welcoming, and warm, you will have rediscovered a beautiful life and you never even had to leave the neighborhood.
You will be ready. And you will succeed.