Drugs Are Everywhere
Let’s face it, drugs are everywhere. A person trying to get clean from a lifestyle of drug addiction has challenges around every corner. Deaths in the family, social gatherings, and the thought that they can use drugs and alcohol “normally” can give an addict the excuses he needs to use and drink again. To stay sober, an addict must have the right tools to fight temptation and protect their sobriety. Gone are the days when drug abuse was kept a secret and drug dealers lurked in the shadows. Now, drugs and drug use runs rampant in our society and everywhere a person looks, drugs are offered to them.
These days, drug dealers are bold. They will approach complete strangers, with reckless abandon, and offer them drugs. Whether it’s at a gas station, mall, AA or NA meeting or the family doctor, people are constantly exposed to drugs. We’re even being marketed drugs in our own living rooms while kicking back and watching television after a long day! This makes getting sober that much harder for an addict. No matter how much they might want to stay clean, they are bombarded with offers of mind altering substances on an almost daily basis. Unless they have the right tools and skills to stay clean, they can fall flat on their face time and time again.
When talking to a recovering addict about this, she said:
”Drug addiction is a continuous cycle that a person is lucky to ever break free from. It can be hard to stay clean when your drug dealer is standing out on the corner by the gas station, at the grocery store, and at the one place you thought you might be safe, your family physician’s office, even he offers you drugs! It makes it very difficult for an addict to feel like they stand a chance at anything else in life. An addict can begin to feel the hopeless despair of feeling like they’ll never stay clean.” - Anonymous
Another recovering addict said:
“I personally have experienced literally everything someone addicted to drugs could go through. Every time I would try to get clean, I would only relapse the second someone out on the street gave me an eye, telling me basically that they had what I wanted. I could go anywhere, move to any city in any state and I’d be able to find drugs. Someone is always offering them to you, in one way or another. If I didn’t have the ability to handle my environment and the people in it, I could’ve screwed everything up many times.” -Anonymous
In traditional rehabilitation, every addict is treated the same. They’re given the same program, with the same steps and the same counseling no matter how different each addict’s situation is. What’s more important than anything in treating drug addiction is treating addicts as individuals and giving the addict the right tools and skills they need to stay sober. Addicts need to be given the skills to not only handle the people around them and handle their physical addiction to drugs, but also how to take control of their environment and no longer be a “victim of circumstance.” Unfortunately, very few rehabs approach this aspect of staying sober. Instead, they maintain that “relapse is part of recovery” and other such self-weakening slogans that justify to one and all that it isn’t their fault that the addict slipped up again! This viewpoint covers up the fact that the addict simply doesn’t know how to take control of their environment, and instead claims to be a victim of it!
It’s very important to realize that drugs are an unfortunate part of our world and addiction is more widespread now than ever. Since temptation is everywhere, it’s important that when choosing a rehabilitation center for a loved one, that one is chosen that gives the addicts the right skills for fighting their cravings and handling their everyday lives. Many skills can be taught to an addict as far as staying sober but if they don’t work, then what’s the point? If an addict is taught how to stay clean and realizes that they are powerful, not powerless, they will be able to fight the desire to get high or drunk no matter how many times drugs or alcohol are offered.
