First, I got clean, then I got sober. I stopped using and detoxed in an addiction treatment centre. I learned that continuing to drink and drug despite negative, harmful, ongoing consequences was an indicator of addiction. They also pointed out that the drugs and alcohol weren’t the real problem in my life, they were a symptom. The purpose of effective evidenced based addiction treatment is to motivate internal psychological and emotional change. As the fog lifted, I began to realise the reality of my situation. The penny dropped. The real problem in my life was me. My thinking, how I felt about things and how I saw the world. I had been doing the same things over and over while expecting different results. Albert Einstein tells me this is a definition of insanity. I knew I was a slow learner, always had been. It now appeared I was an even faster forgetter. The treatment service knew their stuff, I was provided a solution and a commitment. If I was to put into sustainable action the plan of recovery we developed together, I could find relief. I was desperate, so I decided to commit to the process. Then I was introduced to a new way of life, let’s call it recovery. After treatment I started getting to know some active recovery focused people in a recovery community. They reached out to me, showed me the ropes, helped me find myself, get to know who I was, what was important, what wasn’t. Slowly I learned how to talk to people, act more respectfully, I learned to smile, laugh, love and live.
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