Category: Drugs

“We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals usually brief were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.” (From the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, chapter three.)

For many alcoholics and addicts, drinking and using began as something fun and exciting that they did with friends and at parties. Over time, the ability to control one’s consumption evaporates, for some people, it never exists. Most alcoholics and addicts struggle for years in an attempt to rediscover those days and again have that control. As this passage from chapter three of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous states, “no real alcoholic ever recovers control.”

The decision to get clean and sober begins with the alcoholic and the addict but isn’t a path that they must take alone, nor should they. There are 12 step meetings and drug rehab centers all over the world and a single call to one of them, or even a loved one to ask for help is a beginning…

If you are on this website, you may be wondering about what sobriety will be like and maybe even whether you are even an alcoholic. In chapter three of the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous, it says: “We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself, step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition.”  There is also a set of questions that you can use to help you discover the truth, should you have any doubts and you can find them on Step 12.com.

Maybe you have been doing this for a long time, trying to control your drinking and using or trying to stop on your own. For the majority of alcoholics and addicts, quitting alone is next to impossible. Every day, people die trying to control and enjoy their drinking and using, either because they didn’t think they needed help or because they were too afraid to ask.

In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, there is an alcoholic who shares his story on Acceptance and says “…until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober.” Ask any sober alcoholic or addict and most of them will tell you this is true. If you can stop fighting it long enough to ask for help, your entire world can change. Rehab centers can help you with the drug detox and recovery process, all you need to do is ask.

Once you’ve been through a drug detox and your body is rid of the chemicals and toxins of drugs and alcohol, once you have achieved physical sobriety, it is important to lay a solid foundation in order to continue to grow in your recovery and maintain your sobriety.

How do you do that?

For many alcoholics and addicts, involvement in a 12 step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous is a crucial part not only of their foundation but their long-term sobriety. Many drug rehab centers incorporate the 12 steps as a core aspect of their program, holding 12 step meetings and workshops in the facility as well as making sure the clients experience 12 step meetings in the community are integral parts of most programs throughout the country.

The 12 steps have given many alcoholics and addicts a new “design for living” that allows them to live life happily and without drugs or alcohol. Outlined in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous.” Within its pages, alcoholics have been discovering answers for years, reading takes of others and thinking, sometimes for the first time, “that sounds like me.”

Being around other alcoholics and addicts who are getting sober and laying the foundation to stay that way is one of the things that makes a drug treatment center so beneficial and the reason why most professionals recommend a 90 day program. It makes sense, doesn’t it? When you are out there drinking and using, it works best if your companions do the same. Well, the same is true of sobriety. Surrounding yourself with others who are doing the same thing, getting sober and trying to stay that way, it makes all the difference in the world.

Once you have made the decision that enough is enough and are ready to ask for help, it will be important to find the treatment center that is right for you. It used to be that alcoholism and addiction treatment centers were few and those that were there were all relatively similar. This is not the case today. There are treatment centers specializing in a variety of treatment options and there are a number of things you will want to consider before making a choice.

• Do you have special needs that should be considered, areas of focus?
• How long will you stay?
• Where do you want to be?
• How much will treatment cost?
• Do they accept insurance?
• What type of accreditation does the center have and what credentials do its staff have?
• What type of programs do they offer and how will they benefit you?
• Is follow up care a part of the program?
• What is their treatment philosophy?
• How does the facility differ from other facilities that provide treatment for similar conditions?

You will doubtless have other questions as well but these are a good place to start. You may want to discuss them with your loved ones. While you may be comfortable staying near home, that is not always the best decision. Sometimes, it is better to be removed entirely from the environment where you have been drinking and using, away from all of the familiar triggers in order to establish a foundation for your new sobriety.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.

For many, the first of the twelve steps is the most difficult. No one wants to think themselves powerless or their life unmanageable and yet, for alcoholics and addicts, when it comes to drugs and alcohol, there is just no other way to describe it. For some of us, the first step is something that happens without us even realizing it is happening; it happens when we look at ourselves in the mirror one day, then pick up the phone and call a rehab in Los Angeles, or anywhere for that matter, and ask for help.

You can ask just about anyone in recovery, from any walk of life, and they will tell you that asking for help was one of the most amazing things they have ever done.

What does it mean to be powerless? Do you or someone you love have an inability to control their drinking or using? Once it starts, is it difficult or impossible to stop?

What does it mean for your life to be unmanageable? Do you have difficulty paying your bills or showing up for work on time because of your drinking or using? Do you have trouble in your friendships or relationships with your family?

Powerlessness and unmanageability manifest themselves in many different ways and the only thing that is for certain is that admitting that asking for help is the very best thing you can do for your present and your future.  In California rehab centers are everywhere and the recovery rate is one of the highest in the country. It is not a coincidence that the most successful of the drug addiction detox and drug rehab centers in California are strongly rooted in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and an understanding that asking for help is part of the miracle that happens when you’ve reached a point where enough is enough and reach out your hand.

Both in and out of alcohol and drug rehab centers, recovering drug addicts and alcoholics of all ages credit the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous with their freedom from the slavery of addiction. When they finally ask for help, it’s not a surprise that millions of people have found the keys to a new life in the twelve steps. Alcoholism is a threefold disease: it is physical, mental and spiritual. The twelve steps are simple and yet address the mental and spiritual problems of alcoholism. The addressing of the physical problem begins with drug addiction detox. As we address the physical aspect of the disease of alcoholism, we can look to the twelve steps as a blueprint for our new lives. In many California alcohol rehab centers and others across the country, the twelve steps are at the center of a well-designed program of recovery.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Maybe some of these steps sound frightening, impossible or maybe it just sounds like too much work. But the truth is, few things more challenging than maintaining an addiction. For some people, in the beginning, it’s impossible to even read them all the way through. That’s okay. You only have to do one thing at a time and the first thing to do is ask for help.

For every clean and sober person who has been through drug rehab or alcohol rehab in Los Angeles or anywhere else, there is a person inside who was once terrified of what would happen if they gave up drugs and alcohol. Each of these people, no matter where they came from, have common ground: there came a time that what their life would become if they didn’t stop became more terrifying than what would happen if they did. They asked for help. They accepted help, allowed their bodies to go through the drug addiction detox, and they didn’t drink or use, no matter what – one day at a time.

You may have people around you who don’t understand why you can’t “just stop,” why the things that keep happening will sometimes keep you straight for a day, a week or maybe even sometimes a month – but you always go back. And the cycle starts again. It can be difficult for people who aren’t alcoholics and addicts to understand. In a drug addiction rehab center, you will be surrounded by people who are doing the same thing you are: changing everything and starting fresh, getting sober and staying that way one day at a time. Surrounded by people who understand where you have been, where you want to be and how difficult the process is.

It might never seem like a good time to get sober but there is never a time better than now or a better way than surrounded by people with the same goal and professionals who make your recovery their priority.

Over the weekend, “Rehab” chanteuse Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home in London of causes that, as of this post, have not been determined. Over the last several years, fans around the world have watched as Amy struggled, attending numerous drug rehab centers. Sometimes she bounced back for a spell and it looked like everything was going to be okay. Then she would be in the news again, suffering the incomprehensible demoralization every addict knows, and doing it in the public eye.

Today, Russell Brand published a beautiful article in U.K. paper, The Guardian, about his friendship with Winehouse and his own experience with addiction, drug and alcohol rehab centers and sobriety. We thought we’d share a couple of powerful excerpts on our blog here, but you can read the full article here. Brand says:

“Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death. I was 27 years old when through the friendship and help of Chip Somers of the treatment centre Focus 12 I found recovery. Through Focus I was introduced to support fellowships for alcoholics and drug addicts that are very easy to find and open to anybody with a desire to stop drinking and without which I would not be alive.”

“When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they’ve had enough, that they’re ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it’s too late, she’s gone.”

If you’re having problems with drugs and alcohol, please understand that there are professionals at rehab centers in Los Angeles and all over the world who are there to help you go through the drug addiction detox, get sober and stay sober one day at a time. Let the call that your loved ones get be the one Russell Brand talks about, the one where you call them saying you have had enough.