Thinking about your fresh start after drug rehab may find you fondly reminiscing about the good old days. You may think about the times you caroused and partied with your “old friends” before getting serious and getting clean. But there’s an insidious danger in falling prey to these kinds of thoughts. And there’s definitely a big red stop sign that should rear up if you start believing that maybe you can go back to hanging out with your former using pals. Stay safe and consider an alumni program rather than re-start destructive relationships.
What Your Old Friends Won’t Tell You After Drug Rehab
The truth is that you won’t get the truth from the people you used to hang around with. Here’s what your old “friends” won’t tell you after drug rehab:
You Shouldn’t Hang Around With Us
Your drug-using buddies won’t likely be honest with you and tell you that it’s not a good idea for you to hang around with them after drug rehab. Why are you unlikely to ever hear this statement from them? For one thing, if they’re not sober themselves. Not having gone into drug rehab like you did, they’re up to the same old routine of using, coming down, searching for drugs, and using again. If you resume hanging out with them, you’re going to be subject to tremendous temptations. These are situations you just can’t afford to get involved with.
Drugs Will Kill You
No drug or alcohol addict is going to come right out and admit that drugs will kill you. This is especially true if these are your hard-core using friends with whom you spent many a night in utter oblivion. While your former friends may instinctively know that drugs are bad for their health, they’re addicted, so the consequences likely don’t matter. If they do, they don’t matter sufficiently for them to want to do anything to stop their self-destructive ways.
You’re Life Was Down the Tubes While You Were Using
Even the most hard-core addict knows a bald-faced lie when it’s being told. Isn’t it amazing how many former addicts see their drug-using days as something other than what they really were? They don’t see it as a descent into a pit of misery and pain, of trampled lives and destroyed relationships? They don’t see the financial ruin, run-ins with the law, possibly jail time, and seriously compromised health? Your friends who are still using continue to wear those rose-colored glasses. They’re still in denial about the reality of their current existence.
If You Start Using Again, It Will Be Tougher To Quit
If they cannot see or refuse to see what drugs are doing to themselves, how can they be clear-headed enough to warn you off from getting back into drugs again? Right, the answer is that they can’t see this eventuality. More likely, what you will hear is that you can quit anytime you want. That’s the lie that all addicts tell themselves.
Just One Time Will Cause You to Relapse
What is likely to come out of their mouths is that surely you can use just this once and it won’t hurt you. After all, goes the reasoning, it’s just one time. Just do it once, for old time’s sake, be one of the gang, have a good time. What can it hurt? The reality is that it could hurt plenty. All your hard work after drug rehab can be tossed aside and you could wind up back on the bottom.
I Feel Really Guilty About What I Did to You
Guilt is another emotion that hard-core addicts do everything they can to submerge so deep that it never comes to light. They cannot admit to themselves the reality that their actions have caused. They also can’t admit to you that they’re ashamed or feel guilty about getting you involved with drugs and helping to perpetuate your growing addiction to drug use.
I’m Clean. Honest, I Am
It’s a lie and you know it right away. Yes, it may stab at your heart to see indications of their continued drug use. However, there’s absolutely nothing that you can do to change the situation. As you know yourself, unless and until a person admits to addiction and accepts help to overcome it, there’s nothing that anyone else can do to change the reality.
Benefits of an Alumni Program at Promises Behavioral Health
After drug rehab, the journey of addiction recovery isn’t over. It’s important to establish a support system in order to maintain sobriety, and alumni programs play an integral role in providing this system. Alumni programs are designed to provide comprehensive aftercare services that include follow-up care, peer support, specialized resources, and access to resources.
At Promises Behavioral Health, we have an alumni program that provides our clients with the support and resources they need to continue in their recovery journey. Our alumni programs are tailored to meet the individual needs of each client. It will provide them with a sense of community to help them stay motivated in their recovery.
If you or a loved one is interested in learning more about our alumni program, please contact us today at 844.875.5609 or reach out online. We are here to help you.