Drug Addiction Treatment Blog

It was 82 days ago that I came to the point of desperation to check myself into rehab. The 37 days I spent at LVH will hopefully continue to prove to be the most important 37 days of the rest of my life. I have never met more caring, loving, devoted people than those I worked with in rehab. I am practicing the skills that I learned. I go to meetings daily, I have a sponsor, I am working the steps and I am working on a relationship with a higher power that I choose to call God. All things that I did not see myself doing a short time ago.

When I came home to Maryland, I cried. I had become comfortable in my safe surroundings and with my new friends who were just like me. Here, I felt like a guest in my own home. I was afraid to go back to work and face my coworkers. But after a short period of time I came to feel that I belong again. It doesn’t matter what others think, what matters is how I live my life and how I feel about myself.

Every day of sobriety is a blessing. It’s great to be able to think again! And guess what? There are people here who know exactly what I am going through too, and they have become my new friends. I look forward to going to A.A. meetings where I can share my feelings and reach out for help and know that it is there.

My saving grace? Desperation. I never want to forget how I felt 82 days ago. It’s what got me where I am today and life is good. Not perfect, but good. A struggle? Some days. But worth every second, one day at a time.

It’s nice to hear from you Ray R. Keep up the good work. We can do it! Hope we hear from more of our friends.

Cindy F.

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Its been about nine months since I completed treatment in Lakeview and I sure miss the staff and therapists and the friends I left there. I learned alot about myself and alcholism during my stay, things that stay with me in my heart and mind. I think one of the most valuable things that I learned was I wasn’t the only one who had a problem dealing with day to day life. It seemed that alchol had indeed taking over my life and I by myself couldn’t control it. I used alchol to hide behind but when I sobered up , problems just multiplied and I would drink again to make it go away. Well I made the call that literally save my life and marriage. Since I left Lakeview I have had no desire to drink because of the therapists who helped me deal with my childhood abuse. I thank them for helping me regain my life back. I gave my word to my wife before I left that I would never drink again and to this day I’ve never broke my word. But that being said I really feel that even when things get tough and they will , trust me, I have been taught other ways to deal with situations besides drinking. I’m finally happy with life, myself and my family.

Rhett W.

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It’s been quite a change, going from drunk daily in NYC to living sober in small town Indiana. Two months ago I was a complete wreck; feeling hopeless, demoralized, depressed and trapped. I could not have imagined that reaching out for help and admitting powerlessness could have such a liberating effect on my life. I’m not saying everything is suddenly a bed of roses. I’ve got a veritable grab bag of stressors to choose from if I feel like it. It’s the usual stuff that most addicts find themselves saddled with when they get sober. The difference now is, instead of sticking my head in the sand and trying to drink it away, I find that it is possible to take it one day at a time and just do what I can for that day. Because, really, what else can one do?

So I’ll just relate a few good things that have happened. Let’s see… I’ve been meaning to get a driver’s license for about, oh, 18 years. I now have one. Hello!?! I asked someone to be my sponsor and it didn’t even hurt. He just said, “Sure.” I told a joke last night, sober, and people still laughed. Amazing! I actually look forward to going to meetings (I was pretty good at listening to drunk drunks but listening to sober drunks is much easier and much more rewarding). I go to bed pleasantly tired and wake up refreshed. It’s a new experience that I haven’t entirely gotten used to yet. I feel optimistic about the future even though there are some obstacles to be navigated. It’s nice to be able to look people in the eye and not feel like I am always hiding something. I even feel like I am starting to learn how to pray again. A few “test prayers” have been answered and I don’t know any other way to explain that.

So that’s how it’s going in this neck of the woods. I think about the people I met at the beginning of this journey down in Florida and I wonder how ya’ll are doing. Anybody out there? Don’t be shy.

Sobriety is Good,
Ray R

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