Back to Work After Drug Rehab

an employee being welcome at work after drug rehab

Back to Work After Drug Rehab

an employee being welcome at work after drug rehabIf you’ve either taken time off work to go to treatment or are moving back into the workforce for the first time after a longer period of unemployment, it can be challenging.

Workplaces are stressful, often demand that we invest a considerable amount of time in something that we might not care about, and expose us to people, emotions, commute, and even substances. That’s especially true if you’re going back to a workplace where you used before or if you habitually used drugs or alcohol to cope with your job in the past.

Going back to work is intimidating. However, you can manage and you can go back to work after drug rehab while continuing to take care of yourself and to maintain your sobriety.

Go to Therapy

Most modern rehab treatment includes considerable aftercare and ongoing counseling and therapy – whether via one-on-one sessions, by connecting you to another therapist, or by telehealth. It’s important that you continue to invest in that treatment and self-care, especially as you move back into the workplace. Likely, you’ll need ongoing therapy as well as a self-help or support group like AA, NA, LifeRing, or SMART.

If you’re very worried, you might also want to opt into staying in a sober house in the interim. These “halfway houses” provide an intermediate environment, in which you’ll have support and accountability, social meals, and people to share with as you move back into the workplace.

Manage Stress

Managing stress is one of the most important steps to having a healthy and balanced life. While that can be difficult in a modern world, you can do it. Often, managing stress means taking care of yourself, taking care of your environment, and learning when to say no. For example, you might opt to take up a meditative practice, but it won’t do too much if you’re constantly stressed by other things in your environment. You need a holistic approach that starts with your basic life structure and extends to your job.

What does that mean?

Eat Well – Good nutrition helps you to maintain energy, improve health over time, avoid mood swings, avoid energy crashes, and even feel happier. Many people entering rehab actually struggle with nutritional deficiencies, so ensuring you eat well on average will also work to correct long-term feelings of being sick or feeling down – because nutritional deficiencies can have very similar symptoms to mental health disorders. Here, you don’t have to be perfect. Just try to make sure you eat a varied diet, eat enough fruit and vegetables, and meal-prep or buy healthy meals if you don’t have energy to cook when you get home.

Get Enough Sleep – Most people need anywhere from 6-10 hours of sleep in a day. Most of us have a good idea of how much sleep it takes to wake up feeling good. Often, building a consistent sleeping schedule, where you go to bed and wake up at about the same times every day will make it easier to consistently get the sleep you need to have energy and to avoid stress.

Exercise – 30-60 minutes of light to moderate exercise a day will reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost energy levels. That might be a walk at work during lunch, it might be biking to work, it might be playing sports with friends or going to the gym after work. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s something you enjoy and that you can maintain because you’ll have to. Doing too much can cause you to crash so it’s also important to be careful here.

Avoid Caffeine and Sugar – We often go back to the workplace and then use caffeine and sugar to sustain energy levels throughout the day. That can be damaging, not just to your energy and stress levels but also to your sobriety. Why? Caffeine and sugar can react in the body in similar ways to other substances, you might find yourself leaning on either or both in the same way that you would have on drugs or alcohol. And, that will eventually lead back to relapse. Of course, neither are bad in moderation, you just shouldn’t be using either to get through your day.  

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Set Boundaries

a couple discussing important things, wife setting boundariesIt’s important that you have good work boundaries. That will sometimes mean choosing a workplace that offers support for having mental health problems, for not drinking, and for having problems that mean you sometimes have to stay home. Good boundaries mean:

  • Saying no when asked to work overtime or to do something that would cut into your energy or stress levels. Having time to yourself and time to enjoy living are important
  • Being able to stand up for yourself, to handle interpersonal disputes professionally, and to ask for help if there is conflict in the workplace, even with a superior
  • Being able to say no to drinking and to attending events in which alcohol is present

It may also be a good idea to discuss your former drug or alcohol use problem with your colleagues so that you can ask for assistance around that. People may be very willing to contribute and to help, to avoid alcohol around you, etc., but they can’t do that if they don’t know.

Take Steps to Accommodate Living Well

You should never have to hate your job. You should never have to dread any part of your day. While sometimes it’s unavoidable, such as if you’re in a very temporary position, you should never aim to force yourself to endure something awful every day. You can always look at which parts of your day that are difficult and work to improve them. Sometimes that will mean changing your work, changing the type of work you do, or even working less. In other cases, you can make simpler changes like looking for a better commute, changing how you commute, or moving closer to work (or getting a job closer to your house).

Similarly, you can look at any part of your day and take the same approach. Do you hate getting ready in the morning? Do most of the work the day before. Do you hate commute? Look for a job that allows you to work from home most days. Is cooking a stress factor? Meal prep or order food in bulk. If you can creatively look for solutions, you can improve specific factors you’re stressed about.

Of course, that’s not always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes you will just have difficulty with everything because of a mental health disorder. Sometimes you’ll be stuck in a situation because of money. The important thing is that you take steps to make your current situation as good as possible so you can cope with it.

Going back to work after an addiction can be challenging. You’ll have to reintegrate into the workplace, you’ll have to handle stress and commute, and you’ll have to manage your colleagues. That will mean getting to know people (again or for the first time), sometimes sharing your past, and investing in taking care of yourself and in managing stress and energy levels long-term.

Hopefully, you’ve learned most of this in rehab. However, knowing something and building long-term habits are extremely different things and taking the time to make those habits reality can be challenging. At the same time, they will help you to live and to enjoy life long-term. Good luck going back to work.

If you or your loved-one struggles from substance abuse please contact us today and speak with one of our experienced and professional intake advisors about our detox, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

10 Cool Inspirational Quotes for Your Recovery

photo of a beautiful woman reading inspirational quotes from a book

10 Cool Inspirational Quotes for Your Recovery

photo of a beautiful woman reading inspirational quotes from a bookFinding inspiration and motivation as you move into recovery can be difficult. For many of us, finding a mantra, a song, or even a quote can be incredibly helpful – both as a distraction and coping mechanism and as inspiration. That often means finding words you align with, that mean something to you, and that help you to move forward. These 10 inspiring quotes are a place to start. However, if they don’t align with what you feel, you can always choose something that is meaningful to you in other ways.

Hopefully one of these quotes inspires you on your journey to recovery.

1. “I wouldn’t have been able to have access to myself or other people, or even been able to take in other people, if I hadn’t changed my life. “– Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper, best known for acting in films like A Star is Born and The Hangover, was once an addict. Today, he’s outspoken about recovery and the fact that getting clean and sober allowed him to get where he is today. His quote, which is about deliberately taking control of his life by putting down alcohol, is empowering to everyone. If you can put alcohol down, you can build yourself up to where you want to be in other parts of life – because going into recovery empowers the rest of your life. While you will have to focus on that recover for the near future, you are setting yourself up to live the life you want to live, to connect with the people you want to connect with, and to connect with yourself.

2. “Getting sober is a radically creative act.” – Meredith Bell

The author of Seven Days Sober and A Sober Year is an obvious choice for sharing quotes from, but her most famous is “Getting sober is a radically creative act”. That simple quote is a direct challenge to years of stigma and the idea that people are most creative, most social, most friendly, most alive when drinking or using. We’ve had decades of media pushing the story of the addicted artist – but getting clean is the truly radically creative act. Getting clean is not a thing you do for others, it is a thing to free yourself, to build yourself up, and to create a new version of you that you want to live with. That act of creation will help you to live the life you want to live – giving you the option to do so.

3. “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius

The famous quote about moving forward at any pace you want, so long as you don’t stop has been told and told again. For many, it’s most familiar in the story of the turtle and the hare – in which the hare boasts about being able to go fast – but it is the slow and steady pace of the turtle that eventually wins the race. Eventually, it doesn’t matter how fast you go, so long as it’s sustainable, so long as you keep picking up, and so long as you keep moving forward. Every step of recovery can be difficult. Every single process can be set with pitfalls. You might spend days where you spend more time going backwards than forwards. The important thing is that you always pick back up and start moving forward again.

4. “If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” – Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein is well-known to many people taking part in mindfulness-based recovery – because he helped to popularize mindfulness in the west. The quote, which comes from the book, “The Experience of Insight”, is similar in meaning to the one above. Once you start on the path or recovery all you have to do is keep going. All you have to do is stay pointed in the right direction. That might include setbacks. It might include relapse, But once you figure out where you’re going, you can just keep moving forward with that path. Of course, it’s never that simple. Staying in the right direction is hard. But you’ve made the first step in the right direction, you’ve made the first step towards the rest of your life and where you want to be and you should be able to continue and keep up motivation.

5. “The way to cope with the future is to create it” – Ilya Prigogine

Ilya Prigogine is best-known for his Nobel Prize in chemistry, but his quote “The way to cope with the future is to create it” is one of the more popular in addiction recovery. The quote, which was about coping with the massive life changes caused by the atomic bomb, has nothing to do with recovery. But, it does mean that the best way to move forward is to build a new life for yourself. And, that’s incredibly powerful when you’re trying to do just that. The future is incredibly scary. Moving forward without drugs and addiction is incredibly scary. But you can build a future for yourself and you can make a life that you want to be in. And that is an incredibly powerful inspiration for most of us.

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A man sitting on a rock looking into the distance at sunset6. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”– Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith’s famous quote is actually about saying that drunkenness is not a moral failing so long as one is willing to get back up again.  In this case, that means getting back up from addiction, in putting one foot in front of the other, and in consistently picking yourself back up. That’s important whether this is your first time in recovery or if you’ve failed in the past. Being able to get up, to keep going, and to persevere, even in the face of failure, is the key to recovery. Real recovery isn’t your willingness to put drugs or alcohol down the first time, it’s your ability to keep doing it and to stop yourself from doing it again. To fail and to pick yourself back up again.

7.  “Recovery is hard. Regret is harder.”– Brittany Burgunder

The author of Safety in Numbers is a well-known recovery coach for eating disorders, and her quote about one behavioral disorder applies very well to another. Burgunder was talking about eating disorders. But, that reminder that failing recovery is failing yourself is important. Failing recovery is failing your hopes and dreams for the future. It’s letting yourself down. Each time you slip up, you make it harder for yourself to keep going. And that’s important in a world that tends to glamorize drug and alcohol use, especially when you might be tempted to do so yourself as well.

8.  “I’m Not Telling You It Is Going to Be Easy, I’m Telling You It’s Going to Be Worth It.”

Recovery is not easy. Getting clean and sober is not easy. There is nothing about rebuilding yourself and tearing down old habits and behaviors that is easy. At the same time, that effort and work will help you to build a life that you want to live, it will help you to put yourself in a position where you can be happy, where you can enjoy the little things, and where you can be proud of yourself. That’s worth every bit of hard work you put in now. As the quote says, it’s never going to be easy, but it will be worth it.

9. “Don’t let the past steal your present. “– Cherrie Moraga

In “This Bridge Called my Back” feminist writer Cherrie Moraga shared an old quote about moving forward. It’s intended to say that you have to create new ideas and new ideology to move forward, you have to figure out who you are in the future, and you can’t let the past and the past version of you get in the way. That can be incredibly inspiring as you move forward on your journey of recovery. That’s also important to keep in mind. The past, substance abuse, and your past habits and behaviors will steal your ability to enjoy the present, they will drag you back into substance abuse, it is on you to prevent that so that you can grasp your future.

10. “Not drinking makes me a lot happier.”– Naomi Campbell

Most of us are very accustomed to hearing that substance abuse makes us happy. Drinking is the thing you do when you want to feel good. Drugs are an escape. We use social lubricants. The thing is, drinking doesn’t make us happy. It gets in the way. Campbell’s powerful quote reminds us that the real reason we want to quit drugs and alcohol is that we want to be happy. And, if we want to do that, we have to put in the work to get clean and sober.

Finding motivation and inspiration to move into recovery and stay in recovery is one of the most important parts of recovery. Quotes can help you to get there. They can provide reminders of what you’re fighting for. And, they can give you inspiration as you try to move forward. Hopefully, you align with one of these and can find some help and inspiration here.

If you or your loved-one struggles from substance abuse please contact us today to learn more about our detox and residential treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

7 Benefits of Residential Treatment for Addiction Recovery

7 Benefits of Residential Treatment for Addiction Recovery

photo of people from a self-help group during therapyWith some 40.3 million Americans estimated to have a drug or alcohol use disorder, substance abuse treatment and addiction recovery are increasingly necessary. Yet, in 2020, just 4 million people sought out help, and nearly 50% of those only through self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. Despite that low treatment rate, behavioral addiction treatment is the most effective form of treatment. And, for anyone with a moderate to severe addiction residential care shows more promising results and better short-term outcomes for quitting and withdrawing from drugs and alcohol.

While many addiction treatment programs shifted to virtual and telehealth services due to the Covid19 pandemic, there are still many reasons why you’d want to attend residential treatment instead. That’s why some 70% of treatment centers still provide residential care. If you or a loved one is struggling with drug or alcohol abuse, treatment options vary. But, it’s always a good idea to get a recommendation from a counselor when deciding.

1. Detox Services

Detox involves the medical monitoring and management of withdrawal. You cannot have full detox services in a non-clinical environment. While, in some cases, you can go to a detox clinic for only the detox period, most services are part of residential care facilities. This allows the medical staff in question to monitor your health when you quit drugs and alcohol and also over the immediate 30-90 days after – where you’re most susceptible to delirium tremens, PAWS (Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome) and other long-term side-effects.

Detox services mean you get the benefit of medical experts managing your physical and mental health during withdrawal. This can include medication to reduce the impact of withdrawal symptoms. It can also include emotional and psychological support to deal with the anxiety and cravings that come up during withdrawal.

2. Ongoing Guidance

In outpatient care, most people get one touchpoint with a therapist and doctor per day – sometimes per week. Those touchpoints can help you to get over addiction by offering you the support you need. But, in residential care, you’re living around the nurses, counselors, and therapists taking care of you. They are constantly observing your behavior, your progress, your lack of it, and where you’re struggling. That additional access to care can make a big difference to anyone who’s struggling in treatment.

It can also mean you get updates to programs or to treatment faster in response to setbacks, to behavioral issues, etc. And, most importantly, it allows your medical caretakers to see how you’re doing all the time, which makes it harder to put on a false front of doing well just when you go into treatment. That can be important, especially for women, who often resort to simply lying about their wellbeing to their doctors. 

And, that ongoing guidance means you have access to professional care when things get bad. If you’re having a bad night, cravings hit, or depression strikes, you can get support. That’s not something you can normally do outside of maybe having the option to call via phone in outpatient care. While it’s not necessary for everyone, it can be immensely helpful to many.

3. Letting Go of Stress

Stress is one of the major contributors to both addiction and relapse. Therefore, most people with an addiction can be expected to have major sources of stress in their life. Whether that’s family, work, trauma, or otherwise doesn’t matter. Attending outpatient treatment often means continuing to deal with that stress while getting help. And, that can create immense barriers to finding motivation, energy, and mental space to respond to treatment. For many people, coping mechanisms cannot be learned from a point of high stress.

That’s why many residential treatment centers take the approach of removing patients from their home environment completely. This reduces exposure to drugs and alcohol. It also reduces exposure to responsibilities, interpersonal relationship difficulties, commute, and work that might trigger that person. It allows you to build a base of coping mechanisms from the lowest stress environment possible. While no residential treatment center will be completely stress free, you will step outside of the stress caused at home, which can make a huge difference in treatment.

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4. Access to Peers

photo of an outpatient group during a therapyIn outpatient groups, you get some access to peers. In most cases, you’ll have most of your meetings with a group class. In inpatient care, you’ll spend at least some time living with your peers. That means sharing a room, sharing community areas, playing games, doing sports, and otherwise actively engaging in treatment and care together. That can give you more insight into addiction, into the motivations of getting clean and sober, and can give you more social accountability to get and stay clean.

Re-socializing is often and important part of addiction recovery. Substance use disorders push people into isolation. Many people push those around them away, avoid people they care about, and build up walls around themselves to avoid feeling guilt, shame, or accountability. Reversing that pattern often means investing in others and starting with people who are unlikely to judge you – your peers – is extremely helpful.

5. Access to Complimentary Learning

In outpatient care, you normally get a few hours of treatment per day. This is often taken up by group and one-on-one treatment with occasional music or art groups. In residential treatment, you have to fill the full day. That means moving back and forth between behavioral health treatment, group therapy, and complimentary treatment like stress management, art and music, exercise therapy, and more. These aren’t necessary as part of treatment, but they can help you to build the skills to better cope with life, responsibilities, stress, and cravings when you leave treatment. Residential treatment has the time to offer that.

6.  Privacy

For anyone concerned about their career, professional reputation, or personal reputation, going to outpatient treatment is often a bad idea. While there is some merit to being open and honest with your community and working to build a better version of yourself that way – that’s not always an option, especially for working professionals. Residential treatment is often remote or out of state, allowing you to attend treatment in complete anonymity.

7. Personalized Care

One of the largest benefits of residential treatment is that you get constant access to medical and psychological professionals. That close contact allows your caretakers to assess your wellbeing over the course of the program to deliver truly personalized care. And, depending on the facility, that might include changing up treatment, it might include offering motivational therapy, it might mean switching you on or off of medication assisted treatment. However, you will get updates to the treatment based on how you’re responding.

In addition, it also often means ongoing access to aftercare and sober living or even job placement, based on your condition when you leave the treatment facility. Your caretakers will get to know you and will be able to offer the insight and custom treatment you need to get the most out of your time in addiction recovery.

While residential treatment isn’t the right call for everyone, it can be a good choice for many. With reduced stress, options to get additional classes, and more points of contact with staff, and more personalization for programs, there are a lot of benefits.

Either way, getting into treatment is still the most important first step. Hopefully, you or your loved one can make a choice that works well for your needs.

If you or your loved-one struggles from substance abuse please contact us today to learn more about our detox and residential treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

Does Sobriety have to be Boring?

photo of a thoughtful woman thinking about sobriety

If you’re getting sober for the first time, the first thing that might strike you is just how much time you have. The more you drink, the less time you have and the less memory you have of that time.

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Is There a Connection Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Drug Addiction?

Is There a Connection Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Drug Addiction?

Addiction is a complex disease that is often hard to understand. Add in a co-occurring mental health disorder, and you may be overwhelmed. The good news is that you don’t have to be. Over time, we’ve learned a great deal about the relationship between mental illnesses such as borderline personality disorder and addiction. We’ve also learned a lot about how to treat both separately and together. If you are struggling with addiction and borderline personality disorder, you do not have to struggle alone.  At 10 Acre Ranch, we understand how hard it is to recover from addiction. We also know that you may feel that it’s that much more challenging because of a co-occurring mental illness. We are here to support and treat both. 

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline personality disorder, sometimes referred to as BPD, is a mental illness associated with an ongoing pattern of varying moods, self-image, and behavior. Those with a borderline personality disorder will often act impulsively and may have problems in relationships. One of the key symptoms associated with a borderline personality disorder is that the individual has difficulty with how they view themselves and their place in the world. What this looks like from the outside is quickly changing interests and even values. Additional signs and symptoms that may be seen include:

  • Self-harming behavior
  • Recurring thoughts of suicidal behavior or threats
  • Persistent feelings of emptiness
  • Difficulty controlling anger
  • Feelings of dissociation

Knowing the signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder, it is not hard to see how borderline personality disorder and drug addiction occur together. The feelings of BPD coupled with its impulsivity are a key reason why many who suffer from BPD self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.

What Is Drug Addiction?

Drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by both drug seeking and compulsive use despite any harmful consequences. Addiction is a disease of isolation that affects the mind, body, and spirit. Approximately ten percent of the United States population struggles with addiction. Over time, continued drug and alcohol use change the pathways in the brain. It is these changes that make it so challenging to get sober and stay sober. Many who find themselves addicted to a substance will also find that it takes more than one attempt to find lasting sobriety. Those who suffer from a co-occurring mental disorder and addiction are best served by seeking treatment at a facility that can treat both simultaneously. 

Is There a Connection Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Drug Addiction?

Nearly four percent of the United States population suffers from addiction and also has a mental illness. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is a correlation between borderline personality disorder and drug addiction. Researchers have found that half of those who have borderline personality disorder also have a substance use disorder. Similarly, about twenty-five percent of those with a substance use disorder also have a borderline personality disorder. Researchers believe that the struggle with emotions and the impulsivity of borderline personality disorder results in this connection between BPD and drug addiction. In addition to their being a connection, there is further evidence that those with a borderline personality disorder may experience relapses more often than those without it.

Benefits of Going to 10 Acre Ranch for Rehab

At 10 Acre Ranch, we’ve provided Southern California with expert addiction treatment for nearly three decades.  We understand the importance of treating any co-occurring mental health illnesses, such as borderline personality disorder while treating your addiction. Our mission is to rebuild lives, restore families, and improve communities. We are one of the leading rehab facilities in California and offer a wide range of programs that will meet your needs.  We are experts in helping people safely detox and stop using meth.  We provide a warm and welcoming environment where we integrate the treatment to heal the whole person. We are committed to helping you break free from active addiction and build a life in recovery.  Contact us today and let us help you with your addiction!