Category: Addiction Recovery

Why Finding New Hobbies Is Important for Long-Term Recovery

a happy young woman found a new hobby painting

Why Finding New Hobbies Is Important for Long-Term Recovery

If you’re just getting started with recovery, it can be a lonely experience. The first thing that most of us realize is that we have lost our hobbies, the things we do with our spare time, and many of our friends. That can put you in a position where you don’t know what to do with your spare time and that can leave you feeling bored, lonely, and unfulfilled. Those and other reasons are part of why it’s important to find hobbies for your long-term recovery.

You’re probably accustomed to people pushing anything they can at you in recovery. Crafts, yoga, music, painting – pretty much anything. That’s often because picking up new hobbies can be immensely good for you, for your self-esteem, and for your recovery. At the same time, it’s also important for you to find hobbies and to move at your own pace, so you can invest as you’re ready to do so.

Hobbies Build Your Self-Esteem

Starting and sticking to a hobby can boost your self-esteem and your confidence. Both of those are an important part of long-term recovery. However, hobbies can help you to build those skills in a natural way, which will in turn influence your behavior, attitude towards recovery, and your approach towards your life. Hobbies give you something to work on for yourself, meaning you can start out being proud that you’re sticking to something that you’re not yet good at, learn to be good at things, and build your skills – increasing your confidence not just in your ability to do the hobby well but also your ability to learn new things, to get good at things you started out being bad at, and to understand how you progress at those new skills.

That’s even more true if you make that a social hobby, like pottery or dancing, where you’ll get into contact with others and you’ll be able to grow as a group.

Hobbies Build Your Self-Discipline

Hobbies can require significant self-discipline. That can mean emotional regulation and managing your emotions when you fail. It can mean discipline and practice and ensuring that you keep going, keep making classes, keep practicing. It can also mean sticking with a schedule and a program so that you do actually learn. All of that will help you to develop your sense of discipline, which will transfer to other parts of your life.

Being Comfortable with Yourself Alone

Being comfortable alone and by yourself also means knowing what to do with yourself. And, knowing what to do with yourself means having an idea of what you like, what you’re good at, and what makes you feel like you’re spending your time in a way that you want. Investing in hobbies means that you’ll be able to build those skills and figure out what is a good way for you to spend your time. For example, you might find out that you really like making things with your hands. You might find out that bullet journalling is a great way to help you feel in control of your agenda. You might also decide you like getting to move and exercise. Knowing what you can fill your time with when you’re alone will make you feel less alone because you’ll be more open to spending time with yourself. And, that’s important even if your preferred hobbies are something like watching TV or reading a book rather than making something. Knowing how to keep yourself company is important, and many people just out of rehab don’t know how to do that.

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Finding Enjoyment

Do you know how to have fun with your free time without drugs and alcohol? For most of us, long-term substance abuse means we’ve mostly forgotten. Sure you used to have hobbies and you might even want to go back to those, but remembering how to just sit down and have fun with something or with people without any substances can be hard. Building hobbies means you’ll get to find that again, to build up to it slowly, and to learn how to have fun with nothing but what your brain produces naturally. Of course, that might not happen right away. Many people actually experience emotional blunting in early recovery, where the brain is incapable of correctly regulating serotonin and dopamine, which means that it can feel like you feel nothing at all when you think you should be enjoying yourself. Hobbies help with that further by building up slowly – you’ll start out in positions of not being good at what you’re doing and the enjoyment will come with practice -and that’s perfect for learning how to enjoy yourself again.

Finding new Coping Mechanisms

Most people don’t think of a hobby as a coping mechanism. However, once you start a hobby, even something like knitting can help you to stay clean and sober. Why? It gives you something to fill your free time with without getting bored. It forces you to concentrate and do something with your hands, which can help you wait out cravings. It gives you something to de-stress with (although that will require a certain amount of fluency with the hobby). You won’t try to play guitar and feel less stressed a week into learning, btu long-term, it will give you something to turn to in order to reduce stress and to relax. And all of that can be a powerful addition to your recovery now and for the long-term.

Meeting New People and Friends

Having hobbies is an important part of meeting people, of finding people you have things in common with, and of sharing achievements and goals. People who share hobbies feel more emotionally fulfilled, more connected, and more in-touch with those around them. That’s especially true when you turn to physical hobbies like dance, yoga, martial arts, etc. However, you can share a lot with your class even with something simple like sharing a pottery class, learning to play a game together, meeting up with a group of people to play boardgames once a week, or learning cooking together. Of course, not every hobby should be with other people. At the same time, ensuring that at least some of what you do with your free time is social can be a great way to add that connection into your life – and that will be good for your long-term recovery. Most importantly, hobbies don’t have to be about other people in order to include them, because groups, classes, and meetups are all extremely common and you can just look for one and join it.

Moving Forward

New hobbies can be hard to start. It can be difficult to figure out what you like. And there’s a lot that goes into trying new things, figuring out what you want to stick to, and then doing so. At the same time, taking that time and investing in finding new hobbies can help you to improve your quality of life, improve your recovery, and give yourself coping mechanisms for the long-term. Not every hobby will be good for you or good for your recovery. However, finding something you can invest in, can stick to, and can work on improving at will improve your sense of self-esteem and confidence, your discipline, will broaden your social circle, will help you feel connected to yourself and others, and will give you a way to have fun, while reducing stress levels. And, all of that will be good for your recovery.

If you or your loved-one struggles from alcoholism or other substance abuse please contact us today and speak with one of our experienced and professional intake advisors about our alcohol rehab, detox, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment programs. 10 Acre Ranch also has specialty tracks like our pet friendly drug rehab and couples substance abuse treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

What are Harm Reduction Strategies for Drug Abuse?

husband is convincing his wife to get to treatment center

What are Harm Reduction Strategies for Drug Abuse?

If you or a loved one is abusing drugs, you’re not alone. Today, an estimated 24 million Americans have a drug-related substance use disorder. Worse, a 106,000 Americans died in 2021 as a result of drug abuse and drug overdose. Those statistics show that traditional approaches to drug abuse like tough love and cutting people off simply do not work. Instead, they put people in danger, increase substance abuse, and push people into situations where they cannot get out.

Harm reduction strategies for drug abuse take the approach of treating the person as more important than the drug abuse. It means stepping back and accepting that someone is sick and is unable to make good decisions for themselves. And, it means taking steps to reduce the harm of substance abuse as much as possible, so you and your loved ones can be safe.

What Are Harm Reduction Strategies?

The primary goal of a harm reduction strategy for drug abuse is to accept that you can’t get someone to stop using, therefore you want them to use in as safe a manner as possible. This includes an approach for safer use, managed use, meeting people using substances “where they are at” and working to improve the conditions of substance abuse.

This is important because often the conditions of drug abuse are as dangerous as drug use itself. For example:

People cannot get high or use at home so they do so in public, which puts them at risk of injury, assault, and sexual assault.
People cannot access clean or safe needles and so share needles and put themselves and others at risk of transmitting STDs and infections.
People don’t have access to safe resources so find themselves using unsafe substances to get high. For example, cooking heroin for injection with water from a mud puddle. Or using unsafe drugs.
People don’t have the ability to easily tell if their drugs are safe or if they’ve been cut with a potentially harmful substance. This means they put themselves at risk of overdose every time they get high but often don’t have the self-control to not get high.
People struggle with substance use disorders and so cannot simply “quit” and when pushed into going cold turkey, often relapse and increase their risk of overdose because their tolerance has dropped.
People don’t have access to information about how to safely use drugs and so can significantly harm themselves while trying to self-inject, to use pipes, or to get high.

All of this means that people using are in danger from significantly more than “just” drug abuse. Harm reduction strategies work to reduce the harm implicit in drug abuse and in those factors surrounding drug abuse. That gives you or your loved on the chance to get better by ensuring that you can have as safe and as trauma-free of an experience as possible.

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Harm Reduction Strategies You Can Adopt

Harm reducing strategies mean taking steps to reduce the harm inherent in substance abuse. Some common steps include:

Acceptance – Illicit drug use is going to happen. Drug use is a complex phenomenon, and it can stem from a lot of factors like trauma, stress, genetic vulnerabilities, or simply a desire to use and get high. If someone is using and doesn’t want to get better, it’s important to accept that they are using and they are going to use. No amount of being upset, angry, or attempting intervention is likely to change that until they are ready to quit. This means accepting that drug use isn’t going away. Instead, you do care about that person, and you want them to use in as safe and as healthy a way as possible. That also means understanding that qualify of life, continuity of life, and individual happiness are more important than “quitting” drug use.

Providing Help – People who are struggling with substance abuse often need help to use safely. That means taking steps to ensure they have the means to do so. Often, it also means deliberately going out of your way to provide safe access to drugs, drug use, and preventive care. For many people, this step can feel like “Enabling” but as part of harm reduction, you’re accepting that drug use will happen and are taking the steps to make it as safe as possible. That can look like:

Keeping Narcan or Naloxone (at least 3 doses) on your person at all times.
Designating a room of your home for someone to use safely
Finding local supervised injection/consumption sites and driving your loved one there when they want to use
Ensuring access to safe and clean syringes
Finding safe-drug use information relevant to the drug(s) you or your loved one are using and following those
Finding drug test centers and paying for drug tests. Or, getting drug safety test kits like DanceSafe or equivalent kits
Focusing on safe usage with emphasis on sourcing quality drugs and using in a safe manner over not using at all
Intervening for safety reasons or not at all

Education – Harm reduction strategies always include education and learning, which may mean helping you or your loved one learn to cope with the real problems behind substance abuse. It can also mean working on strategies to improve quality of life, improve mental health, and improve other things that may contribute to drug abuse. In addition, it means learning how drug abuse and use disorders actually work, how they impact everyone involved, and how to cope with them in a healthy manner. Harm reduction strategies never work to minimize or ignore that illicit drug use can be extremely harmful, it just means accepting that it happens and you can’t prevent it happening, so you want it to happen in as safe of a way as possible.

For many people, taking harm reduction approaches to drug abuse means a considerable shift in mindset. For example, many of us are raised to see substance abuse as a personal failing or as someone choosing to do wrong. Learning how to use safely, how to reduce harm when using, and how to provide safe spaces to use means accepting that use will happen, meeting the user where they are, and taking a core step of saying “you and your health are more important than the fact that you use drugs”. You may have to overcome a lot of biases to actually reach that step. However, it will ensure that your loved one can move through addiction as safely as possible, so they have the chance to recover and to heal.

How Can I Handle College Parties and Stay Sober?

How Can I Handle College Parties and Stay Sober?

Going to college can often feel like everyone is focused on one thing – and that’s having a party. That’s very often not true, but especially in the media, college life is glamorized with parties, drugs, and alcohol front and center. But, if you’re trying to stay sober, want to take care of your health, or are in recovery from a substance use disorder, that’s the last thing you want. You might still want to take part in social life and parties – but you want to do so sober.

Can you? Of course you can. However, it might mean staying away from some parties. It will also mean planning, putting effort into taking care of yourself, and putting effort into learning where your limits are. The following tips will help you join college parties while staying sober.

Go to Sober Parties

A lot of people aren’t aware that there are plenty of sober parties and activities on most campuses. In fact, many people try to get through college sober – which means their events and parties will generally be alcohol free. If you’re not sure, ask around the campus and even ask your counselor. Some colleges actually sponsor alcohol free parties – just because getting students to socialize more with less alcohol is the goal of any college.

If you don’t have an existing sober party set up, feel free to plan one yourself. You can decide if it’s absolutely no alcohol or low alcohol. You can also organize with your sorority/fraternity, with the college itself, or with any other group you like. Having games, a movie marathon, dancing, or any other social activity is a great theme for a party – and it doesn’t need alcohol.

Make Sure You Have a Sober Buddy

If you’re going to parties where alcohol is being served, it’s a good idea to have someone to watch your back. Here, your best bet is to try going to campus support groups like AA, NA, Smart Recovery, or LifeRing. That will allow you to meet other sober people – however, you should be in recovery from alcohol abuse to join them.

If not, you might just want to ask around to find like-minded individuals who don’t want to drink.

Why do you want a sober buddy?

You’ll feel less alone
You’ll feel less peer pressure to drink
You’ll be able to talk to someone if you do experience cravings or want alcohol
You’ll have someone to help you say no and to hold you socially accountable

The best option is to bring someone to the party with you who also wants to stay sober. However, even having someone to text or call is better than nothing.

Know Your Motivations

If you want to stay sober, it’s for a reason. Keep those reasons in mind. In fact, if you’re struggling with saying no to alcohol or are afraid you’ll slip up, try writing down your motivations before you leave for the party. That will ensure they are clear in your mind and you’ll have a good idea of exactly what you’re saying not to alcohol for.

It doesn’t matter if those reasons are “I want to take care of my health”, or “I deserve to experience social life sober”, or “I’ve worked too hard to be sober to give it up now”. Writing out your motivations, including negative repercussions of alcohol can help. Your reasons can be as simple as you like.

They just have to remind you why you’re saying no.

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Know Your Limits

If you don’t trust yourself to say no to alcohol, don’t go to parties with alcohol. If you’re not sure if you can say no, try going only when you have support or someone to help you. Knowing your own limits is an important part of navigating life – and it’s even more important when you have to say no to things like alcohol to meet your goals.

That’s also important if you experience triggers, if you have cravings, or if you’re struggling with alcohol abuse or did in the past. What’s likely to trigger you? How can you avoid that? How can you manage that if you can’t avoid it? When are you most likely to experience cravings? How can you avoid that? How can you manage that when you can’t avoid it? What can you do if things get bad?

Understanding yourself is the first step to managing yourself. And, that means paying attention to when and how you react to things and using that information to make better decisions for yourself.

Take Care of Yourself

Getting enough sleep and eating your vegetables might not sound like the best way to avoid drinking, but it might be. Giving yourself a solid foundation of rest, exercise, and nutrition ensures that you feel your best. That also holds true with ensuring you have regular social interaction, time with friends, and time to relax and have fun. Giving yourself a stable routine with good self-care ensures that you are as mentally healthy as possible.

That puts you in the best possible position to take care of yourself. That includes not needing a release or getting drunk as much as you might if you go back and forth between not getting enough sleep and feeling bad because you’re not giving your body what it needs. It also means having more emotional stability, so you’re less likely to be invested in pleasure-seeking.

Good routines can be difficult to start and harder to maintain. But, taking care of yourself is an important part of staying sober. And, if you’re taking care of yourself in other ways by going to the gym four days a week, eating 80% healthy meals, and going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day – indulging in alcohol is going to feel a lot less like giving yourself a break and a lot more like self-sabotage, which will make it easier to say no.

Talk to People

If you’re at a college party, chances are, you know almost everyone there. That makes it relatively easy to talk to people, to say no, and to explain why you want to stay sober. Most people want to be respectful of the people around them. Most people want to be good friends. So, simply going “No, I don’t want any alcohol and here’s why” can do a lot for ensuring that people don’t offer you alcohol. It might not feel that way. You might feel like skipping out on alcohol makes you the sad looser of the bunch – but chances are, there are more people there who are also abstaining. Talking about things, making them public, and ensuring that the group knows that taking care of you means not offering you alcohol can do a lot for you getting to enjoy college parties without alcohol. And, if that’s not the case, you’re probably at the wrong parties.

If you’re struggling with alcohol abuse, you don’t have to tell that to strangers. But you should practice saying no, get comfortable with it, and learn how to exit a situation if you’re pressured instead of accepted.

College parties can involve a lot of alcohol. But, more and more often, there are also options for sober get-togethers. Hopefully, these tips help you to manage parties and to get through college without sacrificing your social life to stay sober.

My Man Says He’s Not an Alcoholic: Signs of Alcoholism in Men

My Man Says He’s Not an Alcoholic: Signs of Alcoholism in Men

If your partner is drinking too much, you probably notice a lot. At the same time, they may argue or even outright deny drinking too much or having a problem. That’s a common problem with alcoholics. They convince themselves that they are in control and they can quit whenever they want – even when they can’t.

Recognizing that your loved one is struggling with an alcohol use disorder is one of the first steps of getting them help. It can also be important for your own mental health – especially if they are lying and hiding drinking. Unfortunately, if your loved one doesn’t’ want to get help, they won’t and you can’t make them. However, taking the steps to help them learn about substance use disorders, why alcoholism is a treatable thing and not a personal failing, and how they can get help may help. And, that all starts with recognizing the signs of alcoholism and how it impacts people.

They Get Sick Often

If your man is drinking so much that he has cold or flu symptoms when he stops, he’s struggling with alcohol dependency. This means that his body is so accustomed to alcohol that it has to adjust to lower levels of it when he stops drinking. With alcohol, this happens because alcohol interacts with the central nervous system and therefore the respiratory system. As a result, someone going through withdrawal will have shaking hands, sniffles, a headache, and will likely be extremely irritable.

Even if you notice that they periodically have these symptoms, especially if they can’t drink for a few days for medication or for work – then they likely have a problem.

He Sneaks or Hides Drinking

Someone with a healthy relationship to alcohol will never sneak or hide drinks. It doesn’t matter how much you “nag” them about it or feel negatively about it. If they have a good relationship with alcohol, they won’t hide using it.

This means that finding bottles hidden in a drawer or behind a couch is a sign of alcoholism. It means that someone who fills water or soda bottles with alcohol and takes them with them through the day is an alcoholic. It means that someone who often or normally slips alcohol into their normal beverage is an alcoholic. And, it means that someone who hides or tries to throw away bottles or evidence that they were drinking is an alcoholic.

They Drink More than They Say

If your loved one promises to have a single drink and then gets drunk, it’s fine once, but more than that and it’s a bad sign. Even if they jokingly go “I can’t just have one beer, it turns into two and then three”, it means that they don’t have self-control around alcohol. Lack of self-control around alcohol means they have a substance use disorder.

That’s also true if he tells you he drank less than you know he did. For example, if your partner comes home smelling strongly of alcohol and says he only had a few beers. Or, if he lies about not being drunk but is drunk. If he has to lie about it, it is a problem.

Unfortunately, this can be difficult to argue or work around. Why? People often lie so well that they convince themselves. That’s very easy in a bar, where you don’t have bottles and cups to get rid of. It’s also easy at home when you sneak drinks and hide them – because you don’t see the evidence of how much you’re drinking either. When that’s the case, it means alcohol consumption can get significantly out of hand, because they aren’t keeping tabs on what they are actually drinking.

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They Frequently Binge

Binge drinking, or drinking more than four servings of alcohol in a single sitting, shouldn’t be a regular thing. Healthy alcohol consumption involves moderation and being careful of how much you drink and why. Yet, 80% or more of Americans will sometimes binge drink. If that happens once or twice a year, it’s usually fine. However, if it’s a thing that happens more often, it usually means there’s a problem.

That’s also true if they:

Save up to get to drink more on the weekends
Drink to the point of blackout
Drink to the point of throwing up
Have memory lapses while drinking

They Overprioritize Drinking

It’s normal to look forward to having a few beers with friends. However, if someone has a problem, they over think about drinking. Sometimes that can take the form of making it a hobby. People invest in craft beer or spirits to make their alcoholism more socially acceptable. However, if they spend a significant portion of their time thinking about or drinking alcohol, it’s usually a bad sign. You can have a healthy relationship with craft alcohol and put more time and attention into it. However, that should not be paired with also frequently getting drunk.

Overprioritizing drinking looks like:

Spending a lot of effort to ensure there is alcohol
Skipping meals so alcohol hits harder
Skipping meals so they can drink without gaining weight
Refusing to go somewhere because they can’t drink
Refusing to go somewhere unless you are the designated driver

Essentially, if the most important part of the activity is drinking, your partner has a problem.

He Drinks to Self-Medicate

TV shows and media have normalized “having a drink to feel better” or to “unwind”. However, that’s a very unhealthy approach to life and one that can result in addiction. If your partner uses alcohol to make themselves feel better during extreme events, it’s probably fine. On the other hand, if they need a beer to unwind from work or to even be normal, they have a problem.

Alcohol should not be a way to cope with stress. It also shouldn’t be a way to manage emotions, including social anxiety. Alcohol also should not be a social lubricant. If you “need” it, you have a problem.

They Can’t Quit

If your partner goes “I can quit anytime I want”, and then doesn’t, it usually means they can’t. That’s also true if they keep trying to quit and then relapse and find a reason for that. Or, if they say they will quit or cut back, and then keep finding reasons to not. “I’ll stop drinking when that stressful thing stops” is the same as saying “I can’t quit”. It’s also true if they blame it on you, “I might drink less if you didn’t nag so much”, also means “I can’t quit”.

Most people will at least try to cut back or to quit and then may find that they can’t actually do so. That’s true even if it seems like they have a valid reason. Or if quitting really is inconvenient right then. If someone cannot quit, especially if they say they want to, they have a problem.

If your partner is struggling with alcohol, it’s important to try to get them help. Unfortunately, getting someone to acknowledge that they need help can be extremely difficult. You may need professional help or an intervention to get your partner to face the fact that they do have a problem. And, that starts with recognizing the ways they do struggle with alcohol. Good luck getting your loved one into treatment.

What Happens to My Pet If I Go to Rehab?

young man hanging out with his dog at the rehab center

What Happens to My Pet If I Go to Rehab?

Going to rehab can be an important step in getting your life back on track. Substance use disorder treatment can give you the tools to get clean and sober, to cope with cravings in the future, and to manage the underlying causes of substance abuse so that you don’t need drugs or alcohol to cope with life. At the same time, for many of us, stepping away from responsibilities like jobs, homes, and pets can be challenging.

If you have a pet and you live alone, that can be especially pressing. What does happen to your pet when you go to rehab? Depending on your situation, there are multiple options and all of them have different pros and cons. This article will discuss what those are and will help you to make a decision.

Leaving a Pet with a Friend or Family Member

Even if friends and family members aren’t particularly happy with you as a person, they are unlikely to ignore a request to help care for a pet while you’re gone. If your friends and family can be trusted with your pet, this can be the most affordable option. However, it is understandably not an option for everyone. For example, if you’re not on speaking terms with anyone, if those people aren’t trustworthy around pets, or if they have too much on their plate already, you may not have this option.

Another option here is to try to break up the work across several friends. For example, your pet stays with one person for a week and then someone else picks them up, and so on. This means less constant work for someone who may not want a pet for 30-90 days. However, this option also means the most stress for your pet.

Paying For Professional Kennel Care

Professional kennel care means taking your pet to a professional pet boarding center and leaving them there for the duration of the stay. This option can be expensive. For example, pet boarding rates average about $500 per month. This does mean your pet will stay in a professional care center with someone to watch them, take them out, and offer play or walking.

Unfortunately, most professional care is available for dogs and cats. If you have a bird, you’ll probably have to seek out and travel to a professional center. This can mean added hassle and expense, which means the option isn’t for everyone.

If you do have a dog or a cat and you want to ensure that your pet gets the best possible care without you having to worry about anything, paying a professional kennel to care for your pet is a great option.

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Pet Sitters

Pet sitters are friends, family, or professional sitters who come and stay at your home for the duration of your treatment. Pet sitters may also drop by to exercise, play with, and feed your pet. This second option is the cheapest. For example, it may cost from about $20 per day to have someone walk and feed a dog. That still costs more than many kennels. However, it reduces the amount of stress your pet is under and is suitable for smaller mammals and fish.

Pet sitters will need access to your home, which means getting them keys, organizing when they will be there, and ensuring they have everything they need to provide for your pet while you are away. Often, that means choosing pet sitters who are licensed and bonded or choosing people you know. In each case, it will require organization and ensuring that you trust the person in question to continue doing the job while you are gone.

Choosing a Pet-Friendly Rehab

Pet-friendly rehab centers like 10-Acre Ranch allow you to simply bring your pets with you when you get treatment. This option offers the most peace of mind, because you know what care your pet is getting because you see them every day. In addition, the rehab center offers daily pet care, so you don’t have to watch or mind your pet while going to therapy or treatment. Plus, many therapies can work very well with having a pet, which means that your pet can actually take part in your recovery with you.

Pet-friendly rehab centers vary in offering from establishments that allow you to have a pet in your room to establishments that offer kenneling and care for your pet during the day, which you can access when not in treatment. In most cases, you should be able to keep your pet in your room – although that will be at the discretion of your roommate as well.

In addition, keeping your pet with you at rehab usually doesn’t cost more than going by yourself- although you may have to pay a small fee for boarding your pet and you may have to pay for pet-food acquired by the rehab center – as it’s unlikely you’ll be allowed to go shopping on your own.

Making a Choice

There are plenty of care options for people with pets who need to go to rehab. However, choosing an option normally depends on your situation. For most of us, keeping our pets with us in a pet-friendly rehab center is the best option because it reduces worry and stress. On the other hand, if your rehab center doesn’t allow pets, you’ll want to prioritize for either affordability, reduced stress for your pet, or professional care. Depending on which you choose, family care, kennel care, or a pet sitter may be the best option.

Going to rehab is important for your health and well-being. Luckily, having pets doesn’t have to get in the way. Often, you can just bring your pet with you and enjoy the company of your companion while you work to improve yourself and your health.

If you’re looking for a pet-friendly rehab, 10-Acre ranch offers substance use disorder treatment in a setting where you can bring your pets. However, it’s always important to get in touch and discuss your needs upfront. Good luck going into treatment.

How to Go to Rehab and Keep Your Job

How to Go to Rehab and Keep Your Job

Struggling with drugs or alcohol can ruin your life. For most of us, the only way to stop the cycle of relying on substances is to take a break and go to rehab. And, while some 42.3 million Americans qualify as having a substance use disorder, only about 11% of those ever seek out rehab. Here, barriers like careers, family care, stigma, and funding clinical care can call get in the way. That’s especially true if you’re a professional with a reputation to uphold, where you might feel that calling in sick for a month to deal with a substance use disorder will get you fired.

Fortunately, the United States has a lot of law in place to protect you when you do seek out rehab. In addition, you’ll have the option to attend rehab without quitting work – which means you’ll never have to take time off. The following article reviews your options, and which might be a best-fit for your circumstances.

Consider Your Options

Most people think of rehab and immediately consider an inpatient clinic, where you stay for 30+ days to receive round-the-clock care. That’s one way to get treatment. However, you can also opt for outpatient care.

Inpatient Care – 30+ days at a rehab clinic, typically out of state where you’ll have privacy. Costs are high and only about 15-20% is covered by most insurance programs. However, you get one-on-one care, a break from stress and triggers, and the ability to fully focus on recovery. This option is often recommended for people with severe addictions.

Intensive Outpatient Care – Intensive Outpatient Care or IOP allows you to attend rehab for a few hours a day, after work, so you can continue going to work for the duration. This option allows you to avoid asking for time off, so you don’t have to tell your boss anything. In addition, outpatient care can be as effective as inpatient care – providing you stick to it and attend throughout the whole program. IOP also means you’ll stay in the same environment as before – which means that if you frequently drink or use at work, it may not be the best option for you. However, you can pair outpatient treatment with staying in a sober home for maximum support and a change of lifestyle, without having a gap in work.

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You’re Legally Protected

While you might not want to take a 30-day break from work, you are legally protected. Sick leave, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) all mean you are protected in case you seek out medical care for rehab. The ACA classifies substance use disorders as a temporary disability – firing you because of one is against the law. Of course, if you’ve explicitly signed away those rights or your employer catches you using on the job, that’s another story. The FMLA also allows you to take up to 12 weeks of free time for an undisclosed medical reason – with nothing more than a doctor’s note that doesn’t have to say what you’re taking the time off for.

Coincidentally, if your employer has over 50 employees, they’re also legally obligated to offer assistance and insurance covering rehab. This means you can go to HR, discuss your problems with substance abuse, and have them help you move into a program. You might not want to do so, as it may impact your reputation or your long-term standing in the company because stigma does still exist, but you do have the right.

In addition, Obamacare and FMLA both allow you to apply for short-term disability through your employer. You’ll have to request medical leave, sit through decisions, and possibly fight them. However, you don’t have to reveal why you’re requesting leave or temporary disability. It’s up to your medical professionals to determine if you need it, not your employer.

Keep in Mind that Disclosure Isn’t Required

If you’re afraid you’ll lose your job or reputation at your job for going to rehab, you don’t have to disclose. You never have to tell your employer why you’re taking sick or medical leave of any kind. In addition, if you’re going to rehab in the weekends or at night, you can keep this to yourself. You never have to tell your employer what goes on in your personal life. In fact, if they ask, you can report them to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Of course, your employer may be able to help. Many offer assistance with rehab, can offer ongoing rehabilitation programs, can offer financial assistance, etc.

However, whether or not you disclose is up to you and the amount of privacy you need.

In Summary

If you’re struggling with drugs and alcohol, getting help is the best thing you can do for your future – with or without your job. But there’s no reason why you can’t go to rehab and keep your job.

What if I Can’t Take Time Off Work?

You definitely can take time off work. You’re legally protected by FMLA, which allows you up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off. If you stack that with sick days, you can likely limit that to about 3 weeks of unpaid time off. Your employer isn’t legally allowed to fire you for doing so.

What if I Can’t Afford Unpaid Time Off Work?

You can always take the route of going to an intensive outpatient rehab center. This allows you to go to work during the day and attend rehab at night or during the weekends. These programs are typically 3-6 hours per day – so your life will be busy. However, you will get the care you need without taking unpaid time off work. And, if you mix IOP with a sober living home, you can get most of the benefits of inpatient care without taking off work. Alternatively, you could apply for FMLA and temporary disability to ensure you receive some money to make up for the missed paychecks. However, this process can be quite lengthy.

If you or a loved one is struggling, there are always options. Whether that’s taking the hit and taking unpaid time off work or committing to a busy month and going to therapy while you work, you can mix rehab and your job. Most importantly, your employer isn’t allowed to fire you for getting treatment for a substance use disorder, even if you disclose that disorder to them.

If you or your loved-one struggles from alcoholism or other 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. 10 Acre Ranch also has specialty tracks like our pet friendly drug rehab and couples substance abuse treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.