FAQ

Staying sober after rehab takes commitment but is made easier by participating in new hobbies, avoiding known triggers, and joining support groups that fit your new, sober lifestyle. Rehab is a supported living environment – one that promotes comfort and safety, making it easier for someone struggling with addiction to stay sober. It provides a solid foundation of security, as well as the tools needed to heal and cope even after leaving the facility. Moving on from rehab can be a very exciting time, but it may also bring up new challenges when learning how to navigate a brand new, sober lifestyle.

The move from a supported environment back to normal living can be a tough transition. Upon leaving rehab, you may find yourself put in trigger situations, or situations that spark the thought of reverting back to old habits. Things like returning to your old neighborhood, seeing old friends or family members, and even certain emotions may tempt you to go back to using or drinking.
There are a few things you can do to avoid or manage these temptations in your daily life after rehab, such as:

• Find a solid support system. Surround yourself with sober people, as well as people who have your best interests at heart and want to help you be successful.
• Modify your environment. Before returning home from rehab, ask a loved one or someone you trust to remove any paraphernalia from your house.
• Set goals for the future. When you set goals for the future, it will be much easier to manage your temptations when they arise.
• Keep your follow-up appointments. If you’ve scheduled follow-up appointments with your rehabilitation center or a doctor, stick to these appointments. 
• Find a moment each day to be thankful. When we have a strong appreciation for the life we’ve been given, it’s easier to recognize how much we have to be thankful for.
• Create new, healthy habits to replace the old ones.

In the case of addiction and recovery, triggers are often some sort of internal or external stimulus that causes the former addict to desire to use drugs or alcohol again. Triggers are easily identifiable by the way someone reacts to something. For instance, triggers may occur when someone remembers an event, or when an uncomfortable experience happens. The experience may cause someone to lash out, breakdown, or cope in unhealthy ways.
Triggers can be broken down into two categories: internal and external. Both can strongly impact the individual feeling the result of the trigger. External and internal triggers include:

• Shame/guilt/anger/regret
• Depression
• Inconsistency
• A loss of control
• Heartbreak, job loss, or grief
• Physical and mental abuse
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Feeling unsafe, feeling misunderstood
• Specific places (home, streets, cities, countries)
• Traumatic situations
• Feeling judged, feeling attacked, feeling invalidated     
• There are healthy ways to cope with difficult triggers, and those suffering can feel reassured they don’t have to give them power.
• Exercising
• Resting
• Therapy
• Meditation
• Spending time with positive people
• Drinking water or tea for relaxation/hydration
• Joining a support group
• Eating nutritional meals
• Using positive distractions
• Reframing negative attitudes or perceptions

Being transparent with your employer and knowing company policies regarding addiction treatment can help you maintain employment while getting the help you need. Studies show those who got treatment for addiction were more likely to keep their jobs or even get a better one.
Talking to Your Employer About Rehab
When it comes to letting your employer know about your decision to go to rehab, you should emphasize that you’re prepared to take the necessary steps to get help.

Being transparent with your employer and knowing company policies regarding addiction treatment can help you maintain employment while getting the help you need. Studies show those who got treatment for addiction were more likely to keep their jobs or even get a better one.
Talking to Your Employer About Rehab
When it comes to letting your employer know about your decision to go to rehab, you should emphasize that you’re prepared to take the necessary steps to get help.
Be as transparent as possible about your willingness to seek help.
The more honest and upfront you are about the situation, the more your employer can assist you in the process.
Make sure all of your work projects are taken care of.
Tie up any loose ends and coordinate for your boss and/or coworkers to take care of any tasks while you’re gone.
Tell your coworkers you’re taking a leave of absence.
If you’re concerned about letting your coworkers know you’re attending a treatment facility, simply tell them you’re taking a leave of absence. You are entitled to your privacy when getting treatment for an addiction.

Creating a supportive community is essential after completing a treatment program, whether that means letting go of those who don’t support your new lifestyle or making new friends through support groups and sober activities. Establishing Your Life In Recovery
Rehab helped you safely detox, gave you a peaceful environment while you spent time reflecting, and got you started with the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) or Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.).
But the real work of staying sober begins not in rehab, but in active recovery — which starts the moment you receive your discharge papers.
Once you’re out of the structure of an inpatient treatment program, you need to make a fully devoted effort to maintain the sobriety you have worked so hard to achieve.
This will take resolve and discipline, so start with a game plan that reinforces your commitment to addiction recovery.

Letting your loved ones know they can trust you again starts with being able to trust yourself. Take steps to actively change your life for the better and prove to yourself and those around you that things are different this time. Some examples can include making commitments or promises and fulfilling them. For example, promising to have a lunch date wit a relative and behaving a certain way, then following through can be a small example to build trust. Developing a routine that includes a relative, such as attending a church meeting, can be another way to build trust.  It may take some time for the relative to develop trust, but having faith in the process can work wonders.

An aftercare plan is essentially a map of how to manage all the challenges that life can present while in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. A proper aftercare plan will help guide someone through barriers, crisis events, relapse prevention, and help them establish an identified support system before tackling the journey of long-term recovery outside of a treatment program. The main goal of an aftercare plan is to minimize this loss of strength through actively supporting the individual with a long-term support system of professionals and systems that can continue to offer accountability in early recovery.

• If you are concerned that your loved one may be addicted or misusing a substance, there is hope for recovery. One of the first and most difficult steps for a person who misuses substances is admitting there is a problem, and it sometimes requires a loved one to help change their perspective. 
• The following may be helpful when considering how to talk to a loved one about addiction. Before confronting your loved one about their substance use, you could:
• Learn as much as possible about how addiction develops and the substance of use.
• Talk to an addiction professional, counselor, mental health professional, social worker, or interventionist to help you prepare for the intervention and become aware of possible outcomes.
• Have clear examples of what has led to your concerns about their substance use.
• Take notes ahead of time to express your concerns more clearly.
• Be sure they are not intoxicated and in as neutral a state as possible before bringing up your concerns.
• Ask other people who know your loved one to be a part of an intervention team and make a clear plan for the discussion.
• Decide ahead of time what outcome you hope for and what realistic actions you might take in the event of various outcomes.
• For example, if your loved one declines addiction treatment, perhaps you (or they) will move out.
• Remember only to communicate the actions you are ready and willing to take, not empty threats.
• Be aware that strong emotional responses may occur. Try to stick to the facts and possible solutions, which can make the intervention more effective.
• Addiction is a brain disorder that only a qualified healthcare provider can diagnose. However, there are certain signs you can look for if you’re worried about a loved one.

Addiction affects the family by creating trust issues, emotional stress, and unhealthy communication patterns. Studies show that growing up with an alcoholic parent can affect a child, and spouses and parents can be similarly impacted by addiction. The effects of drug and alcohol addiction can be both short-term and long-term. Peaceful, loving homes can be divided by the strain caused by drug and alcohol abuse. Conflict becomes normal as family members fight to engage with a loved one who abuses heroin, for example. Trust begins to erode. Relatives may become more guarded if a relative abusing illicit substances acts with aggression or hides their disorder in secrecy. Marriages can end in divorce due to changes caused by addiction. Communication becomes more difficult, highlighting frustration. Family members may see their relative endure side effects of drugs or fly into rages when under the influence of alcohol. Others may see their relatives lose weight rapidly, becoming unrecognizable. Some may not hear from a loved one for an extended period of time, only to discover that they are living on the street or have fatally overdosed.

Educate Yourself On Addiction And Recovery
Addiction and alcoholism are very complex, and recovery is one of the greatest challenges of most individuals’ lives. The best way a loved one can help an addict is to educate themselves on the many aspects of addiction and recovery, such as potential triggers, psychological changes, enablement, the recovery process, and the health issues that addiction causes. Loved ones will find it much easier to relate to and assist a recovering addict if they understand addiction, and they will also be much better equipped to help prevent relapse.
Understand And Prepare For Extended Problems
Addiction creates many lasting problems, both for addicts and their loved ones. While sobriety will improve all of them, many will still be present during recovery. Financial problems are common, especially as the recovering addict tries to rebuild their career and pay off addiction related debts such as DUI expenses. Relationship problems can be the most painful; it can take years to rebuild trust, and in some cases, it just isn’t possible. Understanding and preparing for these problems will make it easier to deal with them and lessen their impact.
Don’t Hold Unreasonable Expectations
The major desire of anyone who loves an addict is to see them clean and sober. There is also a belief that the addiction is the source of all the problems in the addict’s life and their relationships, and it is commonly assumed that merely by attending rehab someone is “cured.” Unfortunately, neither is true. 
Make Changes To Support Sobriety
The support of loved ones is often critical to a recovering addict maintaining their sobriety, especially in the first months after rehab. Examples of changes that support sobriety include:
Removing all addictive substances from the home.
Avoiding social gatherings where substance abuse will occur.
Finding new, sober activities to do together.
Putting a focus on new aspects of life.
Building relationships with sober friends.

1. Intervention
Interventions provide ultimatums to the addicted individual and are effective tools for getting through to our loved ones and getting the message across. While some will refer to this as “tough love,” it’s what we’re left with. It’s difficult for everyone involved and is forever going to be remembered as a pivotal point in the person’s life.
2. Analyze Where You Are
It’s coming down to the wire. If all previous attempts have failed, our number one solution will be the last ditch effort to getting your loved one off of drugs, and giving them the health and attention they need to recover. 
3. Positively Encourage Them
We’ve been able to identify if we are enabling them, or if someone else is, but it comes down to one thing. They need help, and whether it’s a therapist or detoxification, you can encourage them to seek help far better than anyone else can if you’re an important and influential figure in their life.
4. When All Else Fails, Don’t Use Guilt
It’s very easy to mix up the thought of an ultimatum, and lecturing or guilting an addicted individual into ceasing their vice usage. Under no circumstances should you attempt to guilt them into quitting their addiction. 
5. Offer Support
Without stating the obvious, let the person know that you are there for them no matter what. It’s very easy to have a conversation with someone, and keep the subject matter silent, while both of you know what’s going on. By avoiding bringing it up in direct words or unveiling anger, you’re showing them that you’re not being judgmental, that you just want to help.
6. Stop Funding 
If you’ve identified yourself as an enabler, or have been identified as one by an outside perspective, there are ways to prevent it. Fear controls everything; it’s human nature. Fear of losing your loved one to addiction, or to the life it would leave them with, will be detrimental in providing them with the environment that they need. If you were always wondering why they needed lump sums of money or what they were doing with it, the answer has become pretty clear.
7. Start With The Medical Approach
When someone is in the grip of addiction, their clarity quickly withers away. Suggest or schedule a routine check-up appointment. Inform the doctor of the addiction prior to the visit, and do so for multiple reasons. They’ll be better able to identify the issues and see past the excuses of the individual. Doctors will still protect doctor-patient confidentiality, but in their medical and professional opinions, they can also recommend courses of action to take, which can be very eye-opening for the person.
8. Decipher The Situation
There are different stages of addiction. It’s difficult to determine exactly where your loved one resides. It makes a difference between being able to talk one-on-one with them and realizing that they are too far gone. If you can determine where they are in their addiction, it’s going to be beneficial. 
9. Educate Yourself
Find out what they’re going through on an educational level. While every single addiction is different, and potentially more harrowing than what you may find online, withdrawal symptoms and other synonymous aspects tend to go with their coupled addictions. It can help you prepare for the future and keep your eyes out for any signs of potential overdose.
10. Admit It To Yourself
If you’re in denial, it’s not helping anyone. For those who haven’t dealt with a family member or a friend falling down the rabbit hole of addiction before, it can be difficult to acknowledge that their problems have gone on too long and have become serious. While this doesn’t sound like it directly impacts the suffering person, you’re admitting the problem and bracing yourself to be a support system for your loved one.