The Cost of Addiction

Times are a bit tough economically. Housing prices have slumped. Massive job cuts. And let's not even talk about the stock market or our 401k plans. Not exactly the best time to invest in recovery. When the cupboards just about bare (or seeming so) treatment for addiction should take a bit of a back seat priority wise.

Unless of course we consider the cost that use has had in our lives.

Give this a try--should just take a minute:

Take the amount you drink or use each day and put a price to it. Let's take a moderate amount--say a six pack of decent beer each evening. Seven bucks a night. Forty nine bucks a week. One-hundred and ninety eight bucks a month. Maybe add a little for holiday months.

Begins to add up.

Now think of any meals you've cooked but not eaten due to drinking/using. Add that on.

Ever have a DUI? Need a lawyer? Have to pay a fine? Add that on.

Crash your car? Add that on.

Skip work due to a hangover or a drink? Add that amount on.

Ever need to see a doctor due to your use? Add that on.

Divorced due to use (even distantly so)? Paid court fees, lawyers, alimony? Add that on.

Ever break anything when drunk or high? Add that on.

Ever lost a job or job opportunity because of alcohol or drugs? Add that on.

Kids need some type of therapy because of your use? Add that on.

Spill stuff on your clothes? Carpet? Friend's clothes or carpet? Add that on.

Less productive at work? Add that on.

Seeking therapy to help with some kind of problem which really of course couldn't be your drinking (but your just so darned depressed and irritable all the time and not like you used to feel)? Add that on.

Using something to let you sleep, wake you up, douse the fire in your skull, get your stomache to stop wrenching around like a couple of sneakers in a dryer? Add that on.

Logic kind of fails, doesn't it. It doesn't matter what the economic climate is like, addiction costs; and the price is high. Whether it's your money, your dignity, your life--you will end up paying.

Comparably--treatment is a bargain.

If you or someone you know is paying the full price for their addiction, reach out. Help is available. Paradise recovery--the path to a new life awaits.

Do you have to Hit Rock Bottom for Rehab?

It is a good question. Most people say that an addict has to hit "rock bottom" before they can really be helped. This may not always be true. Also, keep in mind that rock bottom means something different for each of us. For some, the loss of a job or a relationship is rock bottom. For others, it might be the loss of family, house, car, job, and living homeless. Most people don't need to experience that kind of rock bottom in order to seek help! To lose everything, you have to be either incredibly stubborn or incredibly stupid. Or both!

The purpose of hitting rock bottom, if there is one, is that at that point you are able to admit that you are powerless over your addiction and you will do anything you can to try to treat it. (Which, not coincidentally, is the First Step of AA). If it takes the loss of everything and everyone around you, then that's what it takes. For some, the simple threat of a loss of important things in their life is enough for them to realise that it is time to get help. For others, the loss of a job or loss of a relationship with a loved one is rock bottome enough to realize that "this is serious and I need to get help".

If you are thinking about getting help, or a loved one is in need of help for their addiction, haven't they hit rock bottom enough? Maybe they are not at the point of admitting they have a serious problem and they need a little "push" in the right direction. Getting an intervention could be the little push (or big push) that they need to realize that they have hit rock bottom enough to get help. Give our HelpLine a call at 866-478-9898. We can help with an intervention referral and also work with you to get your loved one into treatment.

What we might consider Trading so we can Continue Using

Raymond Carver, author, poet and alcoholic, concluded the poem "Luck" with the lines: "years later, I still wanted to trade friends, lovers, starry skies for a house where no one was home, no one coming back and all I could drink."

Prior to entering into alcohol rehab or drug rehab, alcoholics and addicts are gripped by a disease that, in nearly all cases, will rob the sufferer of all they hold dear. Those active in their addiction will indeed trade nearly everything in order to be able to maintain their use, in order to stay high. Addicts and alcoholics are able to ignore the financial hardship, the pain to their friends and families, even their physical deterioration as long as doing so allows them to continue to drink and drug. The trade off never seems quite balanced, never quite fair.

Entering into recovery begins with detoxification from substances. Once the physical body is clean and clear of unnatural toxins, the mind can also begin to clear. Real rehabilitation means taking into account what the alcoholic/addict has been willing to give up in order to maintain the addictive lifestyle. With sober eyes, the alcoholic/addict can take realistic stock of what they've been willing to trade. Examination of what's been lost can be a real motivator towards change.

. . and years later, with continued recovery, sober alcoholic/addicts can begin to trade up . . .towards fulfilling and meaningful lives.