ALUMNI DRUG REHAB

One of the biggest predictors of a successful recovery process is how connected you are to others. Isolation, secrecy, shame and hiding will cause you to relapse faster than any other factor, even “hanging out with old friends”. We turn to old friends and old life styles when we feel alone as if we had no one who would not judge us or who really “gets it”. That’s why we believe in Aftercare and Alumni programming. Your peers “get it”. They have thought similar thoughts, dealt with similar issues and need connections back in life just like you do!

When we are disconnected from others, or feel judged by others we lose an important part of our essential selves. As human beings, it is our nature to be social. Being connected to others has a profound effect on the brain and even your physical self. Loneliness actually creates an over abundance of stress hormones which in turn drives your mind to seek out anything that will relieve the anxiety. We need friendship like we need air, water and food. We need it to survive.

Humans are not designed to be isolated from others. Isolation can produce serious mental health issues, including addiction and relapse into addiction. Your addiction, while it may have seemed “social” was far from it. Think about those times when you would hide away to get high, or avoid family and friends so they wouldn’t see you high or withdrawing. The elaborate stories to account for why you aren’t around anymore. The excuses for missing family events or holidays.

The self-isolation from others caused just as many problems as the drugs and/or alcohol themselves! Even those times you would manage to detox yourself or stop using and partying for a while. You still felt out of place and awkward around family or friends. It was easier to hide away or to return to using friends who you don’t have to explain anything to. It’ like being in a room full of people but everyone is in their own bubble. You may orbit around others, but you really don’t feel like you are a part of others.

Once you enter into a drug and/or alcohol program, there is a sense of belonging. Here with us, you don’t have to explain. Our staff has been there. We know how hard it is to reach out when there has been so much rejection in the past. There is nothing quite so relieving to sit among your peers and talk about those life issues that start our thinking down the wrong path when we try and do life by ourselves. Although the Aftercare/Alumni groups are peer driven, our staff is there on site to help with those issues that your peers may not be able to assist with.

If you feel like there is nothing for you in life and that if people knew who you “really were” they would run away from you, then our, with its Aftercare/Alumni group, is where you need to be. Give us a call today at (949) 386-2715