I am assuming if you are reading this that you are still actively using your drug of choice, and you’re in the process of making your decision to get clean.
Let’s see what’s next.
A critical stretch moment
There can be plenty of different stretch moments in your recovery journey, but one of the biggest ones is simply in asking for help.
As an introvert, this is probably not something that comes naturally for you.
But, you have to do it. And this is why it is a stretch moment.
The key is in surrender. That moment when you decide “I’ve had enough of my addiction, I’m completely fed up with being miserable, and I want something different in my life.”
At that moment of surrender, you become willing to embrace a critical stretch moment.
This is it. Decide, at that moment, and declare the following things:
1) I want to get clean and sober. I’m really done with drugs and/or alcohol.
2) I’m willing to do at least a short inpatient stay in order to start my recovery journey.
3) I’m willing to ask people to help me figure out how to get into rehab.
That’s it.
“I’m done drinking or using drugs, I’m willing to go to rehab, and I’m willing to ask people to help me do it.”
If you have reached your moment of true surrender, then this is the conviction that you should hold: the willingness to start your journey in a rehab setting.
Even if it scares you a bit or seems like a major inconvenience: rehab is the best solution.
Here’s why:
“But I don’t need rehab”
I believed the same thing, until I realized that nothing was working for me, and I was still stuck in my addiction, after years of lying to myself about how I didn’t need any help.
You’ve probably heard people say things like: “You need people in order to recover” and “it’s a WE program” and things of that sort.
The truth is that you can do very well on your own, using Introverted Recovery, in the long run–but in the very beginning, when you take those first few tip toes into sobriety, you likely cannot do it in complete solitude.
There are at least 4 reasons that starting your journey outside of a rehab will be an uphill battle for you:
1) The isolation will be crushing.
2) You will have access to your drug of choice the whole time.
3) You will be going through cravings.
4) There could possibly be medical necessity as a result of withdrawal.
Being at an inpatient rehab for just a week or two will negate all of these issues.
I’m going to admit that I was a bit afraid of rehab. I didn’t want to be in groups with a bunch of people, and have to talk in front of them, and share things with them, and so on.
But I got desperate enough in my addiction, and miserable enough, that I eventually decided that I just didn’t care about my fear of rehab. So I went. And I made it through the awkwardness.
And that was about a 2 week stay at an inpatient rehab. Since then, I have been clean and sober now for 8,960 days while living my life in “introverted recovery.”
That is what I mean when I talk about a stretch moment. I had to be willing to endure that 2 weeks of awkwardness at the start of my recovery journey, and “stretch past” that fear of rehab, in order to enjoy the 8,960 days of my recovery in which I lived the way that I wanted to live.
A few other benefits from a short inpatient rehab
Going to a short term rehab stay at the beginning of your recovery journey could have a few additional benefits as well. For example….
1) You meet a therapist that you want to continue with after you leave treatment. Not all rehabs are set up this way, but some are. In some cases a therapist who works in a rehab also has their own practice “on the outside,” and you could continue seeing them after you leave–which is one of the cornerstones of Introverted Recovery.
2) You meet a fellow addict or alcoholic that you want to stay in touch with for mutual support after leaving treatment. You don’t need to go to meetings every day, but having a peer in recovery that you can touch base with here and there can still be helpful for your recovery.
3) You discover an online resource that you want to continue with in the future. I know of at least one rehab that hosts their own online meetings for alumni, which can be super valuable for introverts like us who may not want to be sitting in a crowd.
4) You are exposed to new recovery techniques and methods. I’ve worked in a rehab and seen classes with Tai Chi instruction, meditation, acupuncture, art therapy, music therapy, nature walks, and so on. Something could “click” for you and become part of your “toolkit” and change your life for the better.
I’m sure there are other benefits that I haven’t touched on here as well.
The process of getting into treatment or detox
Here is what I suggest you do:
Call your local drug or alcohol rehab–any rehab–and ask them what the process is. Depending on your situation, you may also ask your friends or family to do this for you.
If you don’t know of any rehabs, simply go to Google maps and type in “drug rehab” or “alcohol treatment.” Businesses and phone numbers will pop up.
Call these rehab centers and tell them you are interested in getting some inpatient help.
They will take it from there–effectively checking your insurance and seeing what you qualify for and what is covered and so on.
If you don’t have private insurance, there are often options that will cover you for free, or with government insurance.
You just need to get on the phone, start talking with people at rehabs, and ask questions.
The key is: If you aren’t covered in one place, ask them to refer you to somewhere that can help you.
If nothing changes….
…then nothing changes.
I’m sure you’ve heard the cliches before.
But it’s true. The entire nature of addiction is that we get stuck. That’s what it is. That’s what defines addiction itself.
If you weren’t stuck, then it would not be addiction! It would just be “occasional drug or alcohol use.”
So you’ve got to do something to get unstuck.
And it has to be disruptive. It has to be like throwing a giant wrench into your life. Otherwise, your pattern of getting drunk or high on a regular basis is just going to continue, whether you want it to or not.
You need to take massive action in order to disrupt an addiction. Going to rehab for a week or two is massive action. It disrupts your whole life. I know it is a major inconvenience. It’s supposed to be! It has to be. That’s kind of the point. You need it to “be the wrench” that gets thrown into your life.
So consider taking this leap of faith. Embrace this stretch moment, as I call it. If you want to have 8,960 days of continuous sobriety (yes, I’m bragging!) and all of the amazing benefits that come along with that, then you have to go through a week or two of inconvenience at the start of it.
If you are as miserable and as desperate as I was in addiction, then you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Do it now! Take the plunge. You won’t regret it.
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