Whether it is in drug and alcohol rehab or some other area of our lives, we have all tried to change something. Most times we are able to adopt a new healthier behavior for a while. However for a lot of us we find that after a period of weeks to months we end up sliding back into the old routine with all of its consequences. If we are dealing with a drug or alcohol addiction the old actions may lead to disasterous results.

What is different about permanent change? What happens when someone truly goes in a different direction and never turns back to his or her old ways? I think that to truly make a permanent change with a stay in drug and alcohol rehab two things have to occur.

The first is in the “definitions” we all carry around in our head. If you want a permanent change in your drug or alcohol addiction you must break the old definition and replace it with a new one. When you think of the words, alcohol or drug, what comes to your mind? If it is something like, “something that others can use but I can’t“, you will never stay sober permanently. If you likewise think,”Something I need to reduce all control” or “I need it to relax and control stress“, you will sobotage all the effort you have put in at a drug and alcohol rehab program.

A better definition to the words drugs and alcohol would be, “Something that when used even ONCE, removes and destroys all the things I love and value in my life!“. How about something more clear and short. Drugs are deadly poison. Unless you have a real connection to a definition of alcohol and drug use that supports permanent change your odds of sliding back are much higher.

The second component of permanent change is doing some physical changes, not just mental ones. Change your job. Change where you live. Change your friends. If you change your enviroment, your other changes will be supported with new routines. Old routines trigger old habits. Permanent change is not impossible. It cannot however, happen simply by wishing it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 at 10:46 am and is filed under Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.