I was discussing a relapse with someone last night.  One of the causes was the break-up with a significant other.  This person had been doing well after spending time in a drug rehab program.  They had a good job.  They got a place of their own to live. They felt they were starting to regain many of the things their addiction had taken away from them.  On closer look, one thing was missing.  It was structure from various sources.  They only had it from one source.

Structure are all the activities that are set into your schedule on at least a weekly basis.  They are recurring.  They are of a commitment type nature.  In other words, if you do not show up, someone will call and ask what happened to you.  Working out at the gym 3 times a week with a workout buddy is structure.  Volunteering is structure.  Giving part time child care to a single mom is structure.  Being on a fun team for baseball, basketball or softball is structure.

The only srtucture in this individuals life was work, and their significant other.  The lose of one or they other left a huge hole. Lonliness plus the stress and anxiety of a break-up is a large burden to deal with.  If you have structure in your life, you still have to get out and see people, even in the difficult times.  You have friends that after working out, you can grab a coffee with.  Structure helps to make your support network large enough that the loss of one or two parts are not insurmountable.

It also help you to get out and do things without planning and calling people.  When we are tired and down the last thing we fell like doing is making plans.  Having a few pre made plans every week will take that burden off.  It will keep you from isolating. Stucture is not easy to put in place.  You have to look for it.  You have to make an effort to build it.  It will also save your life.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 7:35 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.