Making the decision to enter an addiction treatment program might be one of the scariest and most difficult decisions we’ll ever make, but also one of the best. For many of us, starting treatment is fraught with deeply held fears and complex emotions. How will it feel to leave home? Can I even get sober, or is it hopeless for me? If I manage to stop drinking, will I be able to stay sober? The first step in the lifelong journey of recovery is making the decision to start treatment.
Factors to Consider When Starting Treatment
There are many things to consider when starting treatment. Your treatment center will help you with these important decisions. For example, at Athens Area Commencement Center, we offer outpatient treatment (also known as ambulatory detox) programs. You’ll want to think about which kind of treatment program is right for you. Are you able to leave your work for the length of time you’ll be in treatment? Do your children or other dependents have someone else to care for them? Would continuing to live with your family while in treatment be better for you and more supportive of your recovery than being away from them?
Family Dynamics With Starting Treatment
Asking ourselves these questions and making these kinds of decisions can bring up considerable fears within us. Talking to our families about our addiction can be an intense process. Having to leave them behind to go to treatment can be emotional and scary for us. Will my loved ones forgive me for the mistakes I’ve made? Do they believe in me? I know my family loves me, but do they really think I can get sober? Will my partner stay with me for this journey, or will they decide they need to let me go?
Interpersonal Fears When Starting Treatment
Our very natural fears of abandonment, of being unloved, of being left behind, can surface when we’re deciding to start treatment. Addiction has already wreaked so much havoc in our relationships that we’re afraid they won’t be able to sustain much more. We fear being alone. Will we lose the support of our loved ones? Can our relationships survive this difficult chapter?
Even the closest relationships can be destabilized by addiction, but the decision to start treatment can come as a huge relief for everyone involved.
Starting Treatment: Hitting Rock Botton
Many of us find that the decision to start treatment is the only decision we can possibly make. We have no other choice. We’ve hit rock bottom. We can’t imagine sinking any lower than we already have. Many of us have lost our jobs, our homes, close relationships with loved ones, and even custody of our children.
Our Only Choice: Starting Treatment
Looking back, the decision to enter a treatment program was our only choice. We chose to survive. Many of us reflect back on that first decision to start treatment and see it as the first of many lifesaving gifts we gave ourselves.
As beneficial as we know treatment will be, however, we can still be intimidated by how profoundly significant our recovery actually is. We feel the colossal weight of our addiction and the toll it’s taken on us and everyone around us. Starting treatment is a huge, life-changing step.
Fearing Change When Starting Treatment
When we’ve hit rock bottom, as certain as we are that we need help, we can still be flooded with intense fears. We fear change. Being pushed out of our comfort zone can be frightening. We’re afraid of doing the hard work, and our fears make us resistant to it. We know we have to let go of our drug of choice, but we feel daunted by the huge changes and tremendous challenges we’re about to experience.
There is a well-known adage in addiction recovery: take things one day at a time. Allowing ourselves to take one small step at a time, one day at a time can help us not get too overwhelmed by all the changes we’re experiencing.
Starting Treatment: Letting Go
Perhaps one of our greatest fears is the fear of letting go of our drug of choice. Whether it’s an addictive substance or behavior that we’ve become dependent upon, we can feel like we can’t live without it. How do we begin to let go of it? Can we cope on our own without it? Our fears of starting treatment often revolve around this central fear: the fear of living our lives without relying on our drug of choice.
Choosing Ourselves and Starting Treatment
Letting go of our drug of choice when starting treatment begins with a choice: deciding you’re going to choose yourself. Recovery begins with the decision to choose life. You’d rather embrace your real life, your complex and intense life, your struggles, and your truths. Numbing yourself to your feelings and being untrue to yourself feels impossible now.
Finding Our Courage
You’ve come to realize that, as scared as you feel, you’re actually quite brave. It takes tremendous courage and strength to let go of something addictive you’ve come to rely on. The idea of living without your drug of choice is scary, painful even. You’ve decided, though, that you must let it go in order to come back to yourself.
Starting Treatment and Asking for Help
Tapping into our courage also means asking for help. Acknowledging we need help and allowing ourselves to receive that help can be frightening for many of us. We’re afraid that we’ve disappointed our loved ones and afraid they see us as a failure. Admitting we’ve lost control can be embarrassing for us. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we understand these fears and know how hard it can be to start treatment. Sharing your fears with people who can help and enlisting support is a hugely important step in recovery.
The decision to start treatment can be a scary and overwhelming one. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we know firsthand how much courage it takes to get help. From making the very first call to a treatment facility to checking in to doing the work every single day, we see how brave our clients are. You are just as brave! Make the decision to face your fears and get the help you deserve. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we understand what you’re going through and are here to help. We have extensive experience in helping people to recover for over 30 years. Call (706) 546-7355 for more information on our addiction recovery treatment programs.