Addiction

[aspen]

This is not true aspen.....and if you were to enter a treatment facility guess what they primarily do.....AA....the 12 step program....and of course medications.

Not sure if you have missed the delema I am presenting here......I cannot get into treatment

 

[Heart2Soul]

Not sure if you have missed the delema I am presenting here......I cannot get into treatment

It isn't that effective....you get 30 days of group therapy, education about your disease, counseling on how to effectively cope with life and psychiatric counseling. But once you leave you are on your own again to make decisions for yourself whether good or bad....
I was in a 30 day treatment program for cocaine back in the 80's....got out and the first night got high.....I just wasn't ready to quit. It was when it cost me more than I could bear that I finally walked away and for me it was church....7 days a week if I could but lots of church and lots of praying.

 

[aspen]

It isn't that effective....you get 30 days of group therapy, education about your disease, counseling on how to effectively cope with life and psychiatric counseling. But once you leave you are on your own again to make decisions for yourself whether good or bad....
I was in a 30 day treatment program for cocaine back in the 80's....got out and the first night got high.....I just wasn't ready to quit. It was when it cost me more than I could bear that I finally walked away and for me it was church....7 days a week if I could but lots of church and lots of praying.

I hear you.....

Europe has found a more effective model.
Actually, so does Union Gospel Mission

 

[Phoneman777]

Yeah, addiction is that bad

Look, don't hand me that crap. With God, we are "more than conquerors". Do conquerors go around whining about how weak they are and how formidable the enemy is, or do they kick the snot out of them and send them on a one-way trip to the resurrection?

You can do "all things through Christ" which strengthens you - all things, which includes beating alcohol, porn, hate, racism, whatever, so stop with this nonsense, get off your butt, go through the house, gather up all the booze bottles, pour them down the porcelain altar of your bathroom as an offering to God in an act of repentance, believe He has now delivered you from your habit, and start acting like the conqueror Christ wants you to be by surrendering your habit to Him. If you fall down, get back up and keep fighting....Fight, fight, fight, and keep fighting, and victory will be yours as sure as I'm born a man because Christ will never leave the least one of us who refuses to give up on Him. I'll be fasting and praying for you.

 

[Willie T]

This is not true aspen.....and if you were to enter a treatment facility guess what they primarily do.....AA....the 12 step program....and of course medications.

She is really telling it straight, Aspen. One good answer is to check out a local 12-Step type program.…. and there are several kinds easily available.

 

[aspen]

Update - got a friend to pull strings - start outpatient on monday and on a short wait list for a 90 day inpatient treatment

 

[Heart2Soul]

Update - got a friend to pull strings - start outpatient on monday and on a short wait list for a 90 day inpatient treatment

God is faithful, God is good and He is the one who can make the seemingly impossible very possible! Praying for you aspen!

 

[Helen]

Thanks everyone for your posts - it was a tough, yet powerful weekend. I apologize Triumph for the idiot comment. I was wrong and I ask your forgiveness.

Thanks BOL for the prayers and yes, i will pray for you, as well.

Once again, thanks everyone.

Glad to see you back Ron...there was much praying for you.
And I hope we continue to pray and not drop the ball again. x

 

[Helen]

I am praying that Father sends you some protecting angels.
And also causes some good people to cross your path and be a part of your life...
I wish we lived closer ...so we could help while you walk through this period of time.

 

[aspen]

My Quaker pastor came to my house and prayed for protection, as well. It was pretty awesome

 

[aspen]

Hi @aspe1n, I really can relate to your plea for help. I know one thing is certain, whether you go to AA, Celebrate Recovery, treatment facility, or receive deliverance from God....you will be most successful if you have a support group or person to help you through this especially someone who has been there and can empathize without sympathy or pity. Whatever is in your past or present that may be causing you a great deal of pain or anger will always be in your past or present until you can choose to let go.....as the prayer goes...God, Grant me the serenity to ACCEPT the things I CANNOT CHANGE, the COURAGE to CHANGE the things I CAN, and the WISDOM to KNOW the DIFFERENCE.
The reason the groups above pray this prayer each day is because this is the very center of where it all started for most.

I will pray for you....you can always PM me if you just need to talk. The first step to recovery is admitting you need help...so you are already on your way to healing.

God Bless!

Great post...thank you!

 

[shnarkle]

I am addicted to alcohol and trying to get into treatment. It costs 50,000 dollars a month in the US. I do not have 50,000 dollars so I have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for a free bed. Some may want to believe I desire a hand out ..fine. I still need treatment. As Christian people, mercy is forefront. Europe refuses to profit from sin tax - they choose not to profit off addiction and it works. I am desperate - any suggestions?

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd add my two cents for anyone else who may be struggling with addiction, and feeling all is lost because they can't get into some expensive treatment facility.

When I lived in California, I used to go to an AA "speakers" meeting on Sunday afternoon. It was in a treatment center, and they served dinner after the speaker finished giving his or her talk. The food was basically left overs from the previous week. The food was fantastic, and so was the meeting. My recollection was that the cost for a one month stay was somewhere around $35k.

After spending over six years going to that particular meeting, I began to notice not only people coming in and out of the program repeatedly, but that it was effectively no different than what I saw at any other AA meeting with the possible exception that it was expensive. It was high priced recovery. It was AA for the wealthy, and there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support the idea that paying more will necessarily yield better results.

I spent over a decade struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, but I always found some reason to ignore what people were telling me and go right back out. The routine went something like this: Work so I can procure drugs and alcohol so I can get loaded so I can work so I can party, but too much partying led to multiple visits to the hospital as well as jails; sometimes on the same day.

I can remember one night I was beginning to go through DT's again, and eventually just gave up the fight, and made my way over to the nearest liquor store. On the way over there I suddenly noticed that I didn't seem to be shaking nearly as much as I had been just a few minutes earlier. It was as if the very surrender to defeat had been all that was necessary to relieve me of the physical, emotional, and mental torment. It was the hope, and certainty of relief that had calmed my nerves. Obviously the bottle I picked up was not the correct solution, but that realization stuck with me for a few more years until I was finally able to implement that process again correctly without the booze.​

Declining health along with being stuck in the legal system took its toll until one day I woke up in a cardiac ward with nothing. This was not an unusual occurrence except that this time something was different. My heart hadn't been beating normally for over five years. The valves weren't seating properly, and it was severely enlarged. The cardiologist informed me that I had the cardiovascular system of a 90 year old man and that it was pumping at less than 20% capacity. He said that I could live a normal life for a 90 year old man, but that I should also get my affairs in order. It went without saying that 90 year old men don't have all that much longer to live. I was 35 at the time.

After the doctor left the room, a nurse entered a few minutes later. She entered with a look of pleasant surprise that I was now awake, and then said something that has become forever etched upon my mind. She said, "Oh, you're awake. We were worried about you there for a while we didn't think you were going to make it". She said it so casually, I considered complaining about her poor bedside manner. The thought soon dissipated after she removed part of my gown to reveal a burn mark on my chest that was to become a constant reminder of what I had done to myself for the next few months. Even with all of this less than stellar news, there was one thought that was dominating my mind. It was something I had heard numerous times in AA meetings, but it was only at that moment that I realized that I didn't have to drink or do drugs ever again. It wasn't just an idea, or a hope. It was a realization.

I began to attend AA meetings daily. I got a sponsor, and did everything he suggested no matter how crazy it may have seemed to me. I can see now that he actually gave me some bad advice, but nonetheless, I stayed sober which is ultimately all that mattered at the time. I listened to people share about how they could only stay sober and they owed it all to their higher power which one guy claimed he chose to call Satan. I heard people share some of the most idiotic things I've ever heard anywhere. They could have told me that the program was basically utilizing brainwashing techniques and it wouldn't have made a difference to me. Brainwashing was preferable to the alternative.

We all have to find our own bottom before we can make our way back up. That's how the treatment process works. It's only for those who really want it, and we will know how much we truly want it when we are able to implement whatever is suggested to us without opposition.

 

[aspen]

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd add my two cents for anyone else who may be struggling with addiction, and feeling all is lost because they can't get into some expensive treatment facility.

When I lived in California, I used to go to an AA "speakers" meeting on Sunday afternoon. It was in a treatment center, and they served dinner after the speaker finished giving his or her talk. The food was basically left overs from the previous week. The food was fantastic, and so was the meeting. My recollection was that the cost for a one month stay was somewhere around $35k.

After spending over six years going to that particular meeting, I began to notice not only people coming in and out of the program repeatedly, but that it was effectively no different than what I saw at any other AA meeting with the possible exception that it was expensive. It was high priced recovery. It was AA for the wealthy, and there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support the idea that paying more will necessarily yield better results.

I spent over a decade struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, but I always found some reason to ignore what people were telling me and go right back out. The routine went something like this: Work so I can procure drugs and alcohol so I can get loaded so I can work so I can party, but too much partying led to multiple visits to the hospital as well as jails; sometimes on the same day.

I can remember one night I was beginning to go through DT's again, and eventually just gave up the fight, and made my way over to the nearest liquor store. On the way over there I suddenly noticed that I didn't seem to be shaking nearly as much as I had been just a few minutes earlier. It was as if the very surrender to defeat had been all that was necessary to relieve me of the physical, emotional, and mental torment. It was the hope, and certainty of relief that had calmed my nerves. Obviously the bottle I picked up was not the correct solution, but that realization stuck with me for a few more years until I was finally able to implement that process again correctly without the booze.​

Declining health along with being stuck in the legal system took its toll until one day I woke up in a cardiac ward with nothing. This was not an unusual occurrence except that this time something was different. My heart hadn't been beating normally for over five years. The valves weren't seating properly, and it was severely enlarged. The cardiologist informed me that I had the cardiovascular system of a 90 year old man and that it was pumping at less than 20% capacity. He said that I could live a normal life for a 90 year old man, but that I should also get my affairs in order. It went without saying that 90 year old men don't have all that much longer to live. I was 35 at the time.

After the doctor left the room, a nurse entered a few minutes later. She entered with a look of pleasant surprise that I was now awake, and then said something that has become forever etched upon my mind. She said, "Oh, you're awake. We were worried about you there for a while we didn't think you were going to make it". She said it so casually, I considered complaining about her poor bedside manner. The thought soon dissipated after she removed part of my gown to reveal a burn mark on my chest that was to become a constant reminder of what I had done to myself for the next few months. Even with all of this less than stellar news, there was one thought that was dominating my mind. It was something I had heard numerous times in AA meetings, but it was only at that moment that I realized that I didn't have to drink or do drugs ever again. It wasn't just an idea, or a hope. It was a realization.

I began to attend AA meetings daily. I got a sponsor, and did everything he suggested no matter how crazy it may have seemed to me. I can see now that he actually gave me some bad advice, but nonetheless, I stayed sober which is ultimately all that mattered at the time. I listened to people share about how they could only stay sober and they owed it all to their higher power which one guy claimed he chose to call Satan. I heard people share some of the most idiotic things I've ever heard anywhere. They could have told me that the program was basically utilizing brainwashing techniques and it wouldn't have made a difference to me. Brainwashing was preferable to the alternative.

We all have to find our own bottom before we can make our way back up. That's how the treatment process works. It's only for those who really want it, and we will know how much we truly want it when we are able to implement whatever is suggested to us without opposition.

Ok that was awesome. Thank you for posting.

I am new (again) in Recovery - I have 8 1/2 months sober after completing the 3 month program, I finally got into. I understand the realization you had - I have experienced it. I think God let me know that it was time to engage in a recovery program in a serious way. I had to face the facts that AA did not work for me and I decided to get involved in another program that seems to be working - probably because I am working it.

I am still healing from the health consequences of drinking for twenty years. Diabetes, LAD stent, liver involvement and digestion issues. I am happy to be sober and experiencing peace of mind - God is merciful.

Recovery is possible if you surrender and work with God in a program with other people. Creating a network of people who enjoy being sober has been important for me.

 

[Truth]

Last week i reached out for help at the following places:

1. Hospital
2. Detox
3. Local social services

The hopspital gave me fluids and threw me into a room with a plastic mattress and a barf bag and forced me to stay until they decided I was sober. When i demanded to know when I was going to be able to leave, they medically restrained me - I am not kidding. Apparently, you cannot demand anything when you are drunk. Also, it is nice to know that hospital can dope you into oblivion without consent or consquence, just don’t try it at home.

Detox refused services twice - first time, I was not drinking long enough (must be drinking for three weeks straight - i am not sure how anyone could drink as much as I do - when I infrequently relapse - for more than a couple of days), and then, because I was too sober.

Local social services put me on a long waiting list.

In the meanwhile, i was assaulted by a neighbor on Saturday - punched in the forehead so hard, I was knocked out for at least a minute (I was walking home after dark and told him to turn down his music). When I called the police, they arrested the guy who had been drinking, which was me of course. So, i spent the three day weekend on the maxium security unit of the county jail with murders and rapists with an untreated concussion, no glasses and no medication, while i suffered withdrawls from everything.

The charges were dropped because they were not valid and the guy was evicted from our complex, but I had to truly suffer in jail (never had a traffic ticket in my life, btw) without understanding the system or given any information for three days. I have filed assault charges.

Now, i am sitting at home recovering, without a job (kinda hard to commute to work from county jail) and nothing stopping me from starting the cycle all over again. Thankfully, my church (no, not my Catholic parish - they have not returned my calls) has totally rallied behind me and given me rides to AA and other services. The minister even visited me in jail because she found out. Not a judgmental person in that church - Amen.

However, It is painfully apparent that treatment is only for rich people or Dr. Phil guests.

I realize that I am guilty of over sharing, but this a real life problem for millions of Americans and we just do not talk about it. Anyone who has transitioned from social drinker to addict is going to face revulsion by hospitals, zero creditibility by law enforcement, and closed doors from overtaxed treatment services. Also, I recognize that many here will believe I deserve everything I got - ok. It is still a problem for millions of Americans and instead of effective treatment, We the People choose to profit off the backs of those deemed to be sinners.

On another note, Paul’s three days of blindness made a lot more sense as well as all the Psalms i read (one inch from my face) in jail.....

Dearest Aspen, I can only Imagine what you went through, as I fell-lllllllll Back into drinking after my wife passed last Oct, so we all can fall into depression in one way or another, the flesh has it's own demands as well. About 7 weeks ago I was watching a study on the book of the Revelation, and I believe God woke me up, I began to see myself being bound hand and feet and cast into the Lake of Fire, I was for the first time in my life, Truly in reverence fear of the judgement, to the point of being Sick for two days, and I had to make a choice! It has been 7 weeks without a drink, so I truly understand, So I will not only Pray for You I will seek the Lord for you to be set free. some time this kind only come's through Prayer and Fasting! AND I also ask anyone else on board here to draw on the Spiritual side, through such effort's, let us come together for the sake of a Brother, for there is none of us an Island!

 

[aspen]

Dearest Aspen, I can only Imagine what you went through, as I fell-lllllllll Back into drinking after my wife passed last Oct, so we all can fall into depression in one way or another, the flesh has it's own demands as well. About 7 weeks ago I was watching a study on the book of the Revelation, and I believe God woke me up, I began to see myself being bound hand and feet and cast into the Lake of Fire, I was for the first time in my life, Truly in reverence fear of the judgement, to the point of being Sick for two days, and I had to make a choice! It has been 7 weeks without a drink, so I truly understand, So I will not only Pray for You I will seek the Lord for you to be set free. some time this kind only come's through Prayer and Fasting! AND I also ask anyone else on board here to draw on the Spiritual side, through such effort's, let us come together for the sake of a Brother, for there is none of us an Island!

Thank you for posting! I will be praying for your continual sobriety and for your peace of mind, brother. We walk a difficult road, but with Christ, we will triumph. I understand grief and loss and loneliness - please message me if you need to talk - true connection with others only happens when we are sober, so let’s take advantage of it!

 

[marks]

Heavenly Father, thank you for this family of believers, and for Aspen, and for Truth! Please secure them in their freedom, that they will each, and me too, that we will look to you for your way when we feel the need to do things our way.

Please train each of us in your life, walking your path of works, that we would be so busy living for you that we just don't yield to the flesh.

In the Name of Jesus, cause us to walk in liberty!

 

[marks]

. . . former addict . . . or as my wife says, once an addict, always an addict, but the reality . . . new in Christ! Former addict!

 

[aspen]

. . . former addict . . . or as my wife says, once an addict, always an addict, but the reality . . . new in Christ! Former addict!

I am discovering this truth, brother!
It is my primary reason for looking beyond AA
A great program for many....
A revolving door for me.

Thank you for your prayers!

 

[quietthinker]

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd add my two cents for anyone else who may be struggling with addiction, and feeling all is lost because they can't get into some expensive treatment facility.

When I lived in California, I used to go to an AA "speakers" meeting on Sunday afternoon. It was in a treatment center, and they served dinner after the speaker finished giving his or her talk. The food was basically left overs from the previous week. The food was fantastic, and so was the meeting. My recollection was that the cost for a one month stay was somewhere around $35k.

After spending over six years going to that particular meeting, I began to notice not only people coming in and out of the program repeatedly, but that it was effectively no different than what I saw at any other AA meeting with the possible exception that it was expensive. It was high priced recovery. It was AA for the wealthy, and there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support the idea that paying more will necessarily yield better results.

I spent over a decade struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, but I always found some reason to ignore what people were telling me and go right back out. The routine went something like this: Work so I can procure drugs and alcohol so I can get loaded so I can work so I can party, but too much partying led to multiple visits to the hospital as well as jails; sometimes on the same day.

I can remember one night I was beginning to go through DT's again, and eventually just gave up the fight, and made my way over to the nearest liquor store. On the way over there I suddenly noticed that I didn't seem to be shaking nearly as much as I had been just a few minutes earlier. It was as if the very surrender to defeat had been all that was necessary to relieve me of the physical, emotional, and mental torment. It was the hope, and certainty of relief that had calmed my nerves. Obviously the bottle I picked up was not the correct solution, but that realization stuck with me for a few more years until I was finally able to implement that process again correctly without the booze.​

Declining health along with being stuck in the legal system took its toll until one day I woke up in a cardiac ward with nothing. This was not an unusual occurrence except that this time something was different. My heart hadn't been beating normally for over five years. The valves weren't seating properly, and it was severely enlarged. The cardiologist informed me that I had the cardiovascular system of a 90 year old man and that it was pumping at less than 20% capacity. He said that I could live a normal life for a 90 year old man, but that I should also get my affairs in order. It went without saying that 90 year old men don't have all that much longer to live. I was 35 at the time.

After the doctor left the room, a nurse entered a few minutes later. She entered with a look of pleasant surprise that I was now awake, and then said something that has become forever etched upon my mind. She said, "Oh, you're awake. We were worried about you there for a while we didn't think you were going to make it". She said it so casually, I considered complaining about her poor bedside manner. The thought soon dissipated after she removed part of my gown to reveal a burn mark on my chest that was to become a constant reminder of what I had done to myself for the next few months. Even with all of this less than stellar news, there was one thought that was dominating my mind. It was something I had heard numerous times in AA meetings, but it was only at that moment that I realized that I didn't have to drink or do drugs ever again. It wasn't just an idea, or a hope. It was a realization.

I began to attend AA meetings daily. I got a sponsor, and did everything he suggested no matter how crazy it may have seemed to me. I can see now that he actually gave me some bad advice, but nonetheless, I stayed sober which is ultimately all that mattered at the time. I listened to people share about how they could only stay sober and they owed it all to their higher power which one guy claimed he chose to call Satan. I heard people share some of the most idiotic things I've ever heard anywhere. They could have told me that the program was basically utilizing brainwashing techniques and it wouldn't have made a difference to me. Brainwashing was preferable to the alternative.

We all have to find our own bottom before we can make our way back up. That's how the treatment process works. It's only for those who really want it, and we will know how much we truly want it when we are able to implement whatever is suggested to us without opposition.

Yeah, deception has the power it has because the deceived love it all the while mouthing the opposite. That's is the nature of denial.
'Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil' the scripture says.
One can do all the fancy juggling one likes, use all the twisted logic and win every argument to ones own satisfaction but stay in the pit. At the end of the day we live in our own skin but if the transparency of self honesty is undesirable we stay in the dark absolutely.

 

[marks]

I am discovering this truth, brother!
It is my primary reason for looking beyond AA
A great program for many....
A revolving door for me.

Thank you for your prayers!

AA didn't do anything for me. Others, yes.

When I stopped drinking, it was with the Schick program, aversion therapy, and it worked great!

Other addictions, the slow and difficult way.

What I've found is that so long as my mind is fixed on Jesus, on my Faithful Creator, I can just wait out the cravings, the distress, knowing that's just what my body is doing, as offensive, but as inconsequential as other body things, like, if you'll pardon the comparison, smelly flatulance.

Much love!