They think that rehab is a solution to a drug problem but it is not. It is the start of the solution. It is the first step on a long path to the solution. A month in rehab is like the tiny little tip of a gigantic iceberg. It is almost meaningless in the big scheme of things.
How to make it through opiate withdrawal without relapsing
However, if you go to rehab to get through heroin withdrawal and manage to stay clean and sober for the next ten years, you will look back at those ten years and see that your month in rehab (or less) was just a tiny blip on the radar, and almost had no bearing on your long term success in recovery. Sure, you can learn helpful things in rehab, and it might even set you up for success in recovery.
But ultimately when you get out of treatment you have a monumental task at your feet, and you have to do a ton of work in order to stay clean from that point on. Being in rehab is like a mini vacation in which staying clean is extremely easy to do. The real challenge is in what happens after you leave rehab and start living.
What is the key to success I would have to say it means taking huge amounts of action? Rehab is one such form of massive action, and if you want to follow that up you might even go into long term treatment and live there for a while. This is another form of massive action that can only help you to stay sober. But the trick is to learn how to apply this leverage for the rest of your life.
How can you take action every single day that will help you to stay clean and sober and not return to active heroin addiction ? How can you form a routine of helping other addicts and alcoholics on a regular basis so that you help to insure your own sobriety?
How can you attack recovery with the energy and enthusiasm that you used to have for using your drug of choice? If you cannot answer these questions then your chances of staying clean in the long run are diminished. If a drug rehab center does not push you to answer these difficult questions then they are not doing their job.
If you do relapse please do not give up it takes many of us several attempts; if fact, it takes many of us years including myself to finally learn how to get it. If you did relapse pick yourself up go to rehab or NA do what ever you have to do again to get clean because you are worth it. I know its hard but the alternatives are much harder. If you do not stop using heroin you are at risk for heroin overdose or a long prison sentence for a drug deal gone wrong and I have been there and done that too trust me you do not want to go to prison for using heroin.
There are so many ways for a person to get help for opiate addiction these days that there is no reason for any addict to let drugs control the way they live. In days gone by addicts had few if any choices to overcome their addiction to opiates or other drugs because if you did not have a loved one to take you in to help you make it through withdrawal you were put in an asylum and pretty much forgotten about so why not take advantage of the help that is available to you now!
Good luck
