But there are so many people who want to help you make it through life after rehab. Since you were in rehab, you may have to adjust to friends, family members or co-workers seeing you in a new light. Patients who leave rehab may have to re-adjust to their new lifestyles and find new friends. Returning to the same friends who encourage drinking or drug use does more harm than good, placing individuals in a vulnerable position. Others may have to find new careers and start new routines. Whatever decision one makes that is positive is supporting their decision to take control of their future and be proactive.

Once you’ve completed your treatment program, you’ll have different options to consider. This depends on the type of treatment program you’ve just completed and where you’re at in your recovery. While completing a rehabilitation program is a huge milestone in itself, your recovery doesn’t stop there. Your recovery will continue for the rest of your life, but life after rehab can be positive and productive. Shame is an especially powerful negative feeling that can both invite addiction in the first place and result from it.

Be on the lookout for signs of relapse.

In fact, there is growing support for what is called harm reduction, which values any moves toward reducing the destructive consequences of substance abuse. Researchers find that taking incremental steps to change behavior often motivates people to eventually choose abstinence. Nevertheless, many treatment programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, require a commitment to complete rebuilding your life after addiction abstinence as a condition of admission. Inpatient rehabilitation programs provide intensive therapy and support for people struggling with alcohol addiction or substance abuse. You’ll live in a specialized facility and receive 24/7 care. If you or your loved one is struggling with drug abuse, contact Elevate Addiction Services for alcohol addiction and substance abuse treatment .

Now, your new future is a blank slate, and you can decide who and what you want to be, accomplish in life, but you must make that decision and carry it out. Another step to take when mending relationships with friends and family and to find out what they expect and need from you and their expectations of your behavior when dealing with them. For example, if you began using drugs and alcohol as a teen, and now you’re in your late 20’s, the early ’30s, life has changed. You may only remember things back when you were sober and a functioning family member, but those roles and expectations in those relationships have also changed. A lot of workplaces nowadays support an alcohol-free lifestyle. Working in an environment that triggers your addiction and encourages drugs or alcohol could have serious effects on your life.

Support

It will take time, patience, hard work and support, but a sober living program can help you get there. While the idea of treatment can be intimidating, the differences in people’s lives—from the physical and mental health to their relationships and finances—before and after drugs make it worth it. It’s hard to cut ties with your old friends or activities, but you must. People, places, activities, etc., that may have been part of your past life when you were using can trigger your desire to abuse substances.