What Is the Purpose of a Blackout Period in Treatment?
When you choose your low cost drug rehab, you’re going to find that there is a limited period of time when you won’t have contact with the outside world. At first, you may see this as a sort of punishment, but, for many people, it’s actually a bit of relief.
Dealing with Detox
Once you physically detox from the chemicals involved in your addiction, you’re going to start feeling a bit better physically. However, this is just the start. The chemicals are out of your system, but the root of the problem isn’t.
It takes a bit of time to learn how to meet basic needs without using. Your diet, sleep patterns, and general physical needs and issues are going to have to be addressed. So, while you will feel the absence of the chemicals and a sense of relief that the physical part of your struggle with drugs is over, you probably are going to have to adjust to your overall physical status. This isn’t necessarily something you want to experience with friends and loved ones.
Shifting Your Focus
After detox, you’ll really start focusing on rebuilding your life. At this point, it’s not about your job, bills, or world affairs. It’s about you and what you need to do for yourself. In fact, you will have an advantage that many people do not typically have. Sure, you had to enter a low cost drug rehab to conquer your addiction, but you have the opportunity to take time out of life to just discover who you are and who you want to be.
Friends and Loved Ones
You may have loved ones who are concerned about you and want to offer you some support, but the problem is they also come with their own issues and outside elements. Even if those people do their best not to bring the outside world in, their very presence can trigger thoughts that you don’t need to worry about right now. You may even be tempted to ask them questions about things you don’t need to worry about right now. The focus right now should be on you, and nothing else.
Building a Foundation
Imagine your addiction to be an immune suppression type of disease. During the blackout, you are building up your immunities. Instead of taking vitamins and supplements to build your immune system, you are getting educated about the disease, itself, and learning about the ways you can handle stressors and triggers.
When the blackout period is over, you’ll still have the addiction (immune suppression), but you’ll know how to manage it better, so you can avoid another acute issue. The people around you in your outside life carry triggers (contagious illnesses) that may not harm the average person, but can be toxic and, in some cases, even life threatening to you. The blackout period gives you the chance to build your defenses and develop strategies to manage such situations.
Instead of cringing because you will be away from your familiar environment, why not look forward to a whole new world opening up before you? A brief respite from the details that now make up your life can do a lot to further your healing.
