Before you can check yourself into a rehab facility, you tend to make sure you follow a few steps to ensure you have adequately prepared for this next phase in your life!
How to prepare for inpatient substance abuse treatment
If you have never been into an inpatient substance abuse treatment plan before and you are nervous as to how this will affect your life, you can be prepared by following the next steps. If you are worried about the stigma this has on your social life, how your work will perceive you, what your family will say, and what your friends will think of you, you can quell your concerns and ease any ill feelings you have by following these steps to be prepared and mentally ready to enter into an inpatient substance abuse treatment to get help.
Ask for leave from work
The first step of preparing for inpatient substance abuse treatment is asking for leave from work. Although this can be very scary to have this conversation with your boss, it needs to happen. If you just say that you are leaving work for personal reasons, they may not understand why you’re leaving or going for so long – and they could subsequently fire you. If you say that you are leaving on vacation, they may fire you for having a multi-week vacation.
Instead, honesty is the best policy. Typically, jobs will reward employees who are honest about their lives and their struggles. If you have an honest conversation about your addiction issues, your substance abuse concerns, or your mental health issue with your boss, they will be more likely to let you go to the inpatient substance abuse treatment. If you find that your boss is not understanding, it is time to get a new job – you can end up using the resources at the inpatient substance abuse treatment center to help you find a job that would be beneficial for your life.
Communicate the situation to your family and friends
Instead of just going dark and not responding to texts or calls from your friends and family, you need to be honest about where you are going – and why. If your friend or family never noticed any issues or signs and symptoms with you, this could be a shock to them. Make sure you are calm and firmly tell them what you are doing and that you need to go to get healthy – ensure that you are strong in your convictions and anything they say will not sway your decision to go to an inpatient substance abuse treatment for your health.
If they have noticed signs and symptoms in the past, they will not be very surprised and they will be happy that you are taking the initiative to go to an inpatient substance abuse treatment for your issues. You can invite your family to come from family therapy to talk about issues in your past or present that are harming your mental health.
Find out what you are allowed to bring into the center
The last step of entering into an inpatient substance abuse treatment center for your addiction is to find out what you are legally allowed to bring into the center of your personal items. Are you allowed to bring a cellphone and your favorite book? Can you bring your clothes? Can you bring your laptop so you can watch TV shows at night? Figuring out what you’re allowed to bring is key to not breaking any rules before you even step foot into the building!
Furthermore, sometimes treatment centers will not like you to bring anything that has contact with the outside world. Since the inpatient substance abuse treatment centers will often include a computer in the common space and phones to call your family and friends, you will not need to bring your personal cell phone or laptop of your own. This can make it easier for the staff to monitor who you are talking to and prevent you from looking at anything online that can spur you to cause drinking or using substances again.
Conclusion
If you are concerned about going to an inpatient substance abuse treatment program for the first time, don’t be – this foolproof program is meant to help people like you get clean sober! By preparing the right way, you can avoid any concerns and anxieties you might have about going to get treatment for your addiction. Make sure you tell your place of work that you are leaving, you communicate the situation to your family and friends, and you find out what you can bring to the center.
