Month: December 2009

I know that my parents had a really hard time sending me to teen drug and alcohol rehab. They shared with me later that they had felt like they had somehow failed as parents and that my drug and alcohol abuse was somehow their fault. I have met a lot of drug addicts in the last few years and I have come to the conclusion that while nurture may play a part in things, nature is also heavily responsible. My parents were great. My home life was great. I was given a great foundation and yet I became a drug addict. I had a genetic predisposition to alcoholism and addiction. I don’t think it would have mattered what they gave me; something in me craved a way to change the way I felt inside. I don’t know what created that feeling. I don’t particularly care. What I care about is focusing on the solution.
When I was in treatment, my parents took the advice of Visions’ counselors and sought help for themselves and they attended the family program at Betty Ford in Palm Springs. My insanity put a great deal of strain on my family and it was vital that they took care of themselves too. I had run my parents ragged with the fear and guilt and anger that saturated our relationship. I terrorized them. They went to counseling and learned to create strong boundaries with me. At first I was angry and resistant, but now I see that they had to protect themselves from my insanity. My parents are stronger today, and so am I. Our relationship is deeper and stronger than most of my peers and their parents’ bonds. I broke the trust in my family and it has been up to me to build it back. It was a long and sometimes painful process for all of us, but today it is clear that it all grew from love. I have an amazing family, and they think I’m an amazing kid. I am so grateful for what we share today, and that they were there to help me on this journey. Please click here for more information about teen drug rehab.

When I went to teen drug treatment, most of my friends thought I either went to hell or went on vacation. I think they either imagined me digging trenches and staring at walls or having a blast riding horses and getting massages at the beach. It wasn’t like either of those things. I did learn how to manage my time though, which has turned out to be an unexpected benefit of going to treatment. I watch a lot of my peers struggling to get everything done, and a lot of them resort to drinking and taking pills like adderall or vyvanse to get through finals week or to finish a bajillion college applications. Some of the things I learned in treatment I learned without realizing. For instance, I learned how to recognize priorities and to set and stick with a game plan. I know that nothing is worth using over, and in order to keep myself from losing my mind, it’s imperative that I create a manageable workload and schedule. I can recognize my boundaries today. I know how much work I am capable of, and what I am able to do without going off the deep end. I also know how to put my head down and work. I know that uncomfortable feelings pass and that sometimes life is just challenging. I thought that teen drug rehab in Malibu was just going to help me get off drugs (which it did) but it also helped me learn valuable life skills that I use daily.