Rehab Success Stories: Life After Rehab

Addiction to drugs and alcohol can take you down a path of self-destructive behavior. This path can quickly become a lonely one-way highway to rock bottom. Many of those suffering from addiction are frightened to live a life without the crutch of drugs and alcohol holding them up. Although rehabilitation takes effort, is it the best way to learn how to live your life free from the clutches of your addiction.  

Every day, tens of thousands of individuals begin a recovery journey by enrolling in a rehabilitation program. If you are researching treatment options for yourself or your loved one, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of facilities and treatment options. You may find it helpful to hear from other individuals who have been where you are now and are now living their lives in complete recovery. Many of our staff here at Serenity Springs Recovery Center are living proof that you too can fight your addiction successfully with rehabilitation. Let’s take a closer look at one of society’s most famous drug and alcohol success stories to gain a better understanding of how you too can live a healthy and sober life. 

Elton John’s Recovery

Whether their celebrity status is due to being in front of the camera or behind it, Hollywood celebrities have had their share of ups and downs. Whether it is drug or alcohol abuse, the struggle to recover from addiction is all-to-familiar in Tinseltown. Although we idolized many of these celebrities, they are people just like you and me. They have suffered through unimaginable struggles with drugs and alcohol that have affected their lives in many ways. Luckily, through rehabilitation, many have successfully recovered from their addictions and encourage and inspire others to do the same. 

Sir Elton John, the famous English singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist, was no stranger to drugs and alcohol during his thriving career in the music industry. The combination of a broken home and a sense of lack of belonging fueled his addiction to drugs and alcohol, which there was no shortage of. Although there were numerous times when the cocktails of drugs and alcohol almost cost him his life, it took him years to speak the three words that changed his life for the better: “I need help” In 2019, Elton John celebrated 29 years of sobriety stating “29 years ago today, I was a broken man…” To this day he has remained healthy and sober with the support of his family, friends, and lessons that he learned from his time during rehabilitation.  

Drug and Alcohol Addiction

If you ask someone to explain what causes addiction, you will probably get a few answers: it’s a disease, it’s a mental health condition, it’s a bad habit, or it’s a lack of willpower. While it can be any one of these options, the truth is that addiction is much more complicated than any one of those explanations. Often the actual science behind the formation of an addiction lands in-between your genetic makeup and your environment. Combined, these create a powerful influence on whether you are more prone to become addicted to drugs and alcohol or not.

Various substances such as drugs and alcohol affect the body in different ways. Once ingested, the chemicals within that substance can quickly affect the biological makeup of your body, often wreaking havoc on your brain and central nervous system. Your body’s reactions to these substances are what make drugs and alcohol so addictive. These sensations you get during use become so overpowering that your body and mind crave more once that feeling has disappeared. Addiction begins to form when you slowly give in to these feelings of need and desire for that substance.  

Understanding the Effects of Alcohol and Drugs on Your Life

Not only does drug and alcohol use affect your body, but it can also cause damage to other areas of your life. Things that once were your top priority are pushed down to make room for your drug and alcohol addiction. Your relationships between family and friends become strained as you begin to distance yourself from those that love and care about you. This can have a domino effect on the rest of your life and take a toll on your work, school, and other responsibilities. 

Over time your addiction can cost you the most priceless thing in the world, and that is yourself. Throughout the habit, you can lose who you once were to the behaviors that drive your addiction. Not only causing a lack of self-awareness and love, but it can also affect your health. Prolonged use of drugs and alcohol has many side effects, which include:

• weakened immune system 
• heart conditions 
• liver damage 
• brain damage 
• stroke 
• lung disease 
• cognitive function 
• cancer 

Seeking Help

The only place to go from rock bottom is up, and luckily you don’t have to go through the journey of recovery alone. Although seeking help can be one of the most significant and most challenging discussions you may face on your journey, it is the first step to living a sober and healthy life. Committing yourself to a life of sobriety can change your life for the better, and seeking help does not make you any less of a person. Those who seek help through rehabilitation treatment have a much higher success rate of living a sober life after treatment. 

This first step can feel daunting for many people suffering from addiction. However, at Serenity Springs Recovery Center, we have been where you are and can offer you our support and guidance through the entire rehabilitation process. It’s normal to feel conflicted about starting your recovery journey, but once you commit to overcoming your addiction, anything is possible. 

Types of Rehabs

After the realization of seeking help comes, you’ll need to find the right rehabilitation treatment center for you. There are many different kinds of rehabs for drug addiction and alcoholism, each with its own focus. The choice of whether to go to one rehab over another depends on a few different factors such as:

• amount and type of drug use
• age
• gender 
• social situation

When narrowing down your list, one thing to keep in mind is the different treatment modalities and services offered within each facility. Not all facilities are created equally and can provide you with the services and support that you need.

The severity of your addiction also factors into the type of program that you will be enrolled in. Some treatment centers only offer long-term in-patient or strictly outpatient services to their clients. Although the quality of care may be top-notch, they lack the ability to create individualized treatment plans for different clients, ultimately not providing the most successful outcome. 

There are 3 main types of rehabilitation programs that should be considered when receiving treatment; these include: 

• long-term in-patient 
• short-term in-patient 
• outpatient

Although many treatment centers may offer different programs, the services within each can vary. This is not the case with Serenity Springs Recovery Center. When you enroll in any of our treatment programs, you receive an individualized treatment plan along with the same excellent services that we offer our clients enrolled in our in-patient programs. Therefore, you receive top-quality care and support no matter the program you are enrolled in. 

Rehab Treatment

At Serenity Springs Recovery Center, our medical and treatment professional staff has experienced the pain and suffering of struggling with an addiction. Therefore, we can empathize with our clients and better understand how individualized treatment plays a crucial role in recovery. During your stay with us, we create an individualized treatment plan designed to help give you the highest chance of a successful recovery.

Our services are designed to encourage recovery by helping to heal the mind, body, and spirit. Our gender-specific men’s residential program is designed to help you fully immerse yourself into the recovery process. Many of the services focus on:

• health and wellness
• 12-step immersion 
• individual and group therapy
• medical services 
• life skills and management 

After-care Plan 

Ending a treatment program can feel intimidating and overwhelming. With all of the new knowledge and tools you have gained, it can seem daunting to go back to the environment that once fueled your addiction. However, our staff at Serenity Springs Recovery Center is here to support you even after our programs have ended. Before each client is discharged from our programs, we work with you to create an individualized after-care plan that will encourage your new sober lifestyle and help you find the support you need. A few resources that are included within these plans include:

• outpatient work 
• medical providers
• specialists
• psychiatrist 
• individual counseling 
• sober living 

In the end, it is up to our clients to maintain their sobriety after our programs have ended. However, our approach, services, and staff, along with an individualized treatment plan during and after rehab, make the chances of a successful recovery much higher. 

Rehab Success Stories: Conclusion

Addiction does not discriminate; hundreds of thousands of people are affected by drugs and alcohol every day regardless of their race, religious beliefs, social standing, or gender. At Serenity Springs Recovery Center, we firmly believe that each person who walks through our doors can lead a sober and healthy life. Our services are designed to give you the tools that you need to stay sober and live up to your true potential free from drugs and alcohol. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, give us a phone call today. One of our admissions coordinators is here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the rehabilitation process; like Sir Elton John once said, three words have the ability to change your life forever.