Alcohol Treatment: My Alcohol Treatment Centers

My alcohol treatment was a little bit different as I went through my alcohol treatment centers in the early 80s when alcohol treatment centers were springing up like wild fire. Insurance companies were just being to cover alcohol treatment programs and 28 day inpatient alcohol treatment centers.

Thanks to Betty Ford, alcohol abuse was receiving national attention and women were finally getting the help that they needed.

My alcohol treatment centers were a private inpatient treatment center, a 28 day alcoholism treatment program in a hospital and residential inpatient alcohol treatment centers for women.

My stay at the private inpatient treatment center was very short. I was placed in this center against my knowledge and definitely against my husbands wishes. Our insurance company did not cover private drug and alcohol treatment centers.

Plus it is illegal to coheres someone under the influence into treatment without a parent or guardian signing for them. My husband never filed charges against this treatment center but others did. It wasn't long after my stay at this alcohol treatment center that their doors were closed by the state. Many big wigs heads rolled in our area for their illegal practices in coercing innocent people into their program.

My 28 day alcohol abuse treatment center was on the fourth floor of a hospital. The whole floor was dedicated to alcohol treatment and recovery. The alcohol unit was heavily staffed with nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, clergy and counselors.

Everyone had to go through a 3 day detox in a private room. During the alcohol detoxification you were heavily sedated and monitored regularly. You were rarely left alone as alcohol detox can be deadly if not monitored.

After the detox period and your vitals are stable, then you begin the 28 day alcohol treatment program. Everything is pretty much on a schedule daily. You are told when to get up, when to eat, when to attend classes, when you get free time, and when you are to go to bed. You were not left with any time on your hands to dwell on your past.

You were not allowed any meds on your person or were you allowed anything that may have alcohol contained in it. No mouthwash, cologne, aspirins or any property that may get you high. everything was held at the nurses station and a record was kept of anything you used.

During my stay at the treatment center I was able to meet other women just like me. I finally did not feel alone or like a freak. Many of the other women drank in silence in their homes also. Plus so many had controlling abusive husbands. This was a safe place for us just to deal with what was put before us and not have to worry about our spouses or family. Our families were instructed to get involved in their own recovery through Alanon or family counseling.

The families toward the end of our program would then be brought into the program so we could all be on the same page as far as our recovery was concerned. The spouses would come in once or twice a week and we would have family sessions. It was obvious there was a lot of work to do to repair the family unit, if at all possible.

So I left the alcohol treatment center full of hope and promise. I promised that I would attend AA daily and return to the treatment center for more after care.

Unfortunately the honeymoon phase of my alcohol recovery did not last long. The family (especially my husband) was still in turmoil over the fact that I was an alcoholic and that I was too weak to stay sober without the help of the program.

I had no desire at this time to resume my alcohol abuse, but thoughts of suicide seemed very comforting. I felt worthless and hopeless as the violence returned in my home and I felt as I was no good for my children. I had hurt the two most precious things in my life. My daughters! I thought that I was unworthy to be their mother.

As I conveyed all of this to my psychiatrist at my next meeting another intervention took place. I was scheduled to be placed in a residential inpatient alcohol treatment center for women. I guess since a couple of the women that I had left treatment with had committed suicide they were taking no chances that I would follow suite.