A Peek Into Dry

Shadows

I've been reading a book titled Dry by Augusten Burroughs. It is a memoir actually. I'm generally not so big on memoirs but I love stacking them in my phone library anyway. I like collecting them then I tell myself I'll read them when I feel like I need to or when I feel like a higher power is guiding me to read one. That happens like once a year or it never happens.

This one in particular caught my attention because Augusten writes about his alcoholism, going to rehab and  life after rehab. That aside, I found him really witty so I just felt like I needed to finish this book which I haven't yet, but I'm going to.

The rehab bit sparked my interest not because I need rehab but because my own father has been to rehab. Sometimes it is nice getting another perspective of rehab life. This year my dad will be 11 years clean and I can say I am truly  proud of him. I have no reservations talking about it because he talks about it openly. If you get to know my dad, he will probably tell you stories about his alcoholism and how he got to overcome it.

Anyway, while my dad was in a Christian based rehab, Augusten's was non-religious. I found it quite refreshing because most rehabs around are basically Christian based. For Augusten's, there was nothing like God but a higher power to whom you are familiar with. No one is forced to subscribe to any particular higher power. There was no added pressure of being forced to understand scripture yet at the same time trying to beat substance abuse or chemical dependancy. I appreciate that there are rehabs yes but I just don't think most of them take the matter of inclusivity into thought as they pump people with Bible verses. These are people who probably wonder why they are told drinking is a sin yet Jesus turned water into wine.

The one issue my dad pointed out after rehab is the struggle to join the real world. A world in which this person realizes that being sober is another high they just aren't familiar with and can't seem to understand. It just got me wondering about the success rate of rehabs because I know and I've heard stories of a number of people who have relapsed. Hell, a number of guys my dad got to know during rehab relapsed.

What my dad did confirm is that there are really no effective re-entry plans into the world. Most of these people have no jobs and they have been abandoned by their families and friends. So what happens when there is no one to turn to is that they find it easy to go back to the very thing they know and can relate to and that is either drugs or alcohol. Some of them don't even make it back home sober the sooner they get out of rehab.

From the book, Augusten says he thought that rehab would stop him from drinking like an alcoholic and that it would teach him how to drink like a normal person. His therapist however told said to him that rehab is not a cure, by any means and the real work is done on a day-to-day basis in Alcoholic Anonymous(AA) meetings. I agree with the therapist because with the number of relapses, I think AA meetings could go a long way in keeping a person from rehab in check.

The existence of AA groups however was something I questioned. When my dad told me told me he attended such a meeting twice I was actually surprised. I only knew of AA meetings from movies. I didn't think they actually existed in this country and especially where I come from. But seriously though, how many AA groups are people aware of in this country? Do these rehabs refer people to AA groups they are aware of? How many meetings do take place actually? Are there therapists who continue to do one-on-ones in addition to encouraging the reformed to attend AA meetings for as long? If so, do these groups take then initiative to keep on going?

Coming from a place where I know what alcoholism does to a person and the consequences which affect more than the individual, I think there should be changes in the framework which these rehabs use to change a persons behaviour. Most of them should do more than focus on religion/Christianity as a crutch to stop people from drinking. That should come as a side-dish.

These places should focus on the intrinsic aspect of an individual and try to help the person come to reality that chemical dependancy or substance abuse takes so much from them and from the people who love them. They should help them trace the reason why they choose to escape reality. God knows it could be because of traumatic childhood experiences, depression, peer pressure or even genetic predesposition to alcoholism. There are so many mental and psychological issues associated with alcoholism.

More so rehabs should really help in integrating these people back to society. They should have trained personnel who have experienced what substance abuse or alcohol can do. Together with AA groups, they should really do better in helping these people recognize triggers that could result in a relapse and how to navigate the sober world.

I really do wish we could get to a place where peoples' psychological frustrations and mental health are not seen as money-minting projects.