If you or someone you love is a veteran, there is likely some form of trauma involved in their experience. Even if the veteran didn’t see direct combat, there are still things they saw, experienced, or learned that could lead to various forms of trauma. Some veterans turn to drugs and alcohol to quell these feelings, fog up the memories, and numb the pain. There is no wondering why a lot of veterans end up in rehab. When you or someone you love needs to go to rehab, there are a few things to do to prepare. Below are a few ways to prepare for rehab as a veteran.
Talk to Your Friends & Family
When you or someone you love has decided that they can’t stop using drugs and alcohol on their own and need assistance, this is the first step towards healing and recovery. The person should speak with their friends and family about their plans to seek assistance for drugs and alcohol. Whether the person is drinking a lot, using intravenous drugs, or taking pills, there are plenty of situations where the substance abuse becomes unmanageable. If the time has come for you or a veteran loved one to seek professional treatment, start by telling your friends and family.
Seek Assistance from the Government
Before you go into a rehab and pay for the treatment yourself, another thing veterans should do to prepare for rehab is to seek assistance from the Veterans Affairs office and the government. Not only will they likely offer veteran-specific treatment options, but they may also provide subsidies for professional treatment. They could offer other assistance and solutions as well.
It depends on where you live, but you will be able to find rehab for vets in Utah, Colorado, California, and more. Even if you don’t end up receiving any assistance from the government, it’s still a good idea to see what might be offered to you. To prepare for rehab, you should know what the government will do to help you first. With this knowledge, you will be able to determine which recovery center and treatment is right for you.
Look at Treatment Options
Furthermore, you should investigate the various treatment options available from rehab centers and other addiction professionals. For example, there is dual diagnosis treatment. This is when the addiction treatment also takes into account the possibility of an underlying mental health issue. So many people who struggle with addiction are self-medicating an underlying mental health issue. To fully treat substance abuse, any mental health disorders and trauma will need to be properly treated. There are plenty of rehabs that offer dual diagnosis treatment.
Beyond dual diagnosis, there are more treatment options to choose from. For example, there is both inpatient and outpatient treatment. Inpatient asks patients to stay in the facility for about a month while outpatient treatment is designed for people who are functional and need to work during recovery.
Depending on how functional you are and how much you need help to stay away from substances, outpatient and inpatient have their benefits and drawbacks. There is even luxury rehab where you can take advantage of the amenities, specialized treatment, and professional counseling. It doesn’t matter who needs help, there is a treatment and facility for everyone.
Tell Your Work
When you will need to take time off work for inpatient recovery treatment, you should bring it up to your work only after you have a plan. Tell them where you will go, for how long, and explain that it’s what you need to do to get healthy. If they won’t allow you to take the time off, it’s better to find a new job and take care of your health. Sobriety can be the difference between a healthy and happy life and destruction for a lot of people, but especially veterans.
There is no perfect way to prepare for rehab. You will never be as ready as you want to be. However, if you put in the time to tell your friends, family, and work as well as find the right treatment options and recovery facility, you will be able to determine where you should go and what you can afford to pay for.
