5 Reasons I Hate Rehab

‍Many people in very early rehab can feel like the writer of this little article. It is written a little bit tongue in cheek. Most of the time these feelings of resistance and opposition can’t even be articulated by people in the early days of their rehab experience. For the most part, these emotions pass as a person starts to get a clearer picture of what has really been going on their life and the process of recovery unfolds. Spiritual understanding can begin to express itself over the ego, and the rehab experience of renewal and change becomes something to be grateful for. Reasons "I hate rehab" fall away to gratitude in the face of recovery.

" I’m feeling a bit resentful about recent events in my life. I used to be a ‘happy-go-lucky’ drug enthusiast until I started to experience a string of bad luck that lasted ten years. Know-it-all recovery evangelists have tried to convince me there is a connection between this long period of being unlucky and my drug use, but these people are obviously just fanatics.In a moment of weakness, I allowed my family to convince me that rehab might be a good idea. This ‘intervention’ took place after my most recent experience of 'bad luck' where I lost my job. The boss tried to justify letting me go by saying it was due to my habit of turning up late for work, but I know he was just jealous of my ability to party. Anyway, here I am feeling locked down in a rehabilitation center and hating every minute of it.

Here are just 5 of the reasons I hate rehab (I can think of a lot more):

1. Mornings are No Longer so Exciting

I miss waking up in the mornings and not remembering how I got home. These blackouts mean I get to act like Sherlock Holmes as I try to fit all the clues together. It always gets my heart racing as I try to figure out who I might have upset or what silly thing I might have done. The most exciting of these mornings are when I can’t remember where I parked the car, and I have to utilize similar investigations skills as the crew on CSI.

2. The Therapists Have Unreasonable Expectations of Me

Okay, I’ll admit it – I do sometimes mess up, but you know, it’s just the way I am. The therapists here at this rehab don’t seem to understand that a leopard can’t changes its spots.  They keep talking about how my life could be so much better - blah blah blah. I’m doing my best here, and to expect me to make any changes to my life is just being unreasonable.

3. My Friends and Family Have Fewer Opportunities to Practice Forgiveness

To err is human, to forgive is divine – no wiser words were every spoken. I unintentionally make bad mistakes on a fairly regular basis, but I’m actually providing a useful service because it gives my loved ones the opportunity to practice forgiveness.

4. My Usual Excuses Don’t Work Here

The thing that shocks me most about this place is the people here seem immune to my usual excuses. When I try to explain how ‘it is just the way I am’, they have the audacity to question me. As you can imagine, this is extremely inconvenient as I’m not used to having to explain myself.

5. Other Clients Challenge My Beliefs

I’m mostly a ‘live and let live’ kind of guy, and I definitely don’t think it is the business of other people to concern themselves with what I believe. I’ve arrived at my conclusions through careful consideration, so when I say something like ‘recovery is boring’, I’m not interested in any contradictory evidence.Update – it is now a two days since I wrote this list of things I hate about rehab, and I’m starting to doubt the validity of some of these statements. I’ve found my mornings can actually still be kind of exciting if I speak my truths at group and then refuse to listen to any feedback. "

Post-Treatment Update:

At 6 months of sobriety, I am not really amused by this letter I wrote in treatment. Wow! I was so very self-centered and sick. BUT…that is how people show up to drug rehab! Today I understand that it is only by the grace of my Higher Power (of my own understanding), that my Ego was tamed enough so I could listen even just a little bit, to my counselors, therapists and the old-timers in AA while I was in treatment.

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