Motivation For Drug Treatment

You feel pressure to go to drug treatment, a lot of pressure. You have family members, a probation officer, your counselor, and friends all telling you the same thing. You need to go right now or you could die. While you aren’t sure that you’re ready to die, you really don’t know how you’re going to last through weeks of drug treatment either. When you’re up against a wall, what’s your real motivation for going to drug treatment?

Motivation For Drug Treatment Comes And Goes

Many people go to drug treatment without finishing their full course. It’s not uncommon for someone to leave after a few weeks or a few days. For them, true motivation to continue may have been fleeting.  Maybe they were just trying to appease a judge, or perhaps they wanted their Family off their back.  They just wanted to stop hearing everyone complain about their drug use. But inside, their spirit wasn’t ready to commit to change.

But sometimes, the pressure actually forces the addicted person to take a stand. They may have already felt some of the pain and consequences from their addiction. They may have already considered that this wasn’t the life they want to lead. When the pressure pushes them over the line, they may already be more prepared to they might have expected. They are grateful for the opportunity and look forward to a better way of living.

Taking The Leap Of Faith With Drug Treatment

This doesn’t mean that the person who left drug treatment early is hopeless. Not at all. In fact, a so-called “failed” run at drug treatment may be the catalyst that gets a person’s mind truly ready for change. It makes them a little more sensitive to the troubles of their life and the choices they can make.

No one can force true motivation upon another person. Only an opportunity can be pushed.  It is then up to that person to either take a leap of faith with drug treatment or becomes too uncomfortable with the reality. This is not necessarily right or wrong, simply evidence of where a person is with their motivation for change.  That’s why it’s so important for family and professionals to not give up on the person with  addiction.

For family members, not giving up may actually mean setting a firm and clear boundary. Their loved one goes to drug treatment or they are removed from family life. Again, this will not force true motivation to build inside an addicted person. But it will certainly present a clear choice, an opportunity to find out how motivated they are for sobriety and healthy change.

Motivation Really Matters For Addiction Recovery

One of the most important aspects of drug addiction recovery is something that can be elusive and hard to define. Motivation makes all the difference for a person’s drug addiction recovery. That can only come from inside each individual and cannot be manufactured by people on the outside. But when it becomes clear, personal motivation in drug treatment can help move a person forward through very difficult emotional work. Drug treatment can when be very effective. If you need to know more about drug treatment for yourself or someone you love, get some information and be prepared. You never know when true motivation for drug treatment will reveal itself.

Photo credit: Max Klingensmith