Initially, substance abuse rehabilitation was an unheard concept in many impoverished communities. In many cases, concerned community and neighborhood watch members who would patrol the streets and monitor any suspicious acts or behaviors embodied the only forms of intervention. It was during these deprived years that perhaps the minimum level of intervention offered was by individuals who were making use of any facilities available, including their own homes. This carried on for a number of months until the SBC team came across an article on the need for empirical-based research by Bronwyn Meyers. Eventually the team came upon the realization that a bigger and more specialized facility was needed. The centre opened its doors in 2005 and has thus far, up to July of 2020, attended to approximately 9096 clients.
The SBC Rehabilitation Centres and its staff share the view that the centre can best be described as offering not an out-patient based service but rather a full day intervention program. A client enrolled at the centre would start the day off at 8am and end at 5pm. The centre’s staff view addiction as a biopsychosocial illness; therefore, the community-based service of intervention was formally adopted and implemented as a viable and holistic approach in dealing with afflicted clients. While in the program, a client will have access to group psychotherapy sessions, psycho-education, one-to-one counseling sessions, family sessions and a myriad of additional psychological intervention initiatives that are geared towards substance abuse intervention, relapse prevention, and ultimately the maintenance of sobriety.
In addition to the regular day program, clients currently in the program and clients who have completed their treatment have the benefit of attending aftercare sessions, which are held twice a week. The aftercare sessions consist of relapse prevention sessions, client support groups, relapse intervention initiatives, coping mechanisms and life skills pertaining to living a practical and sober lifestyle.
The treatment program also accommodates the families of clients afflicted with substance abuse disorder. Family counseling sessions during the course of the six-week treatment program are offered. In addition to this, the center also propagates family information sessions, which is an eleven-week course of lectures by a registered counselor. These sessions cover a wide range of issues such as co-dependency, the dangers of enabling behaviors, addicts and co-occurring disorders, families in recovery and various other related topics. With the facilitation of a social worker or registered counselor, families are also afforded the opportunity to join support groups that are run by parents or loved ones of recovering addicts who have been through the trials of addiction. The overarching goal of intervention at the Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centres is to equip the client with the necessary skills to facilitate successful social reintegration.
Simple but powerful lessons for living with Addiction
While boredom seems harmless at face value, it’s often one of the strongest driving forces that propels us into old, and detrimental habits. And when addiction and the accompanying behavior that goes with it has been part of one’s life for years, guess what we end up thinking about? The brain automatically recalls its strongest memories, which is often determined by the amount of dopamine released when doing a certain action. What’s dopamine? In simple terms, it’s a chemical that helps us feel good when we eat our favourite food. Now imagine that feeling amplified 500 or even 1000 times. That’s what happens to someone taking drugs; however, the brain isn’t actually built to handle that much dopamine. This is where tolerance comes in and it is frequently described as the reason why addiction becomes progressively worse over time. Some specialists believe that 2 of the greatest risk factors for teenage drug abuse are too much stress and boredom. And unfortunately, these two factors are unmistakably present during lockdown.
What can we do to overcome that?
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Get creative – there’s no better time than now to pick up a pen and write, draw or create something that stimulates positive brain activity.
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Exercise – I can’t stress this one enough. Most of us right now are just lying around all day or sitting at a table and only moving from the desk to the kitchen or bathroom. This is not at all conducive to our health, and only increases the risk of our bodies not being able to fight off sickness. Spend a little time each day doing simple exercises such as squats from the chair or couch you’re sitting on. Play outside with family members. Get active. These simple activities will cause dopamine to be released which can be a positive effect on those in recovery.
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Be productive – You’ve had roughly 90 days now of extra time on your hands. Traveling alone has probably saved you at least one hour every day. That’s 90 hours saved just on traveling. Have you done anything truly beneficial with that time; something that could benefit or change not only your life but the lives of those you care about? Or has it been wasted away on Netflix, social media and over-thinking? Stress is caused by constantly thinking about a problem and not having tools to solve it. Stop thinking about the problem and equip yourself with the skills and tools needed to change the situation. Yes, it might take you a long time to get there, but it’s definitely not going to change if you don’t start today.
A conscious effort to incorporate positive habits in your daily life, will result in a positive change to your mindset; a mindset which will ignite a flicker of hope that will eventually burn bright enough for you to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
