I woke up to blinding fluorescent lights. My body ached and I couldn’t remember where I was or what had happened in the past 48 hours. As I slowly blinked myself into consciousness I tried to lift my arms to shade my eyes and they stopped short before I could lift them even an inch. My arms were strapped down.
Panic hit me. Where the hell am I? I tried to sit up and I couldn’t. It was cold in here. I lifted my head as far up as it would go and looked down at my body. I was strapped down to a hospital bed, in an all white room, with an IV in my arm. What the hell happened last night? Doctors walked in muttering amongst themselves and I knew, just knew that I must have lost my mind somehow. They were talking about electroshock therapy and keeping me in this bed for at least two weeks. Oh my god, oh my god. I started to freak out, to struggle against the binding that was holding me down. It was hopeless. My heart raced, my breathing picked up and I thought “I am never getting out of here!” At that moment the doctor’s walked over and started saying something about sedating me. “No! No! Sedation.”
Pause here.
This is often times what many of us picture when we think about going to detox. We picture white padded rooms, lock down facilities, strapped to the bed, being injected with drugs, and being treated like crazy people or being around crazy people who are drooling on themselves. Think “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” Jack Nicholson.
But this is the farthest thing from the truth. In fact, it is quite funny to think about. Detox centers today are more like 5 star hotels where clients are treated with the utmost respect and hospitality rather than like the mental hospital.
So on that note, lets get to this. Here are 5 common myths about detox:
1. That its a lock down facility: Now I am not going to lie to you and tell you that all of them aren’t locked down facilities because, yes, some of them are. But the truth is the majority of them aren’t. Most of them allow you to leave whenever you want, often times it would be against medical advice, but you can. You aren’t held there against your will. And you aren’t confined to a small space or to one room. You are kind of like in a hotel and you go get food, go outside and smoke, go to your nice bedroom whenever you want.
2. That its painful: Detox is always going to be somewhat uncomfortable and unpleasant. I am not going to bullshit you on this one either. But the electroshock therapies and the whole tying you down and sedating you thing isn’t real. Most detoxes will medicate you to the point of having a seamless taper off of drugs and alcohol so there is as minimal pain as possible. The point is not for you to be in pain but to be in as little pain as possible.
3. You are treated like a crazy person: While the personalities amongst people who work in detoxes differ, most of the time, good facilities hire people who actually are recovered addicts themselves. So not only are they NOT going to treat you like a crazy person, they have actually been exactly where you are and they get it. The people at the detox are there to help you not treat you like you are less than. And you aren’t less than you are just a drug addict.
4. You’re stuck there for an indefinite amount of time: Detox usually lasts from 5-10 days. This can vary based on how much and what kind of drugs you were using. It can also vary based on how long you were using. Your detox will not keep you there though if you are done going through the taper. Sometimes detox is shorter, sometimes it is longer. It all depends on what is most helpful to you.
5. It is like a mental hospital: Actually most detox facilities offer plush beds that are better than what most people sleep in, they offer massage therapy, time to smoke cigarettes, a cafeteria with in house cooked gourmet meals or meals made to fit your nutritional needs, there are hot showers, blankets, medication etc. Detoxes are becoming and most are the farthest thing from like jail or a mental hospital for that matter.
So if you need to go to detox to get off drugs and alcohol don’t hesitate to get the help you need. Because actually most detoxes are probably nicer than most hotels you have stayed in. Oh and they are definitely better than being out on the streets getting high. Most of us don’t care about showers, beds, or much else except getting high when we are out there–detox can allow you to have some clean clothes, a roof over your head, and some comfort. It also can give you the chance you need to get your life back–because you can–get it back.