Currently
in society "fun" is associated with drinking and using .
Every
occasion in most households is incomplete without opening the bottle.
By
the time it reaches the stage of addiction drinking and using is no
longer fun but is indulged in to keep away pain.
There
would be a glass in hand or a nip hidden in the socks when going to
watch a movie or a match or picnic . No meal is eaten in a restaurant
that does not serve alcohol. A party that does not serve alcohol is
not considered worth attending .
Years
spend in keeping away pain and the old association of fun with
drinking and using leads to a loop of wanting to experience the same
feel of fun without alcohol . With this presumption the old hangouts
like pubs and restaurants and clubs are frequented but without
drinking . However , without intoxication these very places and the
company of others who drink and use are not so attractive . The same
feel is not achieved which leads to disappointment . Frequenting the
same places expecting a different result is the illusion and soon
enough the person ends up drinking or using .
It
is thus , very essential to include fun activities within the
treatment program.
A
voluntary system like ours promotes these very activities. Regular
life does not only include work, study and family .. A very major
part is time spent with oneself and entertainment .
Along
with an inner transformation that is required to take place during
residential rehabilitation treatment , new likes and hobbies and
activities need to be adopted. Part of therapy should be to enable
the client to experience that which seems like “normal”
entertainment activities like going out for movies, meals , trekking,
hiking, reading, art , music, karaoke .
When
out on a movie with a client he shared that it was the first time in
years that he had gone for a movie without being under the influence
of alcohol or weed and that the realisation that he is having more
fun without the substance was a revelation to him!
Likewise,
another client of ours who was addicted to heroin and socialising
over alcohol in pubs as a way to socialise in the European country
she came from , realised that “ there is so many stuff to drink
apart from alcohol”
For
another client going on a picnic meant first filling the car trunk
with booze the previous night making sure one would not fall short of
liquor, the people and place is secondary. In the treatment process
going on a picnic meant planning the place and the food to be taken
or eaten.
Singing
Karaoke would usually be in a Karaoke bar drunk or stoned and a lot
of songs have associations with being intoxicated. In such a
situation Karaoke singing in the treatment as fun
Thus
there is a perspective shift.
It
is very essential for these practical experiences to be a part of the
therapeutic residential rehabilitation treatment process
