Submitted by Jordan, Heroes in Recovery lead advocate
Most of our Heroes stories relate to how an individual in recovery views his own recovery. Mark Silvestro works as a manager at the corporate headquarters of a treatment center. He recently spent time at the treatment center with patients. I thought it would be interesting to see how he observed the patients and the treatment center from a perspective most don’t experience.
What were the changes you noticed in the attitudes of the various levels you visited?
“In the detox unit, I sat through meditation with five or six patients. One was detoxing off heroin and it was obvious that she was in a lot of pain. The gentleman sitting to my right had been drinking two bottles of scotch for the past two decades. As he was detoxing off the alcohol, he was scratching himself and felt very uncomfortable. These were people that had only been in treatment a few days and while they were going through pain, they spoke only about how they were excited to be there. They were happy they made the right decision. They had a glimmer of hope because even though they were going through pain, they knew it was all going to be worth it.”
What was the difference in the atmosphere between the residential unit and the detox unit?
“There seemed to be more smiles in the residential unit. I saw people hanging out in groups and being a bit friendlier towards one another. I think they had the same overall hope as those in the detox unit, but the people in detox were just going through the pain associated with detox, which the people in the residential unit were past.”
Based on your observations, what advice would you give to someone struggling with an addiction?
“You are not alone. It is very natural when you are in pain or you have insecurity that you do something or consume something that makes you feel better. If you’re sick to your stomach, you drink Alka-Seltzer. Some people allow that depression or insecurity to force them into abusing a substance. But a lot of people experience that same type of pain and they fill it in other unhealthy ways that are not stigmatized. How many workaholics do we know? They use their career as a drug to make them feel better about themselves to an unhealthy degree. Or maybe it’s television, it’s video games, it’s shopping; or maybe it’s buying a luxury vehicle to make them feel better about themselves. Our society is always self-medicating. We’re always trying to use some external force to make us feel better internally. I would say going out and consuming a lot of alcohol over the weekend is the same idea as going out and buying a bunch of shoes and clothes because you feel insecure about your looks. Some things are just more socially acceptable than others. Some people don’t like their body image, so they become body builders and take it to unhealthy extremes. I think everyone has their fix.”