I for one will say I think detox is a good idea. Jake does not stand a chance tapering off suboxone or methadone, its not happening and we've already beat the tapering topic beyond death here.
Lolies advice implies that Jake waits untill his life is together enough so he doesn't relapse, which is good advice, but I still would never recommend delaying a detox just for those reasons. Just by being on dope he's going to think his life is more messed up than it is. And just by being on dope he's going to be missing a HUGE degree of motivation to do things that could keep him off dope... like going to na/exercise/etc.
Its so much more difficult to do those things when you're in active use.
I went to detox last time not ready but when I got out I felt like a new man in only 13 days. I instantly started going to the gym and loved it, started reading again and learning things, I just had motivation to do so many new things that I never wanted to do when I was using. Its not that any real psychological changes happened, it was merely because I was off drugs and that alone gave me a TON of motivation.
The main part where I fucked up was after detox I never went to rehab or na. Although I was doing everything else right, and I would randomly pop into a meeting everyone and a while, I didn't take it seriously at all. I DID take my life seriously, and my life was improving. But once I reached that point where I thought I was "cool" (as in cool to control my use) there was no NA to stop me from trying.
Thats why I honestly don't believe you need to get everything fixed before going to detox.
Once you get off those drugs no its not going to be all peaches and cream but you WILL find a large degree of motivation you never had before. Cause like I said just being off the shit is such a liberating thing to know about yourself.
And when the alternative choice is waiting for Jake to get his life together.... we could be waiting here for the next 50 years. Sure once you rid the drugs other problems will surface, but I still think just because he's on drugs its going to be near impossible to start becoming "prorecovery" or setting his life up to support him staying clean when he is STILL USING.
And seriously, who ACTUALLY starts to set their life up the right way when they're still getting high? I just don't think a lot of people do this. You might make a few minor changes right before you decide to stop, but I'm not sure thats how the general formula works.
The formula in my mind goes like this:
1) Jake goes to detox regardless of the condition of his life and detoxes off drugs.
2) Now that Jake doesn't have to worry about HOW to get off drugs, AND how to STAY
off them at the same time, it will be much easier to just focus on the latter.
3) Jake focuses on the latter lol.
But seriously theres no need to make this difficult.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing is when you are finally OFF drugs, you MUST in someway make recovery a part of your temporary life. You don't need to focus on it for the next 10 years.
But when I left detox last time I had told at least 10 different social workers/drs I didn't need
their aftercare program. And all that program does is ensure that you go to either NA consistently or a shortterm rehab.
That was my mistake and I knew I was fucking up then when I made that decision, I think I honestly just wanted to see how far I could make it by myself to judge how bad my own addiction really was.
But Jake, once you get clean bro you don't have to work every single one of the 12 steps, but you need SOMEWHERE TO GO where you can analyze your life and talk about your problems.
I really think its just important that you talk about your problems and the reason why is simple.
In those 14 months I was NOT talking about any of my problems and I also didn't even feel like I had any severe problems in the first place. But thats the thing. The longer you go w/out focusing on them, the easier it is to convince yourself you don't even have them. By not focusing on my addiction, at the time 14 months had passed I was telling myself "oh you can get high just once stop being such a square... you're NOT going to addicted to this shit again and you KNOW THAT.. you'd have to be a TOTAL FVCKN MORON to get addicted twice".
And I am that moron cause it happened again.
Thats why once I do stop first thing I'm doing is going straight to NA.
I realize I can go right now, which would definitely motivate me even faster to want to stop opiates soon... but I feel like the getting off part is something **I** have to do by myself.
Because I feel like part of the reason I haven't started yet, is because I don't want sobriety as much as I think I do.
But if I can get myself off again (like my last taper) that to me will mean I'm serious and ready to start going to NA again. Its a crazy cycle of justification, but I don't think thats my addiction talking, I really think its common sense.
Why should I even be thinking about NA if I'm having problems finding reasons to stop right now? Like you have to want it inside of yourself to a degree that makes your ownself believe its real (desire to quit) and THEN I think it would be smart to go to NA. I could go to NA right now but I'm likely to just make fun of all the people in my head cause I'm presently using. I'll leave the room and never wanna go back.
But if I stop first, I'll be MUCH more openminded towards it when I do go... hopefully like I was my first time ever going to NA when I got 5 years clean.
I have no idea but I absolutely recommend detox. And a lot of detoxes will also work with you while you're in the program to set up aftercare. Just make sure you actually do it. Don't value the detox just for the fact they can get you off drugs, value them for the fact that they will also help you stay off them. When you walk in that door you HAVE TO REALIZE you are there for **2** things, not 1, just please don't make the mistake I did.
As far as finding a free detox thats honestly a question I must have asked myself 100times this past week. Like "man it was so easy to get off drugs when I had detox last time but now I don't have health insurance .. if I could just find a free detox I'd be set". I honestly don't know if they even exist though this is something I was going to call this week to find out.
But Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, NJ comes as THEE highest recommended detox at my university. They were really great in getting me off and I couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother than it did.
Reading thier front page I saw "free mental health and addiction groups and services offered throughout the year for patients" but that would imply you have to be a patient first to get those free services... so not as "free" as they say it is.
And the part your curious about is the detox part right now.
I'll tell you what dude I'll just send them an email and see what they say.
I'm gonna tell them I was a patient there a couple years back and ran out of
health insurance and will see what they say about detox. But I just remembered as
I was typing this when I was at Carrier Clinic I remember this cool kid who was hooked on
dope walking into the clinic. I was outside having a smoke and he asked me if the clinic would
accept him w/out health insurance.
I remember him leaving, as it not getting in to CC, but I asked him what happened and he
said they had recommend a place he could go to detox w/out insurance.
So it seems hopeful I just have to find out the specifics. Shit I'll even go detox with you if you plan on doing it after this semester, I'm dead serious too.
Another thing I want to figure out is how to get a "charity card". I've mentioned this before but if you're currently out of work you can apply for one
and they cover ALL of your medical expenses.
I know I'm eligible for one I just never applied. But if you're out of work chances are you can get one too. And then you don't even have to worry about health insurance not covering a certain amount. I'll be finding out for myself either way so I'll keep you posted.
edit: and sorry about the length thats really something I need to work on lol