Transitioning back to work after addiction treatment is a challenging and daunting process. You may feel like a completely different person. You may wonder how your co-workers will respond to you. You may feel isolated and alone.

However, returning to work is one of the most important steps you can take in your recovery. A job will focus your energy and attention on productive uses, lessening your risk of relapse. Work will also introduce you to more people, who may become instrumental in providing you with the support and friendship you need.

Follow these tips as you transition back to the workplace to ensure the greatest level of success.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

Today is the day. Tuesday, October 11, 2011. I want to remember this day forever.

The day I decided to stop drinking.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning. Possibly the best one I’ve ever seen. Pink and blue hues in the sky sprayed with just the right amount of clouds, the brilliant orange sun barely peeking over the fall trees, as if uncertain of making its appearance.
There are knots in my stomach. I can’t breathe (allergies). I am on my period.

I am incredibly exhausted from being awake all night, tossing and turning and trying to banish the unwanted thoughts that kept racing through my head, taking up space where happy memories should be.

Most people have heard the words “monkey on my back” used as a term for defining addiction. Personally, I find the word “addiction” too soft a word to describe the monster every addict or alcoholic battles in daily life. It’s too clinical, too sterile, and just doesn’t pack the same punch as the monkey analogy.

As a hardcore alcoholic for more than half my life, I learned a few things about the monkey. First, he never knows when to keep his mouth shut. It’s not that he’s loud. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The monkey prefers to whisper, at least during the early stages of addiction. Day in, day out, he whispers in the addict’s ear, reminding the addict that it’s time to party. He whispers because he doesn’t want others to hear him. “They don’t understand you the way I do”, he whispers. “I’m your only true friend. It’s you and me, brother. Besides, it’s nobody’s business but our own.”

The monkey is also persistent. He never, ever leaves the addict’s side. He’s always there to remind the addict that one drink or one puff never hurt anyone. Sure, he makes himself a little scarce when trouble arrives, but he’s always watching from behind the scenes while the addict works things out. The monkey never leaves for long because

As a recovering alcoholic, married to a recovering alcoholic, also the daughter of alcoholics I don’t believe that alcoholism/addiction can be cured alone. We all need help especially with issues relating to denial.

Growing up surrounded by alcoholics and drug addicts meant that my teenage years were plagued with unmanageability and chaos. The abnormal became the normal and drinking, drug taking and violence was an everyday occurrence.

Once I became a mother myself something within me changed and I had a moment of clarity. I knew I wanted a better childhood for my children than I had myself. This new way of thinking for me was only the start. I tried to stop drinking by myself only managing a few days until I thought maybe just a few drinks at the weekend would be fine. Once the weekend came and the drinks began then I could not stop again I had set off the craving which then began the whole vicious cycle again. I had a few more failed attempts at doing it alone and began to lose hope.

My father and my husband had been working a 12 step programme so I decided I should try it also. Life slowly became less unmanageable and a lot more serene. With the help of other recovering alcoholics I managed to abstain from alcohol and have done so for nearly six years now. I am positive that I would not have been able to do this by myself as my own and my family’s failed attempts in the past to do it alone is all the proof I needed.

I continue to look to other alcoholics for support and guidance as again I have seen other alcoholics who think they no longer need help and can do it alone have relapsed and very quickly sank back into a life of unmanageability.

My life has turned around since I found recovery. I am now working with an addiction agency, undergoing a degree at my local University and leading a happy life. I am encouraged when my friends now tell me that it gets better ….

I am impressed with the work of Addictions UK and wish them well in their work.

Testimonial #1
Since my mum started using AUK she has stopped drinking and it has made a massive difference to her, now she is less tired all the time and she has been much less irritable. I think Addictions UK is great because now I have my mum back.

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Testimonial #2
The first time I phoned Addictions UK, I was hung over, frightened, lonely and desperate. I had known for a long time that my alcohol addiction was out of control, but I’d always drank it away, convincing myself I could deal with it on my own and letting dreadful fear continue to bubble under the surface. I had tried getting help a few times over the years, but my feeling of shame about my addiction lead me to isolating myself again and going straight back to drinking.

When I found AUK and the strength to call them, it was a small relief in itself. I spoke to someone who

I am someone who, after years of active alcoholism, can now see myself recovering, and, after a struggle, enjoying the process. Having first found that I can survive without alcohol, I am now starting to engage with life – work, social, and the world in general – without suffering the debilitating stresses for which I always felt drink to be the only cure.

My problem, my illness, goes back a long way. It was there when I was at school and university, but became increasingly obvious to me and those around me after I began work (as a solicitor in commercial private practice). I knew that I wasn’t behaving conventionally: at first drinking – often alone – every lunchtime, then first thing in the morning, eventually hiding bottles at home and sneaking them into work in my briefcase. I would wake up, not every day but often enough, with little or no memory of the night before and see looks of at best amusement, but more often hurt or anger, contempt or pity, at home and in the office.

I began a twelve step programme with Addictions UK. I have daily sessions with my worker and have a 24 hour helpline I can use when I need. I have spent many years using drugs and alcohol and had come to the point of losing everything. My life was in a mess and all the promises I had made were wearing thin. I knew I had to make a change. The programme has not been easy but with the help of my family and Addictions UK I made good progress. I now have regular contact with my young daughter and have got myself a full time job. In the five months I have been drug and alcohol free life has become worth living. Addictions UK have given me a new chance of living a normal fulfilling life.

Thank you

Home Treatment afforded me an opportunity to address my problems. I cannot safely use alcohol at present. I learnt that from the four drinking sessions (during the treatment period) very well. I could continue with my business and programme. I can see the advantages of working with recovering addicts and alcoholics though I would also have been able to accept a competent worker with wider skills if I was presented with such a person. The ability to empathise is only part of the treatment process. I was able to identify with some recovering alcoholics sharing of their previous histories. The treatment programme was recommended by a friend. I thought that I would give it a go. It worked for me. I have been sober for the whole time with the exception of four days. I had one bad drinking session for a day and three other minor sessions. My tolerance to alcohol is now far less than before, which worries me. It is definitely worth continuing – I have enjoyed success in that it has cut my drinking down to just four days in twenty-six weeks. Alcohol is less attractive to me and it does not have the same effect. My father is an alcoholic and my wife nags me. My friends supported me and my Life Coach also supports me – which has been fantastic.

I now recognize alcoholism as an illness – the Addictions UK Treatment Programme has given me the longest period of sobriety I have experienced for ten years.

I have had an alcohol problem for sixteen years total; for seven years it was a very big problem. I started taking drugs at fifteen. I liked doing it very much – I got in with the wrong crowd. My family life was happy. My drug of choice was heroin but I used excessive amounts of alcohol as well. Stealing became a habit. I was good at it. It funded my habit. When I was arrested that freaked me out. The arrest referral team was supportive. Four months later I went into treatment. I relapsed for eighteen months. My partner helped bring me to recovery. This phone treatment has been really helpful. I am back in recovery and it is two years now! The therapy has given me a foundation for recovery.

Alcoholics in recovery understand problems, which is very reassuring. I really wanted to look at some of the issues of the Twelve Steps in depth including more reading and more in depth discussion. I was really hungry for this information and support. My coach is a recovering alcoholic too. I got a greater understanding of the steps from the DVDs and they worked very well with the Big Book. It is so important

Learning how addiction really works was a revelation that became a fascination. It never previously occurred to me that an alcoholic’s experience could have anything in common with my experience as a pornography addict. It turns out that all varieties of addiction carry certain symptoms that are experienced by virtually all addicts.

• Emotional hypersensitivity.
• Simple or minor problems often become overwhelming.
• A feeling of ease and comfort while using.
• Intense remorse after using followed by a renewed resolve never to use again.
• Deceptive behaviour.
• Rampant guilt.
• A self-deceptive view of what constitutes a lapse.

One of the effects I’ve personally experienced from studying addiction behaviour is