I was admitted to drug rehab at Ridgeview in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA on January 4th, 1996. First, I was placed into cottage “C” for detoxification and drug testing. I told the staff that I had not drank any alcohol or used any drugs besides marijuana in the last 3 months. They definitely did [...]
On the first or second day in the half-way house, I went out with friends to a movie “Get Shorty”. I think it was at the dollar theater at the time, so it was cheap. This was my first venture away from the half-way house since I was admitted to rehab. Somehow the conversation of [...]
The person in charge of the halfway house at RidgeView was Susan. Susan was a very strong individual and very commanding. She definitely had the halfway house under control for me and the other participants. One of the things that I notice early on was they wanted you to do chores while you were in [...]
The first week at drug rehab consisted of this daily routine of going to meetings in small groups with counselors, as well as meeting with family members and drug counselors. In the evenings after these meetings with various drug counselors and possibly a short meeting with a psychiatrist earlier in the day, we attended AA [...]
As I mentioned in my previous article, I was using “fake it until you make it” in the beginning of my recovery. The next day at the halfway house (after almost going out and drinking with Jay), I told Susan the halfway house manager that I’d almost drank the night before. The response I received [...]
On the 10th day at Ridgeview I experienced anger. I remember the night before sitting in bed thinking about all of the money this place was charging and how we were expected to do those “chores”. Wasn’t this place supposed to be club med at $1000 a day? Why were the beds so hard that [...]