Matt: What’s up everybody, this is Matt and Greg with Project Unbroken, and today, we were kind of answering a question. Somebody wrote in to us, they know they have an issue with opiates, but they don’t feel like it’s a good time in their life right now to really go all in to recovery. This is understandable. I know that with jobs and families, and our lives don’t stop because we realized we have a substance abuse problem. So we had a couple thoughts on this and I’m going to let Greg start with the first one.
Greg: Yeah, so first of all, there’s … Kind of goes into Matt’s point there, there’s really never a good time to go to rehab. No one wants to stop what they’re doing and go to rehab. No matter what point of your life you’re in, even if you don’t have a job and you’re just using drugs and out there, you don’t even want to separate yourself from all the other drug addicts, your life you’re used to to go to rehab. No one wants to go to rehab, so really it’s never a good time, so I think you got to get over that and realize that … Especially if you’ve already tried your own way, you tried to quit, you tried doing things your way, maybe it’s time to try someone else’s way, and also rehab, a great thing it does, it gets you away from that life. It takes you out of that life for a while where it can get you on that path to recovery.
Matt: That’s a really good point. You also have to remember that you’re going to have a lot of voices in your own mind trying to talk you out of this, so a lot of it’s going to be I don’t want other people knowing that I’m dealing with this issue. You go to rehab, you’re away for 30 days, people are going to be asking questions, you’re probably going to have to come out with something about why you’re gone or why you’re in rehab.
It’s hard for our egos to accept that, and it’s a big reason that a lot of people kind of don’t seek out help right off the bat. I think, again, it’s the stigma. Nobody’s necessarily proud of being addicted to heroin or pills or whatever it is. So it’s a tough pill to swallow.
You just have to remember that this is … You’re making a major commitment. Like this has to be the thing where you decide, “My life is going to change from here on out.” You’re going to go through some rough patches, that’s definitely going to be one of them.
Greg: Quick point. My fiance went to rehab, and the morning she went, she called me. She said, “I need to go to rehab.” And she kind of put it out there. We were trying to get things right for her. She’s like, “You guys need to hurry up and get me there before I change my mind.”
But one thing you can do is just kind of put it out there for someone, like, “I need to go to rehab.” Then it kind of puts that accountability on you that she had that. And now that she’s out, she owns it. She’s like, “Yeah, I went to rehab. I had a problem, but I got through it and I’m in a positive place now.” So she’s not embarrassed by it, she owned it, and it’s a pretty cool thing. Once you get there and you get through, I think people give you respect more. People aren’t like, “Oh, she went to rehab.” They respect the fact that she went, she got through it, and she’s where she is now.
Matt: Yeah, and a lot of times … To that point … A lot of the times, the stigma that we talk about is self-inflicted. We’re ashamed, we are embarrassed, it’s on us. Most people understand that these things happen really easily. They happen to a lot of people. More people than you think will be understanding, and maybe respect you even more that you realize you came up against something tough and you went and you seeked out some help to fix it. So, again, try not to worry too much about that stuff. Don’t let that get in the way of your recovery.
Greg: Yeah, and also, realize that the longer you stay addicted, the worse it’s going to get.
Matt: That’s the second big one. That’s the second big one. The longer you’re in it, the worse it’s going to get, and the more dangerous it’s going to get, especially when … Maybe if we’re talking about heroin … You see the overdoses every day in the paper. I mean, it’s just unbelievably dangerous. Every time that you use, you risk your chances of it being the last.
Greg: Yeah, when we started using heroin at first, we had things together. We had our job, we had a business on the side. Slowly, the business slipped through our fingertips. The jobs started getting questionable; what are these guys doing? So, things slowly started falling apart more and more and more. So as the addiction gets on, the worse it’s going to get.
Matt: Yeah. Everything. Everything will get worse. The main point here: Never a good time. If you realize that you have an issue, let’s just deal with it now, or as soon as you possibly can. Seek out … You can even start pretty simply, like Greg was talking about with his fiance. She reached out and said, “I need some help.” That can be the first step. Reach out to a positive influence in your life. Let them know what’s going on. Say, “I got all this going on. I can use a little bit of advice trying to figure out how to move forward.” Just take the first step, and it can go from there.
Greg: Yeah, so hopefully you all enjoyed this video. If you have any more questions on this topic, let us know. Subscribe, comment below, let us know what you think. We’ll see you all soon.
Matt: See you guys.
