Drug Treatment Program on College Campuses
Can You Stay Clean & Sober on A College Campus?
Most people would agree that staying clean and being involved in a drug treatment program while living on a college campus can be extremely difficult. Once I left the drug treatment center that I attended and decided I wanted to remain sober, I didn’t feel like I could go back to college and live there. At least not if I wanted to stay clean and sober. I’m not sure that it wouldn’t have been possible to go back to college and remain clean and sober.
I was reading an article in The Wall Street journal that was discussing this very topic. The article discussed certain things universities are trying to put into place to make colleges a more welcoming environment to alcoholics and addicts in recovery or students who may need help with their drinking or drug use. The article explains that a lot of universities are starting to create recovery communities. Instead of having frat parties and house parties as essentially the only social scene available on college campuses, many of these universities are trying to give sober students in addiction recovery a chance to have a social life while living on a college campus.
Addiction Recovery - Is It Possible On A College Campus?
One of the reasons I didn’t live on campus, or anywhere near the school I attended, is I didn’t think it would be conducive to staying clean and sober. When I was in college and still actively drinking, I literally did not know how to stop drinking alcohol or using drugs. I feared that by going back to college after completing my drug and alcohol treatment program, I would fall right back into the same cycle that I had been in before I went to a drug addiction rehab center.
While I still believe this to be partially true, I also see from this article that many colleges are trying very hard to change this. The University of Michigan and Penn State University, some of the biggest “party schools” in the country, launched addiction recovery programs to help students struggling with addiction.
These drug and alcohol treatment programs offer counseling, self-help recovery courses, and alcohol-free and drug-free activities to sober students and students considering sobriety. This gives students a way to meet people and have fun without destroying themselves with drugs and alcohol.
Additionally, any student attending Penn State who receives “an alcohol violation on or off campus, or an alcohol-related visit to the emergency department at Mt. Nittany Medical Center are required by the University to complete the BASICS program administered by Health Promotion and Wellness.
Students who do not have a violation but who are interested in learning more about alcohol are also encouraged to use the confidential service free of charge.”
Drug Treatment Program On A College Campus?
I’m certainly not saying that a young person in sobriety cannot go to college and have a good experience. All I am saying is that it can be challenging, and perhaps not very enjoyable, if you can’t partake in the same activities as your classmates. This addiction recovery community will give sober students a way to connect with their school and their classmates, and it will afford them the necessary tools to remain clean and sober.
Had a drug and alcohol treatment program been in place at the school I attended, maybe I would have received help sooner than I did. I was disciplined at my school for acting out while under the influence, and I had to do community service and see a school counselor. Instead of doing that, a school with a drug and alcohol treatment program in place may have professionals who are better equipped to deal with students like me, who clearly had a problem with drugs and alcohol but just didn’t know it yet.
I didn’t recognize or didn’t want to acknowledge the signs of drug addiction and the signs of alcohol abuse that I was displaying in in my life. Having a program like this in place would help students stay clean and sober, but it could also help other students recognize that they need to change their drinking or drug use. There would be knowledgeable students and professionals who have been in similar situations that would be able to help.
If I had been sent to a sober student or had been forced to attend AA meetings, I don’t know if I would have admitted that I was an alcoholic or an addict. I don’t know that anyone will admit that they are alcoholics and addicts until they are completely ready to be in alcohol addiction recovery. However, I think it would have given me more insight into my life and might have helped me realize that I had a problem sooner.
I think this drug addiction treatment concept is something that can help people realize that they need help. It would at least give them the opportunity to get the help they need through a drug and alcohol treatment program at their college.