I'm actually writing this on day 8 since yesterday was pretty jam packed and a bit disorganized due to the 75th Anniversary celebration. The folks here are pretty proud of the anniversary which is understandable.
The day started like all the others with the 6am wake-up, 6:30 BOC meeting and then 7:30am group meeting. Day 7 was a Sleepy day for me. I found out a little more about the Sleepy today. The whole idea of sedation therapy was refined when war veterans were returning from WWII. These war veterans were suffering from "shell shock" (now referred to as PTSD) and it was discovered that a very effective treatment was sedation therapy. During this therapy the veterans were given positive suggestive therapy which became embedded in their subconscious and was very effective in giving them a positive outlook enabling them to function more normally in society. At Schick Shadel the Sleepy therapy is two-fold. They ask a series of questions to assist in determining how the other therapies are going (Duffy and education). This is combined with positive suggestive therapy to give great reinforcements to the patients self-esteem, etc. Kind of cool when you think about it and it explains a little better of why we tend to feel so good following each Sleepy. Following each Sleepy we then meet with a Counselor and review our responses. It's always amazing to me to go through the process since I remember absolutely ZERO of the questions and responses while the treatment is administered. My responses are so well thought and coherent...really weird stuff!
We met today with the COO of Schick Shadel who happens to be a former patient and former CEO of PetCo. He reviewed his personal and family struggles with addictions where the family finally came to the realization that addiction was genetically coded for himself, his wife and each of the children. All of them were touched in some manner or another with addiction. This was a powerful talk and reinforced yet again that most of the patients here have much in common.
Pat O'Day was our final speaker of the evening. This was a very uplifting talk and very informative of the background of the treatment protocol. Pat gave the background of the Sleepy (WWII vets) and of how the Duffy's are intended to get to the reptilian signaling of the brain. Pat was very clear that although the treatment is very effective in shutting off the craving, we cannot ever be social drinkers...we cannot ever awaken the receptors the treatment so effectively shut off. Pat asked that we do not refer to ourselves as "alcoholics" or "recovering alcoholics" which are terms commonly used in AA circles. Pat asked that we consider ourselves "non-users". I can definitely live with this description and intend to use this if asked.
My roommate continues to kill me with his snoring. I gave it another try last night and had to eventually cram the ear plugs so deep into my ears that I had a hard time getting the plugs out in the morning. It's probably time to ask for a new room if one's available.
The staff here at SH are just wonderful. They treat the patients with respect and are so committed to our recovery it is very heartwarming. I continue building relationships with other patients and now find myself sharing tidbits of information with some of the newer patients coming into the program.
Tomorrow (today) is my Duffy #4. So this will be 16 drinks and will definitely get to the reptilian part of my brain. I'm embracing this treatment and am looking forward to extinguishing that part of me which I hope to forever suppress.
More later...
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