Greg interviews Janis Beckett, the Director of Chemical Dependency Services at the Cleveland Clinic, Akron General Hospital and Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Hospital. After struggling with substance use disorder for several years, Janis decided to enter the field of Chemical Dependency. She talks about her tough battle with the disease and her recovery. “The disease of addiction acts like a puppet master,” says Janis. “Once it gets ahold of you, it dictates what you’re going to do next.”
Janis continues by dispelling the misconceptions surrounding the early stages of treatment. She says that early treatment isn’t the finish line, but rather a spring board into recovery. She talks about how to bolster treatment during the early stages of recovery. “People in early recovery need to be around other healthy people in early recovery,” says Janis. “They also need to continue going to meetings to get connected and stay connected. They can’t be around the same people, places and things they used to be around and expect to remain sober.”
Greg asks Janis if most families know these tips. She explains that even though these tips may seem obvious, many don’t know about them. She says that if people don’t know about recovery, they don’t understand it. She reveals some of the misconceptions people have about recovery. “People believe that if you aren’t using any more, then you’re cured,” says Janis. “Recovery is easier to understand if you think of the drug as a symptom of the disease. The drug isn’t the issue, the brain disease is the issue.”
Listen to the podcast to discover how to actively support a loved one in recovery.
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