How is the substance abuse program at the Domiciliary at the LA VA? Can you go directly to there from detox?

2023-09-22T01:18:48-04:00

Has anyone been to the DOM at the LA VA, how was the program?

I need to go to detox first because you have to be clean to go to the DOM for a program. I’m a schizo-affective disorder mental patient with substance abuse and if anyone has gone that route do you know how long detox is, and can you go straight to the DOM from there?

I know I’m posting incredibly sensitive info to the public but it’s about time I face my demons and get my life back. I’m taking back control.

Thanks to anyone who can help

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 22 at 2023 8:40 AM

2023-09-22T08:40:51-04:00

I'm happy to see that you have decided to take your life back. I can't speak directly to the locations you mention. I'm in TN. As with any program your commitment level will be the deciding factor. Do You want to Live? I went through detox 6 years ago. At the time I thought it was the hardest thing I'd ever done and the experience is one of the the things that keeps me clean and sober now. I never want to have to go through something like that again. My thing was alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol. I didn't drink to have fun and socialize. I drank to die. Every time I took the cap off of a new bottle and turned it up. My thought was "Maybe this time I won't wake up," I had decided that drinking myself to death would be neat, not leave a mess for someone else to clean up. I was drinking 5ths and gallons daily. My diet consisted of 100 proof bourbon and I looked like it. Clothes baggy and hanging off, old belt with new holes and the tail flapping around. There were people that cared about me but they couldn't touch the part of me that just wanted to stop existing, to quit being a burden on their lives, that craved oblivion. Detox is hard make no mistake about that. What's harder is therapy. You're going to have to open up, not be afraid to talk about what bothers you. You'll get more out of it that way and it's not a one and done thing. It's you constantly working on You with the help of counselors and Drs. If they give you a scrip take it like they say, and interact with them on what it's doing and how it makes you feel. Not every med works the same way on all people. it could take months to figure what the best combination is for you. Once you are clean don't start thinking that "If I just add a little of this or that" it'll be better. You have to find your own reason to stay clean. The 12 step programs tell you rely on your "Higher Power". What I found is if you hold a traditional Judaeo/Christian belief system, you're going to be more comfortable in those meetings. You have to learn to take what works for you, and don't get hung up on the other stuff. Yeah I've got some of those coins they like too give out at milestone points, even kept one in my pocket for a while. But, that's not what keeps a person clean and sober. Those are just things. What keeps us clean is the internal commitment to Love Ourselves.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Sep 22 at 2023 11:57 AM

2023-09-22T11:57:41-04:00

CPT Jack Durish you are in California. Any word on this program?

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Sep 22 at 2023 10:41 PM

2023-09-22T22:41:49-04:00

The easy part is detox and cleaning up with the hard part completely leaving the life that got you into trouble to begin with. The friends and support network that was there during your substance abuse needs to be gone along with the drugs. What job do you plan to do and where are you moving to after you are done with VA program? Moving back even in the same state could cause a relapse. A large part of the reason the military is so great for troubled youth is it literally can place us on the other side of the world from bad environments. That is the biggest change many of us have needed.