Your time in treatment can be an emotional one and will require you to focus all of your energy on making a full recovery. Because isolation can be an ally of addiction, many treatment facilities will involve social interaction and may even require you to share a room with another patient. Many patients form strong bonds with their roommates and benefit from having someone to share their recovery with.
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a room with a stranger during your treatment, many facilities offer private rooms. Patients will still receive the social interaction they would throughout the day and are able to retire with privacy. If you find yourself in a facility that does not offer private rooms here are a few tips that can make sharing a room easier:
Establish and Maintain Boundaries
Sharing a room with someone can be stressful, add in the stresses that come along with addiction recovery and it can be a nightmare. By establishing boundaries up-front some of the stresses can be eliminated by gaining a mutual understanding of one another and giving each other the space they need.
Agree on Quiet Hours
You and your roommate may not have identical sleeping patterns but it is important that you are respectful when the other is trying to sleep. Establish a time that you both can agree upon to turn the lights out. You both will need your sleep, do your best to not wake the other when they are sleeping.
Accept That You Have a Roommate
By accepting the fact that you will be sharing a room you can experience the benefits of having a roommate. Being able to talk to each other when you are struggling can be helpful in successfully completing treatment.
Establish Personal Spaces
No matter how well you and your roommate get along there will be times that one of you will want to be alone. Try to arrange your room so that you have an area that can go to and be by yourself.
Establish Personal Spaces
Sharing details about your personal life with your roommate can help you to form a closer bond. By getting to know each other you learn to understand things about your roommate that could otherwise irritate you.
The Lakehouse Recovery Center offers 30, 60, and 90 day programs to men and women seeking to recover from drug and alcohol addiction. In addition to providing excellent clinical care, we offer both recovery and non-recovery activities. Our goal is to show clients how to have fun again, learning how to live in recovery without drugs and alcohol. For information, call us today: 877.762.3707