Tolerance for Others should be Part of Recovery

What a Drug Rehab Should Have: Learning Tolerance

A person who has gotten trapped in drug abuse proves to have unresolved issues that he never adequately dealt with. By the time he has been addicted a short time, he has lost many of his previous abilities and skills. When intense drug cravings are driving his every decision, he isn’t thinking of how his actions affect others. He also isn’t likely to tolerate the actions of others very well. He could be committing crimes in order to support his habit and stealing from family or friends. Then, feeling guilty, he will withdraw from them. These are things he never would have done when he wasn’t using drugs.

He may stop talking to or visiting with family and friends in an attempt to conceal his drug habit or to avoid having to face up to what he’s done. His tolerance for his own family may dwindle down to nothing as he drifts farther and farther away.

Tolerance Can Be Learned in Rehab

When the person decides to go to rehab to get clean, he may have difficulty finding an effective rehab program that will teach him the skills he needs to remain sober long after rehab is done. According to the World Health Organization guidelines, one of these skills or attributes that should be regained is tolerance. The ability to tolerate the actions of others even when their views differ from our own is vital to human interaction and relationships.

This attribute is needed to rebuild old relationships as well as to forge new ones that will be meaningful. Having tolerance for himself and others should help him avoid again falling into the pitfall of drug abuse.

Tolerance Can Be Learned as Part of the Life Skills Program at Narconon

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program includes a segment related to teaching life skills. These skills consist of vital tools a person will need to stay sober long after graduation. Of the several courses in this part of the program, a number contribute to a renewed tolerance for others.

On one of the courses he will learn how to recover his own personal integrity and live by his own moral values. He can even find relief from his own guilt through application of these principles to his own life. On another course, he gains the tools to make up the damage to others he may have hurt while he was addicted to drugs.

Another course which helps one learn tolerance for others is the final course that one studies at Narconon. He learns a new moral code, based on common sense that is simple to follow. Respecting and tolerating the beliefs and actions of others, even if they do not agree with your own, is one of the principles he learns on this course. Once he has completed that course, he can use all 21 of the principles to help guide his future to a drug-free life.

Brian Found Tolerance and Recovered at Narconon

Brian regained his sobriety at Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma. Brian came to Narconon at the depth of his depression and in despair over his drug addiction. He was angry, and says he didn’t care about himself, but the people who worked at Narconon Arrowhead cared about him anyway.

With their tolerance for what he’d been experiencing, they helped him get through the withdrawal period of the program. Brian went through the program more than four years ago and said after completing it, “I love myself now, and I can look at the reflection in the mirror and smile. I can give now, where I used to just take, take, take… And I can help others. It makes me feel good to help out.”

Brian learned tolerance and more essential life skills with the help of the Narconon program.

Go back to Guidelines on Effective Recovery

Reference

• Partners in Life Skills Education; Conclusions from a United Nations Inter-Agency Meeting, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1999.