12th January 2021 • Sticky Post

Phones in Addiction Treatment: Why Rehabs Set Limits

It didn’t take us long, as individuals and as a society, to become incredibly dependent on our smartphones. From checking the weather and communicating with everyone we know, to watching TV, and even buying Christmas presents, smartphones have become central to modern life. We keenly feel their absence the second the battery dies. We reach for them as soon as we wake up in the morning. Yet most drug treatment centers either ban or severely limit their use (at Iboga Tree Healing House we allow clients to use phones in treatment for one hour every Saturday), much to the irritation, discomfort, and displeasure of their patients and guests. Let’s dive into the reasons why you shouldn’t be staring at that iPhone screen while in treatment, and why using your phone in rehab is a bad idea...

Maximizing Focus

The time you have while in a residential treatment facility is crucially important. You have a limited number of hours to work on the very serious issues that have brought you here. If you’re like the overwhelming majority of our clients, you have very serious issues to work on in order to emerge intact from the nightmare of substance abuse and addiction.  

This means that your focus shouldn’t be on social media accounts, YouTube videos, or work email on phones in treatment. You need to devote yourself to rebuilding the physical and mental health that has suffered from your addiction. That requires you to be present, not distracted, as you deal with yourself and others.  Whether you’re tasked with an hour of yoga, a detailed personal inventory, or a period of quiet reflection, if you’re not completely committed to the process of recovery, you’ll dramatically lower your chances for success.

If a rehab forbids an object or behavior, there’s likely a good reason behind the decision. Feel free to ask about it, but remember that you’re dealing with experienced professionals who are working hard to help you succeed. Your daily routine is mapped out with thought and care to maximize the benefits each therapy can provide. Whether you’re exercising, practicing mindfulness, sitting in a 12 Step meeting, or undergoing one-on-one therapy, your focus needs to be 100% on the task at hand, and distractions like using phones in treatment will make treatment much less effective. 

Building Connection

As mentioned above, we allow our clients one hour each week to use their phones to catch up with the people they care about. Many treatment centers offer a land-line for clients to chat with and receive support from, friends and family. Support from your family is an incredible tool for beating addiction, and one that we wholeheartedly encourage our clients to take advantage of. 

But for incoming patients, phones in treatment can have a number of negative effects. The first and most obvious is the temptation to call an old dealer, or a friend from when you were using, and ask them to bring you drugs. Obviously, this wasn’t your plan coming in, but triggers, cravings, and temptations can be too powerful to resist. Newly clean addicts are in an incredibly fragile state, and anything from bad news to a social media post could set off a negative reaction, which could put other clients at risk as well. In order to keep everyone under their care safe, it’s wise to eliminate any risk of substances being smuggled in, or someone else luring you out of rehab.

In addiction treatment, you have an opportunity to reflect on the nature of all of your relationships. If you’ve been living with addiction, we’d be willing to bet that a fair number of them are far from positive and healthy. Taking the time to reflect on who among your friends, family, and acquaintances deserves to be a part of your new life, and who is best left behind for the sake of your health, happiness, and safety is something you have the opportunity to do in treatment. Maintaining constant contact with everyone from your addicted life can be harmful to your well-being.

Mental Health

As you look to rebuild your physical and mental health in treatment, becoming less dependent on your phone is a great step to take. Studies have shown that excessive cell phone use is linked to a number of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and insomnia. And the symptoms caused by cell phone addiction are especially pronounced in young people, according to a study on 20-24-year-olds conducted by researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Other studies have proven that excessive use of cell phones and social media sites increases the stress levels of their users, which also compromises their immune systems.

Treatment is also a time to break down your walls and build meaningful, sober connections with the people around you. It’s much easier to create relationships when you’re fully present and engaged with everything going on around you. Researchers at the University of Essex in the UK conducted multiple experiments on human interactions and concluded that the “results demonstrate that the presence of mobile phones can interfere with human relationships, an effect that is most clear when individuals are discussing personally meaningful topics.” 

Let's Get Real

Your treatment center has thought long and hard about how you can best use the limited time available to you to best rebuild your physical and mental strength. Wasting time playing on a cell phone may be a pleasant way to kill an hour, but it’s not going to give you the tools and inner-strength needed to take on your addiction. Instead of directing your attention outward, take this time to focus on the changes that are occurring, and need to occur within yourself. Mindfulness practice, cultivating hobbies and interests, and tackling past traumas are worthwhile goals for this time. Playing Candy Crush and looking at your ex’s Instagram, not so much.