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Can I Bring My Laptop to Rehab?

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Attending a dedicated rehab program is a major step toward one’s sobriety. However, there can also be a myriad of barriers during this time, even for those who are ready to begin their sober journey. Familial obligations or stigmas may prevent an individual from pursuing their own best health, while others may find it difficult to take time away from work to pursue their needs. 

Deconstructing these barriers is essential for truly embracing a transformative recovery program, and bringing one’s laptop or other electronic devices can be instrumental in balancing one’s professional life with their sober ambitions. While it is possible to bring one’s laptop to detox or residential treatment, there may also be a number of limitations placed upon its use, and managing one’s time on these devices is crucial for the efficacy of their recovery. 

Knowing What to Expect

Laptops can be a great tool to balance one’s professional life while providing a familiar tool for one’s daily routine. However, even if one’s detox and treatment facility does permit one’s laptop, typically decided on a case-by-case basis, there will be limitations on its use. There may be only certain times when one is permitted to use their device and restrictions on how long per day or week one can spend engaging with digital media. These restrictions are not arbitrary, and knowing the risks of using one’s laptop is necessary to establish a beneficial use of one’s device alongside one’s dedicated recovery efforts. 

The Dangers of Computer Use During Rehab

While computers offer a myriad of benefits and may be an integral part of one’s life for personal or professional reasons, their use also presents a number of risks that may not be apparent at first glance. However, these risks can be especially dangerous during one’s recovery efforts, especially as one begins their sober journey through detox and residential treatment. 

Creating Unnecessary Distractions

Even if one has a direct plan for their laptop during recovery, their presence can still be distracting. Dedicated recovery programs require a great amount of focus, and the presence of laptops or other electronic devices can stymie the efficacy of these programs. Regular individual and group therapy sessions, experiential programs, and other personalized recovery efforts all serve a crucial purpose, and electronic devices can present an unnecessary distraction. Their use can make it difficult to tend to one’s schedule if one is spending too much time on these devices, or one may find themselves in active attendance of these activities but distracted by something they read or saw just before the program. 

Bringing Stresses to Recovery

Online mediums also present many unique stresses. From exposure to distressing news or the stresses of social media to making it difficult to distance oneself from common triggers, such as workplace peers or obligations, laptops can be the source of much anxiety. Bringing these stresses into the recovery space can make it difficult to truly disconnect from these triggers, increasing the chances of relapse or other stresses throughout otherwise effective recovery programs. 

Making the Most of the Benefits

Bringing one’s laptop does have its benefits when used properly. For some, using these devices to stay connected with supportive family and friends throughout one’s sober journey can be instrumental and even add a degree of normalcy to an otherwise tumultuous time of change. However, making the most of these devices means adhering to a few limitations regarding their use. 

Ensuring that one has a dedicated purpose for opening one’s laptop in the first place is essential, as utilizing digital mediums without a direct purpose can open one up to unnecessary stresses or triggers. Having a specific time when their use is allowed or disallowed, as well as blackout times, is also necessary. Many recovery facilities will err on the side of caution if allowing these devices into detox or residential treatment, even taking time to introduce skills for managing one’s use of digital mediums into the earliest parts of one’s recovery program. 

Talking With Rehab Professionals

While laptops can be brought on an individual basis, it is important to discuss the necessity of their use beforehand rather than assuming that these devices will be unconditionally permitted. Talking with professionals can help an individual establish the right schedule for their programs while eliminating some barriers, such as professional scheduling that can be amended and transformed into remote work. Each facility will have its own rules and limitations to enforce, and working together to manage one’s use of their laptop can help those pursuing sobriety tend to personal and professional responsibilities while still making the most of these transformative programs. 

Bringing your laptop to rehab can have its benefits, but rehab is still a time of change and transformation. We at Pacific Sands Recovery Center are committed to helping you not only find your own best path to recovery and sobriety but also helping you balance your continuing obligations in your personal and professional life. We champion the opportunity to personalize each individual treatment program, tending to your unique needs while creating opportunities for you to explore a myriad of new experiences in recovery. Individual and group therapy — coupled with trained and caring professionals and a community of like-minded peers — are all available to you, all ready to help you explore how the first step toward sobriety can reshape your life. For more information on how we can create a program that fits your needs and goals, call to speak to us today at (949) 426-7962.

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