Blog

The time is now: Treatment is safe amid the pandemic. We want to help you get there.

As states slowly begin reopening and people try again to adjust to normal life, it is clear that the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic will last long past our social distancing. 

For those struggling with alcohol and drug abuse, the social isolation of the past months has accelerated the progression of their disease. We have received many calls from people whose addictions mounted to extreme breaking points as they sheltered alone or with family.

Quite a number more have lost their jobs, and with them, their health insurance, which has limited their treatment options. 

Traditional ways of facilitating interventions – sitting in a circle with families, gathering in living rooms, or a business office board room – have been hindered, out of concern for the virus.

However, Whitman Recovery Service wants to assure you that, no matter what the circumstances, we are here to help. 

Around us, thousands are dying every day, not just of COVID-19 but of devastating addiction. We consider what we do to be essential work, particularly in this time.  

Recently, we conducted an intervention on a young man in Wisconsin from our home-base in Texas, 1,200 miles away. We helped guide the family by telephone and were able to arrange for their loved one to enter a psychiatric hospital and then go onto a treatment center all in just a matter of days. This is just one case that shows remote interventions can be done, and we have proven that. 

We want you to know there are options.

In light of the current situation, we are treating each circumstance on a case-by-case basis. Where in-person interventions are safe, we will conduct them – taking proper precautions – as we have recently in San Antonio. 

We are doing everything to ensure everyone’s safety.

Finally, to those wondering, “Is now the right time for treatment? Is it safe?” My answer is, “Yes.” It is always the right time for treatment. No matter what is going on in the world, it has been proven to me, time and time again, that continuing to drink and use without intervention is a sure path to destruction and even death. It can lead there quicker than any virus. 

And, to the families of loved ones suffering from alcoholism and addiction who are hesitant to reach out for help, I say “stop the enabling.” Enabling often times kills more people than the addiction itself. Instead of wasting time and energy trying to control the circumstances around you and not upset your loved one, do the most loving thing you can do for them – reach out to us for help!

Treatment centers are open and accepting clients, and we have relationships and contacts with those facilities. They will test incoming patients for COVID-19 and hold people in quarantine and isolation when necessary. So, don’t wait. 

Living with alcohol and drug addiction is like seeing the world in black and white. Sobriety is bright, beautiful, and colorful. We want to help you get there. The time is now. We are here when you need us. 

Best regards, 

Rich Whitman

Whitman Recovery Service