The Financial Costs of Addiction

There’s so much to say about the emotional toll of addiction. It alienates you from friends and family members. It can make it hard to hold down a job. It can muddle your thinking and make you take risks you never would consider if you were sober.

All those risks are well worth talking about, but there’s also another side to drug and alcohol addiction. It can easily drain your bank account as well as your spirit.

Whatever you’re addicted to, it’s probably not cheap. Alcohol is always going to set you back a bit, even if you’re just bringing a twelve-pack of beer to a football party. That’s even more true if you’re drinking so much that you go through a twelve-pack every day. The money you’re spending on alcohol could be spent on actual food to feed you. It could be spend on your electric bill. You could use it to pay off student loans. Instead it goes down the drain. And that’s for a substance that is actually legal, albeit highly regulated. If you’re doing a street drug like cocaine, the prices will be even higher, and you won’t really know a lot about what you’re getting. Sure, it will get you high, but you don’t know what else is in there.

Then there are the indirect costs of using. If you’re pulled over while driving drunk, you’ll probably be given a sobriety test. You’ll very likely fail that test and be sent to jail, at which point you’ll need money to bail yourself out. That’s only the beginning. Then there are fines and court costs to contend with. You may need to pay for a Breathalyzer to be installed on your vehicle’s ignition. If you’re ordered to attend alcohol counseling, there are costs to that as well. Oh, and there’s a good chance your driver’s license will be suspended, in which case you may very well need to pay a fee to get it reinstated. All those charges aren’t even assuming you’ll get a lawyer who will try to obtain a more favorable plea deal for you, one that includes community service instead of jail time. Lawyers aren’t cheap, especially if you want a good one. Decent legal representation can easily cost you thousands of dollars.

If you’re addicted and want help, you may be thinking that you can’t afford it. The truth is, it’s far more likely that you can’t afford to keep going down the path you’re on right now. Addiction will make you pay one way or another. It’s far better to stop now and try to redirect that money towards a good drug and alcohol rehabilitation program (check out www.beachway.com if you’re not sure where to start).

Don’t assume your insurance won’t cover it either. It may very well. A lot depends on what kind of insurance you’re carrying. For instance, you may have just Medicare, or you may have Medicare and a supplemental plan to go along with it. Insurance is complex, so you should talk to an insurance expert at your facility of choice before you make any firm decisions. Insurance may cover some facilities but not others. It may cover inpatient treatment but not outpatient treatment, or vice versa.

It’s scary to take that step, but once you’re in deep with addiction, you need expert help to climb out of it. Don’t try to do it alone. You’ve already spent a lot of money on your substance of choice. Don’t waste any more of it. For speedy recovery from addictions, visit the boardwalk recovery center.