Alcohol & Drug Addiction Treatment

Long term drug and alcohol rehabs have become very popular because of the increase in success rate regarding treatment. Though many people don’t usually enter into a longer termed program first, it is still the one type of treatment that produces success in recovery. Unfortunately when an addicted individual who finally asks for help will only agree to go into a 28 or 30 day drug rehab, they usually will end up relapsing and falling victim to this addiction of drugs and alcohol.

A family who is researching a drug rehab program for a loved one who is suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, remember, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don’t settle for just a detox which consists of medical treatment for 1-2 weeks. Even a 28 or 30 day program is not enough only offering a 2-12 percent success rate. If the addicted individual is being stubborn about going into a long term drug rehab than don’t just give in, remain firm. Keep with your original plan in getting them to enter into a long term drug rehab.

You must capitalize during this crucial time and remember you know best. If the addicted individual after much talking to still does not want help than consider doing an intervention. A drug or alcohol intervention can be used to convince a person into entering some type of long term drug treatment. A drug intervention can help bring the family together and escort the person into the long term residential rehab program.

Addiction is a topic that encompasses many different things. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and sex are some of the most damaging ones which wind up causing a person to take a step in the direction of quitting. Usually people who enter into drug and alcohol rehabs have finally realized their life is heading in the wrong direction. When a person who is suffering from alcohol or drug addiction asks for help you need to move quickly and find a treatment facility. Generally an inpatient drug rehab is most effective or some type of residential facility.

A long term drug rehab usually has the highest success rate because it allows for the addicted individual to separate himself from his old triggers like friends and the environment. Drug addiction programs should always address the underlying issues and not mask the problem with psychiatric drugs. Replacement drugs only interrupt the neurotransmitters from returning back to normal level. Doctors and physicians who give a medical evaluation which deals with the mental stability of the addicted individual within days of a drug use or binge, can sometimes come back with inaccurate data. This inaccurate evaluation can then lead to a non-standard medical detox.

The optimum situation is allowing for a person to withdraw for a few days after a drug or alcohol binge. Let the patient get some rest, food, and nutrition to allow the body and brain to rehabilitate. Most addiction treatment centers do provide but always ask to make sure.

I rode on a public transit bus recently, and during my 30 minute commute I was saddened to overhear the story of an addict sitting beside me. His story was like many I had heard before—an opiate user who couldn’t live without his next fix and who the state-run programs had given up on. No longer using illegal drugs, he was now addicted to the very thing his doctor gave to him to become free of his addiction.

Prescription drug abuse has caught up to us in terms of its lethality. Drug rehab facilities holding fast to the theory that addiction is an incurable disease treatable only by highly addictive prescriptions are not only masking the real problem, but they are trading one addiction for another.

This is not only the case for drug users who trade their illicit drugs for those prescribed by doctors. The average American who cannot sleep well at night or feels the ups and downs that life throws at him is prescribed Ambien or Abilify. A perfectly normal individual who has an unfortunate accident is prescribed addictive pain medications. And for many of these people, their lives are never the same.

When looking for a solution to these situations, look for a long term drug rehab that provides a drug-free treatment program that will help you to get to the root of the real situation and help an addict to live life again without the crutch of a prescription.

People who are addicted to drugs and alcohol have this problem for a reason. It’s not like one day they woke up and decided to be an alcoholic or drug addict. Individuals who are addicted generally used the artificial substance to “numb” some sort of unwanted pain or emotion. The secret to effective treatment is finding a long term drug rehab that helps get to the core issues. An effective long term treatment facility teaches life skill therapies which will include stress management techniques, relaxation procedures, and assertiveness training. The purpose of this type of therapy is to help re-educate a person so they can handle problems easier and learn to manage life without drugs or alcohol.

An effective long term inpatient facility will develop a new purpose in a patient’s life. By reestablishing his goals and objectives a patient is able to take responsibility for his condition in life. Another component of long term addiction treatment is giving a person more productive and positive activities to do. For instance, working out, nutrition, art, music, poetry, basketball, and volleyball are all productive activities that keeps an individual struggling with drug or alcohol addiction doing something to keep their mind off of problems.

You can easily see why some drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers are more effective than others. These practical but life saving training procedures and cognitive counseling is only offered in some forms of alcohol and drug treatment facilities. A drug rehab facility that offers long term treatment, individualized counseling, life skills therapy, and extensive aftercare is by far the most effective in ending drug or alcohol addiction.

Drug rehabilitation has been subscribing to a 28 or 30 day long stay which was considered the golden standard in treating alcohol or drug dependency. Even today that is all that some insurance plans or government funded programs will subsidize. Many studies and practical experience have shown, however, that a long term drug rehab is far more effective in properly treating the addiction problem. A 28 or 30 day drug rehab program may give a person enough time to “get clean” or “sober up” or get over the initial depression, but they will have little time to address the underlying issues.

Many drugs can take up to weeks, some longer, to fully be withdrawn from. Once the body is free from the physical part of the addiction the person needs time to deal with the emotional aspects of being in rehab before they can fully commit their energies to the task of learning how to be addiction free. Dealing with just these two factors can take up to 28 or 30 days and in the traditional program would mean that just as the addict was ready to learn how to live without the drugs and alcohol, they are released. Many times the neuro-balance is just restoring itself after 30 days. If they did not have time to learn and practice new habits, they are likely to return to their old habits as soon as any familiar stress enters their life.

A long term drug rehab will help the addict move past their initial issues and still have time to do the work of learning and practicing the new habits that will sustain them in their new drug-free lifestyle. It takes 28 days to form a new habit and a long term drug rehab will allow at least a month of practicing the new habits after the medical detox and learning stages of the program are complete.

A long term drug rehab will also allow the friends and family of the addict time to learn the new habits that they need in order to form new and more healthy relationships with the addict and to help support them in their new drug free life. The friends and family can also use the extended time to heal and rest from the stress involved with dealing with the addict during their usage. This break often allows the loved ones enough time to move past blame, anger, guilt and into acceptance, forgiveness and even gratitude that the addict is finally getting help. Having a more positive and loving attitude toward the addict when they arrive home will help everyone involved to move forward on the right track. An effective drug rehab facility will provide family counseling so that you understand what to expect and how to handle certain situations.
Addiction is a difficult problem to overcome and one should not expect it to be “cured” overnight. A person that needs to lose a large amount of weight has to learn new ways of eating and exercising while they lose the weight. This process can take months or even years depending on the amount of weight to be lost and how committed the person is. Drug addiction is much the same and nobody should expect the problem to be completely solved in such a short amount of time.

A long term drug rehab is the best choice for a variety of reasons but most importantly because it has the highest success rate. It is also just the first step in a process of changing the life of the addict and those around them forever.