The rate of relapse after a stint in rehab is overwhelming. Many relapse within days, most within 30 days. Heroin addicts in particular not only relapse but often O.D. due to a lowered tolerance to the drug while in rehab and then they get out and use the same amount they used before, causing an overdose.
When residential facilities are initially contacted they seem very empathetic and to have all the answers for a desperate family in need of helping someone they love. But when the addict relapses within days of release, they often shrug their shoulders saying, “Well… you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help. I guess they’re just not ready.”
This is true. To get something out of residential treatment you must be ready. Just like anything else in life this takes preparation and training. It takes four years to get a college degree and long term discipline and training to become a top athlete. Yet, when it comes to recovery, addicts are often expected to go to treatment and then get it, right out of the gate. Nowhere else do we have this ridiculous expectation.
Sobriety takes training and time to get good at. Until someone is motivated properly before rehab and in a chronic addictive pattern, they will never get out of it what they need. Bad things can happen when a newer addict goes to rehab with veterans. Being exposed to a rehab environment before trying and failing many times can be a waste of time and money and then, when and if rehab becomes necessary, the addict often has no faith or confidence in rehab anymore.
As a private, out-patient counselor I see these mistakes all the time, families putting the wrong form of treatment in the wrong order. Why? Because not only are addicts in a desperate state of mind so are the families trying to help them, impairing clear decision making. Society has conditioned us to believe that rehab is the way to treat addiction. And where did this myth come from? Rehabs themselves, of course.
There are several stages of recovery and treatment that should and need to take place long before rehab ever happens (if it happens). Addiction is a progressive situation and so should be recovery. Don’t put the cart before the horse. Work on strategies within the context of real daily life and only if that fails should rehab be considered.
Coming Soon: Addiction Workshop/Seminar in November. Please call or email for details at 661-904-5353 and scott@lifemind.com.