Does Drug Rehab Work
If you’re addicted to drugs or alcohol, it’s easy to feel isolated, hopeless, and deeply ashamed. Don’t lose hope just yet, though. Drug addiction is a disease, not a personal failing or a choice. If you seek help now, your odds of quickly getting sober are high, but the longer you allow drugs or alcohol to dominate your life, the more challenging it will become to get and stay sober.
The right holistic addiction treatment centers meet you where you are, offering drug rehab programs that work by teaching you the skills you need to remain sober, and that gives you the hope you need to turn your life around.
The Disease Model of Addiction
Addiction is a disease, but what exactly does that mean? There are two components to the disease of addiction:
- Vulnerability to addiction. Some people are more vulnerable to addiction, due to a complex cocktail of lifestyle, genetic, and family risk factors. Some research even suggests that some people’s bodies respond differently to drugs, shortening the time line from recreational user to addict.
- Chemical dependence. The disease of addiction goes into full swing when your body becomes dependent on alcohol or drugs—a process that can be expedited by genetic factors. When you’re chemically dependent, quitting drugs or alcohol can be nearly impossible, and can even produce life-threatening symptoms such as seizures and loss of consciousness.
Why Drug Rehab Matters
Holistic addiction treatment centers address the various factors that caused you to become an addict in the first place:
- You’ll get lifestyle skills training to help you find better ways to cope with stress, manage your health, and escape from boredom.
- Therapy will help you understand the psychological or relationship factors that contribute to your addiction, while offering you coping skills for resisting the temptation of drug use.
- Group support helps you feel less alone, while offering you the hard-won wisdom of other addicts who have been there and get it.
- Medical care ensures you’re safe as you go through detox, and can also help you determine whether you’re taking the right prescription drugs; remember, many prescription drugs are addictive, so your doctor may suggest replacing one substance with another.
Choosing the Right Drug Rehab Center
Holistic addiction treatment centers offer you the best shot at getting sober, but no two rehab facilities are alike, and no rehab can possibly meet the needs of every addict. To ensure you’ve chosen the right place, be sure to ask:
- How long will treatment take?
- How much does treatment cost?
- Can my family and friends visit me?
- What restrictions control my behavior? Is there anything I’m not allowed to do?
- What if I disagree with something the treatment center recommends?
- Is your program accredited? Are all of your care providers licensed?
- Do you endorse a specific religious or spiritual philosophy?
- Do you work with diverse populations?
- Can you respect my values?
- Do you offer enrichment activities?
- Will you help me get a job? Can I work while I’m in rehab?
- Are you prepared to deal with dietary concerns, such as a vegetarian or gluten-free diet?
- Are you equipped to manage my health care needs? What if I get sick while in rehab?
What is Luxury Drug Rehab?
No specific characteristics set so-called luxury drug rehab apart from more traditional rehab facilities. Instead, this is often a marketing gimmick designed to attract people who think rehabs are necessarily dirty, uncomfortable, or unsafe. Luxury rehab centers are not necessarily any better than other centers, and there are no formal criteria setting these facilities apart. For this reason, you’ll need to ask all the same questions you’d ask of any other rehab facility.
If a facility says it offers luxury rehab, be sure to ask what this means, too, so that you know you’re paying for a quality center. Luxury rehab can refer to anything from a standard rehab facility to a luxurious, resort-like setting where you get a private room and access to a spa.
Principles of Effective Drug Addiction Treatment
A variety of strategies can help addicts overcome their affliction, but addiction medicine is a science, and research-based treatment will always be more effective than a thrown-together approach based on impulse and emotion. Quality rehab embraces the following principles:
- Addiction is a disease, not a moral or spiritual failing, and embracing a specific religion or philosophy will not magically cause addiction to disappear.
- Addiction is a chronic condition that must be managed for the rest of your life.
- Addiction is treatable.
- No single treatment approach will “cure” every addict, and it’s often appropriate to try multiple approaches.
- Relapse is a common part of the disease of addiction, and good treatment should plan for the possibility of relapse.
- Effective treatment is holistic in nature, addressing all of your needs, not just the addiction. Your addiction team should ensure your mind, body, and relationships are all well cared for.
- Addicts should not use potentially addictive substances.
- Sufficiently long treatment is key to recovery; you cannot get sober with just a week or a day of treatment.
- Medication can help you recover from addiction, particularly if an underlying health condition contributes to your addiction; for this reason, all treatment should involve a consultation with a doctor or other medical provider.
- Addiction is a psychological condition, and many addicts have mental illnesses. Good treatment should address mental illness.
Contact Addiction Rehab Centres Canada today!
Further Reading:
Drug Rehab Program
What is Drug Addiction
Top Reasons to Seek Help For Drug Addiction
How to Choose a Drug Rehab Program That Works for You
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide
Does Drug Treatment Work?
