Which Detox and Rehab Treatment? Four Questions You Need Answered

Posted by Tony Bylsma on August 3, 2010 under Effective Drug Detox Rehab | Be the First to Comment

There are facilities all over the world that exist to help people over come addiction to drugs and alcohol. All of them are successful SOME of the time. None of them are successful ALL of the time.

The questions you should ask are these:

1. What is the success rate of this particular center?
2. Will I emerge from this treatment drug-free?
3. Can the problems that led to drug addiction in the first place be dealt with there?
4. Will the stay there be long enough to give the strength needed to resist relapsing to drugs?

These are vital questions and must be answered satisfactorily before choosing a drug treatment center.

The first question about the success rate of the program is the most important of all. You are there to not just get off drugs, but to stay off drugs. The success rates that most drug detox programs have in achieving long-term sobriety are not good, usually somewhere around 15-25%.  The most successful facilities run around 60-75% long term success.

Surprised?  Well, have you ever known someone who stops and starts drugs over and over again? Maybe tobacco, or alcohol or pot, whatever they might be addicted to is returning into their lives repeatedly.

Really, a success rate of over 70% is what you need to have a good chance at turning a life around.

The second question goes hand in hand with the first. When a drug rehab center merely replaces one abused addictive drug with another addictive drug, what have we really done? Do you think the new drug won’t be abused too? Even if the new drug is not one that can be abused, have you really handled the problem? Switching addictions from one substance or activity to another is not the answer.

Drug addiction happens for a reason. If the treatment of addiction does not address those reasons the person is headed for more addiction, maybe to another substance or addictive activity, or maybe just depression or isolation. The problem that was being masked by the drugs needs to be brought out into the open and dealt with–really dealt with. Otherwise it is just a matter of time before more troubles emerge.

Finally, this person’s addiction was not built in a day. It took time to develop dependence on this substance, certainly more than 28 days! And it is going to take time to beat the addiction too. When choosing a drug detox and rehab center, be very wary of any promises of four week addiction cures. The addict is not even really off of drugs in 28 days! It takes what it takes and to try to short-cut something as vital as drug rehab is asking for disappointment.

In looking for the right drug detox and rehab program, it is vital that you ask the right questions and then choose the facility with the best chance of giving you what you seek: an individual who has been fully rehabilitated and is able to re-enter life with confidence and abilities to succeed without drugs.

Tony Bylsma  CCDC