Choose a Clinic for Drug or Alcohol Rehab
Choosing the right drug or alcohol rehabiliation clinic for yourself or somebody you love is a difficult decision. Your choice can determine whether the effort is a success or leads to a series of relapses.
Instructions
1. First, the patient should acknowledge that they have a problem, that he or she needs help and will work at trying to change. Addictions are insidious. If a patient is still in denial, it's practically impossible to make progress. As one program puts it, "Ultimately it is the individual's determination and persistence to keep moving forward that will determine how much success is achieved." Recognize, that by seeking treatment, you're probably going to have to say goodbye to one set of friends who shared your habits. It's useful to find others like family members who will support your newly straight and sober lifestyle.
2. Be prepared to devote at least thirty days to the effort. Addiction is a series of habits. A full month will give you time to handle both the highs and lows while clean and sober. Some clinics, like the Betty Ford Center, offer a ninety day program as the new standard.
3. Make sure that your clinic has a proven track record in helping patients overcome your drug of choice. As just one example, meth amphetamine causes very different problems from alcohol abuse. Meth users over stimulate the pleasure center of the brain. As a result, abusers can no longer find joy elsewhere. While detoxification for alcohol and other drugs can take days, meth users can take weeks to detox. Many patients who enter treatment for meth amphetamine come into a clinic on a binge and typically crash soon afterwards, sleeping for days. Specialists are more experienced with specific patient needs and can better help patients in their recovery.
4. Check the medical certification of the clinic. Is the clinic run by physicians who are board certified in the field? Psychologists are very useful, but are there psychiatrists on board as well?
5. Does the clinic employ a holistic approach, dealing with whole-body, mind, spirit and social aspects? The granddaddy of all abuse programs, Alcoholics Anonymous, has as a key tenet that the patient is powerless over his addiction and has to put his faith in a higher power. If you are an agnostic or atheist, there are other treatment options to the traditional twelve step program, like those based on smart recovery.
6. Does the clinic provide out patient follow up. By far, this is when the biggest temptation to lapse will come in, when the patient is back in familiar settings dealing with customary pressures. Recovery must be an ongoing process of coping with life's curves, recognizing that the typical mechanisms of handling problems have been corrupted by retreating into an alcohol and drug induced haze.
7. Finally look into cost. Can it be covered by your existing health plan? If not, perhaps there's a comparable choice? Can you take time off from work through a combination of sick and vacation days? If you can't afford time in a clinic, consider going to a support group like AA first. The first step is the hardest.
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