Long-Term Drug Rehab: Addiction Does Not Stop With 12 Steps

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Administrator

The question begs to be asked, if a person is addicted to drugs and alcohol and truly wants to battle their addiction, why would they pursue anything other than long-term drug rehab? Any type of rehab that is not long-term is not administered with the patient’s best interest at heart. Why would anyone go through the difficulties of combating addiction if the patient does not ultimately intend to be sober permanently? Addiction changes people, it can lead to people becoming a shell of what they used to be – does this sound like something you should look into curing for the short term?

Because addiction is more than just physical
The reason that long-term drug rehab is more successful than the traditional methods of battling addiction is because long-term drug rehab recognizes the fact that addiction is not just a physical problem. It is certainly possible to cure someone of their addiction for a short while, they may even be sober for a few weeks, but the underlying emotional and mental reasons why a person sought out drugs and alcohol in the first place are going to remain and can often lead to relapse.

To think otherwise, or believe otherwise, is simply fooling yourself
If you truly believe that 12-steps or a simple treatment of 28 to 30 days is enough to get to the underlying root of addiction you are simply fooling yourself. In a society where it has become more and more socially acceptable to want immediate results, it is essential that there are still people that are not afraid make it clear that in cases of addiction – immediate resolution of the problem of addiction is simply not possible. Long-term drug rehab is the only way to ensure that treatment is not merely successful in the first few weeks, but remains successful long after the treatment is over.

Statistics back long-term treatment
For a person to learn to live their life without substance abuse, to learn how to develop healthy and true relationships is a possibility, but oftentimes takes quite a bit longer than it does for the actual drug to be out of a patient’s system. Statistically speaking, long-term drug rehab is not only the best way to remain sober, but also provides the most therapeutic program. It often leads to improved health and a life of sobriety. Long-term drug rehab increases the chances of success because the lifestyle, skill sets, and values that are necessary for sober living take more than just a few days to feel real. The ultimate goal for long-term drug rehab is for the patient to apply the lifestyle, skill set, and values that are learned in the rehab program when they transition back into their normal life.

The difference
While a short-term program can help a person kick their physical need for drugs or alcohol, it does not treat the underlying problems. People that are serious about wanting to free themselves from addiction should not look anywhere other than long-term drug rehab.

Posted in drug addiction, drug rehab centers | 3 Comments

Do You Know What the First Step to Beating Drug and Alcohol Addiction Really Is?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Administrator

If you are an addict or a support person for one, your first inclination is that once the decision has been made to get help the first step is getting into a rehab center. The first step however, is finding the right help to determining which the best type of treatment is. All too often the relapse of an addict is blamed on the addict himself, and not the failure of the program in meeting its responsibility.

When drug and alcohol is a problem all of the focus rests on finding the quickest way to get into a program which is understandable, but the urgency often detracts from the need of finding the right type of program. This is often where the breakdown in long term recovery occurs. Friends and family members feel a sense of urgency because they are afraid that the individual will change their mind about going to get treatment. The addict themselves also have this same fear, and just want to keep moving forward quickly. This is certainly understandable, but the recovery really begins by utilizing the expertise of professionals that are on the front line of the recovery process.

There are some excellent recovery assistance organizations that make it their priority to do all the research into what are the best drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers available. These are groups of professionals that have come together with all specific areas of expertise to provide support in all the areas that have to be dealt with when finding the right rehab center.

Drug and alcohol addiction often affects many lives and these same people that are being affected play a key role in the recovery of the addict. It is not uncommon for a drug or alcohol abuser to rely on the advice of those that have been instrumental in getting them to the point where they are ready to accept help. This can often be the weak link in the chain to successful recovery, because many times the recommendations are made for making use of the most commonly known types of rehabilitation programs. These may be the 12 step program or the drug replacement therapy types of venues. Just because these have been around the longest doesn’t mean that they are the most successful.

To really take advantage of all that is available for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, it means knowing all the choices that are available and what the options are. For example, one particular treatment that is quickly building a track record for successful long term results is the biophysical treatment program.

Getting caught up in the urgency for the need of drug and alcohol addiction treatment can lead those involved into missing many important opportunities. This is where the services of professionals that really do know it all as to what works and what doesn’t proves to be most valuable. These professionals know the need for quick action, and are in a position to find you a treatment program that is right for you or your loved one.

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Are All Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs The Same?

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Administrator

If you are a drug addict and/or alcoholic who has come to the decision that you are in need of a treatment program then naturally you want the best there is. Of course the best there is means a treatment program that is not only going to help you get clean but to help you remain that way. Your first thought may be to just get into any program as quickly as possible, because you believe they all serve the same purpose. They do have the same goal but that’s about the only thing they have in common. By educating yourself as to the different types of treatment approaches it will help you to better decide which is best for you. There is a lot of professional advice to help you along the way. You are the addict however, and nobody knows better what type of treatment is best for you than you yourself.

Here are some of the choices you are going to be faced with when choosing your rehab program.

The 12 Step Program
This program is probably the one you have heard about most. Organizations such as AA, CA, and NA follow this outline. The foundation of this program focuses on your reliance in your religious beliefs, and relying on your determination and willpower to overcome your addiction. For some this works well depending on their mental outlook. The downside is that it doesn’t focus on the physical part of the addiction. Many that have gone through the program find that they have to repeat the program because of relapses.

Dual-Diagnosis Programs
The theory to this program is that substance abuse users also are afflicted with other types of mental disorders. The treatment focuses on the use of medications that are meant to offset chemical imbalances. The downside to this is that the treatment can be as bad as or worse than the addiction itself. There is not enough reliable scientific studies to support that there is a correlation between brain malfunctions and addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Drug Replacement Therapy
This program is basically like a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” type of scenario. The addictive drug that the user is on is replaced with another type of drug such as Methadone. The concept is that by replacing one drug with another it will break the dependency on the original addictive drug. The problem is in most cases the dependency simply changes over to the Methadone. Medical detox is a slow reduction of the user drug and should only be considered as part of a rehab program.

Biophysical Drug Rehab Program
Most drug addicts and alcoholics will tell you that they have two main issues to deal with concerning their addiction. There is the physical addiction, and then there is the mental addiction. One cannot be treated successfully without the both parts. This particular program deals with both of these issues and uses an extremely successful detox and withdrawal system that does not include the use of replacement drugs. Once the drugs are out of the system and the physical dependency is no longer an issue, it allows the addict to focus on the next part of the program that deals with the mental addiction. The success rate for the biophysical drug rehab program is usually 3 times higher than the other forms of treatment.

If you are going to make the step towards recovery, then give yourself the best start possible and begin by using the services of professionals that can direct you to the best drug and alcohol rehab programs available.

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Are You Really Doing The Drug Addict or Alcoholic Any Good?

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Administrator

As a friend or loved one of an alcoholic or drug addict you of course want nothing more than to see them clean and free of the addiction. You most likely have tried in many different ways to convince them to get the help that they need. Are you prepared for the day that they make that decision to do so? If you are successful in bringing them to this point your responsibility doesn’t just stop there. You now need to be able to point them in the right direction to get them the best help that they need.

You need to begin by educating yourself as to just what drug and alcohol rehabilitation is. There will be many decisions that have to be made and making the right decisions about treatment is just as important as making the decision to get help.

Here are some steps that you as the addict supporter can take to make sure that the person you are trying to help is going to get the best possible treatment available.

Step One:

The best advice you can follow is from those that have experience in this type of problem. It’s not enough to just go to the closest addiction center and have the information in hand for when the individual is ready to make their decision. You need to work with professionals that have done the research and know which programs have the highest success rate based on their program, and not just on the number of people they have treated. These experts can answer questions that you need answers to, like what type of treatments options are there? Which ones offer inpatient or outpatient services? What type of financial assistance is available? What are the criteria of the different treatments offered?

Step Two:

Now knowing that you too need professional guidance, you are going to find that there are many support sites on the internet that can assist you. Again it’s important that you make the right choice here as well. You need to know that you are getting the best help available. The internet is your best source to find the information that you need but you should have specific expectations that you are looking for when seeking out the help you need. Here are some of the expectations you need to place on the professionals that are going to be supplying you with the drug and alcohol rehab services that are available to you.

•             There should be all the levels of expertise available for you to rely on. These professionals should have firsthand knowledge of the workings of drug & alcohol rehab centers, know the government policies, be proactive in drug education, as well as be certified in their various areas of expertise.

•             They should have a large database that they can refer to for the type of particular assistance needed that covers a large geographical area.

•             You should be able to make immediate contact with them. There should be an area on the site where you can quickly leave your contact information.

•             They should be able to answer all of your questions and give you the information you need, so you have a full understanding of what is required to get your friend or loved one the right help and that it is applicable to their individual circumstances.

Step Three:

Once you have chosen the right type of support that you need, you are now in an informed position to not only encourage the addict to get help but you are able to point them to the same professionals that you are relying on to get them the right type of help.

Being instrumental in encouraging an addict to get the help they need means not only working with them to make the decision to get help, it also means making sure that they are exposed to the right professionals that can direct them into getting the help that is going to give them the best opportunity for long term recovery.

Posted in drug addiction, Drug Intervention | 2 Comments

Overcoming the Hurdles of Finding the Right Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Administrator

Making the decision to find the help that you need to overcome your addiction is a big step and the most important one. Number two on your list of importance is choosing the right kind of help. You may find that you now feel a sense of urgency to get into a program quickly, and if you have never sought out any type of help in the past you aren’t sure where to begin. It isn’t unusual for individuals that are in your situation to turn to directories that merely list the addiction centers, and start calling them from the top looking for the one that has a vacancy in their program that they can fit you into.

It is important to realize that not all drug rehabilitation centers are the same nor are the programs that they offer. It is imperative that you get yourself into a program that has the right type of treatment for you, and finding one can be quite a challenge. Fortunately though there is help available even at this stage of your recovery. There are professionals available that have done all the research and work for you, and can direct you to programs that meet all the requirements needed for addicts to have every opportunity possible for recovery.

You are going to find that there are a lot of decisions to be made, and you can only make the right ones if you become knowledgeable in what you need to know to take your next step.

Chances are you have had friends and loved ones and even medical professionals constantly telling you that overcoming your addiction is all up to you. This is true, but by the same token you need the right type of help that is applicable to your particular situation and not all treatment programs are the same.

You will find that when it comes to making the choice of where you want to go for your treatment you will be limited as your particular circumstance will dictate a need, and then in other areas you will have some options. The more common questions that you may have are:

  • Whether you are a candidate for an inpatient or outpatient program?
  • How long is the program?
  • The location of the treatment center is it easily assessable for you?
  • The cost factors and what financial assistance is available for both residential or outpatient treatments?

These are all important questions, but you need to go further than this because you need to feel confident that you are going to be getting the best help available. You want answers to the questions:

  • What are the differences between the dual diagnosis, 12 step, drug replacement and biophysical programs? These all have the same goal in mind but very different approaches to your problem.
  • What is the recovery rate and what are these figures based on? For example, if a rehab center is stating that they helped 5,000 addicts reach a full recovery last year this is impressive perhaps; but if they had 20,000 go through their program then this is not a great success rate.

Taking that extra step and relying on experts who specialize in what are the most effective treatment programs available to you based on your particular circumstances is going to give you a head start to becoming drug and alcohol free.

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Making The Right Choice in Drug Rehabilitation is The First Step to Recovery

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Administrator

All too often people who suffer from addiction and/or alcohol abuse are misguided by well-meaning individuals who many times are family members and friends. These good hearted individuals are so distraught at the circumstances of the abuser that they become under the impression that any form of treatment is better than none. When snap choices on the type of treatment is made it can often be the wrong choice. Then when the program fails, the individual who has been subjected to the treatment is labeled as being a failure. Very few times is the program ever found to be at fault. Unfortunately what has happened here is that those surrounding the person with the addiction are feeling their own sense of pain and are looking to alleviate it. It is difficult for them to watch their loved one suffering from an addiction, and because of lack of knowledge and experience they end up grasping at straws.

Those that have fallen victim to addiction and drug abuse that are ready to accept help are often fragile and will depend on the advice and leadings of their loved ones. They are no more experienced at what is going to work for them than their family and friends are. It then becomes the responsibility of the supporters to do the research and find out the facts about what they are recommending. Their decision must be based on what they learn about what is available, and explore what the success record of the program is, and what lends to its credibility.

There are a multitude of drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs around. Some have been functioning for many years. The misconception is that because they been around for so long then it must be considered as being successful. This is not necessarily the case. Yes, they may be able to promote that they have assisted thousands of addicts and alcoholics recover, but what is being forgotten here is that the success numbers may be based on volume and not on effectiveness.

The other reason that many of these programs have become established is because they were amongst the first to materialize and therefore are the best known. There is much that has been learned about drug and alcohol abuse, but this new knowledge may not be being incorporated in what are the old standard institutions that deal with this particular problem.

The bottom line is that the success of drug and alcohol rehabilitation depends on many facts, but one of the key factors is that the right program is chosen in the first place. If it doesn’t have the right approach to the problem then there is no way that the sufferer of these conditions can be expected to recover.

The task of finding a rehabilitation program that has all the right ingredients for success is not an easy one. It can all begin with finding the right kind of professionals that have this knowledge, and can provide the guidance that is needed to seek out appropriate rehab centers that have proven their credibility based on success and not volume.

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The Synthetic Drug Boom and the Effect on Drug and Alcohol Rehabs in the US

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Administrator

I was speaking with a friend of mine who has worked as a counselor in rehabs for over 25 years. He told me about a patient that he had seen now three times at one of his centers. The addiction in the past was meth. He did well 5 years ago, relapsed briefly and went home. Just last week his family asked him to be accepted again and what he told me was frightening.

Meth users can often manifest what is called ‘cocaine psychosis’ but he said this patient was light years beyond this. Extreme delusional state, severe paranoia, anxiety and fear about monsters and aliens and hallucinations that would not stop. The counselor did not believe this was typical meth addiction symptomology for this patient. In pulsing some strings he discovered that he switched from meth and started using something called “bath salts”. The kicker is that he had used them just three times in a period of 1 week.

During this most recently stay they had to try to detox him and nothing changed even with medication to help him relax and sleep. After two weeks it was clear that this was something my friend had never seen before. The conclusion was that three uses of this new synthetic drug caused more harm by far than 10 years of meth addiction.

I am not sure where things concluded for this patient but I am using it to illustrate that these new synthetic drugs like bath salts, K2, Spice and others are the new rage and both patients and rehabs are going to be at a loss for what to do once the reality sets in on the destruction they create.

2700 people have fallen severely ill to these types of drugs (as reported by ER’s around the country) and that compares to roughly the same number if all of the previous year. As such, I do not believe the new laws being passed are going to move quickly enough to stamp this out. And many theorize this could drive these chemists underground for an even more lethal black market.

If you are someone you know is suffering from an addiction like this get them immediate medical help and admitted into a drug and alcohol rehab treatment program. The most successful for this type of situation is likely to be the biophysical drug rehabs in the country that worked to get all of the chemical and drug residue out the fatty tissue and liver and as such can help restore the person to feeling normal again. They take longer and can be more costly but it may mean all the difference in the world.

Posted in drug addiction | 1 Comment

Trouble in Lohan Land

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Administrator

Just when many thought that Lindsay Lohan was finally making a turn for the better, yet another scandal breaks out. TMZ received documentation and posted a video from an employee of the Betty Ford clinic where Lindsay was receiving treatment that Lindsay missed curfew and had been drinking. An altercation ensued and cops were called. The employee was terminated for violating confidentiality (which can carry a fine), and I’m sure a couple lawsuits will be filed – countersuits for battery between the employee and Lindsay as well as probably a wrongful termination suit, if I had to guess.

Caught up in the whole mess is the fact that a young woman needs real help for her substance abuse and behavioral issues, and if it is true that she was drinking during her treatment then she could wind up with much greater penalties. Despite what camera-toting paparazzi might wish for, I certainly hope major disasters can be avoided.

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Drug Rehabilitation During the Holidays

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Administrator

Many families often make the mistake of waiting until after the Holidays are over to get their loved one into a drug rehabilitation program. However, the Holiday Season can be a very difficult time for someone struggling with addiction, especially since the guilt, shame and regret become intensified around this time of year.

For an individual fighting a substance abuse problem, the safest place they can be this Holiday Season is in a long-term drug rehab, as that will increase their chances to be able to spend many more holidays in the future with their family.

If you or someone you love has a drug or alcohol problem, contact us today and we can help you locate successful drug rehabs that work.

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Rapper TI Admits Drug Addiction

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Administrator

Atlanta rapper TI recently admitted to his drug addiction, citing a dependency on painkillers after dental surgery earlier this year. Reports say that he spoke with fellow rapper and former addict Eminem about his problems as well, whose latest album “Recovery” chronicles his triumphs including drug addiction treatment.

Fresh off of a prison sentence for weapons charges, will TI seek a drug rehab program following his recent arrest for drug possession?

While becoming addicted to painkillers from dental and medical surgeries has become much more commonplace in today’s society, should people, especially celebrities, be allowed to pawn off their personal responsibility? I think it is a shared responsibility between drug manufacturers, lawmakers, doctors and of course the patients themselves.

Posted in Celebrity Addiction | 1 Comment