Rehab.. Addiction or Cure?

[Caged1]

The rehab concept has always been one of those conversations I have with friends that always gets heated.

Im a long term user who has done time on many of the old favourites and each time I ended the cycle with the drug, I have always done it alone.
Alot of my friends seem to find rehab as part of this 'end' process. Ive seen it happen over and over again, and the results are always the same. New friends found in the Rehab, new contacts, then next relapse.
As a 'non rehab believer' I watch this and think that rehab has become one of the symptoms of the drug lifestyle that is usually just as hard a habit to break.

For me personally, I think its a total waste of time. I have never been and will never go to one. My reasoning is logical to me. I cant handle being around others suffering the same pain as me. I have more strength going cold turkey by myself. The temptation to fall off the wagon is lessened as I need to be in the mind set of 'different scenery, new people, different attitudes, even different drug users. But most importantly, I have no faith in the definition of a rehab.
Sure, I understand that there are people there who can relate to your pain, your withdrawal and they can boost your diminished sense of self worth, BUT after that, Rehab becomes useless. It cannot replace or offer you a replacement after you quit your drug. I cannot see the rewards. When I make the decision to have a break or stop, its usually because im broke, sick of the drama, sick of the dealer or just angered by having to get doctors and chemists approval on if I can go away for a while. This was the main reason I kicked methadone (the liquid handcuffs). So much paperwork involved to just go away for the week.

I have seen rehabs offer religion as a replacement, which I think is wrong on way too many levels (wont get into that here).. Most of them help you to maintain sobriety with the 12 steps programs, keeping you tied to the drug lifestyle and the supposed ' support network' that usually just stands as a reminder of what your trying to get away from.

I have seen so many friends constantly return to Rehab time and time again, like its a part of the endgame of that cycle. I have never seen any of them succeed, infact they generally come out with new contacts and no matter how serious they were about completing the program, they never really do. Rehab becomes like family to them. Like a weird acceptance.

I do appreciate that there are many experienced workers/volunteers that have defeated their beasts and have come to share their methods of this success, but none of them can offer you a good reason why you should be sober , or how you can be happy in an socially acceptable way.

I have taken random periodic breaks from using over the years, and the cold hard facts for me are that those who are considered decent , productive members of society, are the worst people I have ever met. These are the people who mask their issues with hypocrisy, lies and no respect. These are the people that remind me of why I prefer the erratic, sometimes dark lifestyle I live. This is the humanity I disconnected from years ago. They are also the ones who help fund and run rehabs, so it goes to show why the whole concept is screwed from the start.

So.. Rehabs.. Part of the fix or part of the disease? Does it help addicts/users or is it like putting a bandaid on a broken leg?

 

[footscrazy]

Great thread, and welcome to BL

I think rehabs can be part of recovery* for some people, but I think that too often they're seen as a place where you go to get cured. As you've alluded to, I believe that the decision to stop has to come from the individual, though external factors can help or hinder that progress.

I think that too often, a 'one size fits all' approach to recovery is pushed, when recovery to each person is going to be unique. I think that programs that have strict rules, and really only one pathway to quit, can possibly hinder recovery. Being told you've 'failed' if you don't follow their strict formula can easily be a tremendously negative influence, by preventing you from finding what works for you, or shaming you into helplessness.

In my opinion, the main benefit of rehabs or detoxes is to simply remove yourself from access to use at the time you're most vulnerable. I think the acute stages of quitting an addiction can be really rough, and it can be really hard to keep your mind made up on quitting when you're going through that. Some people might decide the best or only way to get through that without getting on is to prevent themselves from access by being in a rehab. Then, a more realistic decision on whether to continue or stop using can be made when the person is in a sober mindset, and not influenced by physical and psychological symptoms of such intensity. If I went back to detox that would be my reason.

I think people who push users into rehab, or judge that 'you're just not serious about your recovery' if you don't want to go, are misguided. But addiction and drug use is just so misunderstood in society. I think it scares a lot of people, and they just don't know what to do, so they'd rather push addicts 'somewhere else' that will fix them. I think that gradually drug use and dependence will become more widely understood, perhaps in the same way we've seen a growing awareness and understanding of mental illness (which I don't class drug use as), and with that, an acceptance that there is no one 'right' way to stop using. Lets hope, anyway.

*If the person wants to stop using. Whether drug use is a state that one necessarily needs to 'recover' from isn't something I necessarily agree with, but that's another discussion.

 

[Caged1]

Thanks for the welcome, and great to be here

I agree with what you are saying in regards to a more social understanding of drug use and dependance.
Diabetics are treated with Insulin, the difference obviously being that Diabetes is a disease. True, it is, but I could also say that in most cases it is a disease that is attributed to a form of self abuse. Wrong foods, erratic lifestyle, etc etc.
But society doesnt view Diabetes as a symptom of addiction. This is because it has been 'sold' to the public as a disease and alot of money goes into a cure and the marketing of prevention. Obesity is another example.
Thats the unfortunate case with drug dependancy. Users are looked upon by society with a 'dark ages' attitude. The wrong questions are asked . Its always assumed that drug users come from broken , domestic violent, abusive upbringings which
led to their self destructive habits. Text book theories which put us all in a tidy little category which can be called a disorder and treated with , you guessed it, more drugs.
Maybe , hopefully, one day society will look within itself and realize that the seeds of addiction and dependancy are sown into its population way before the addict is born. Ideally we will have future mentors and guides that will be able to offer us a
more productive indiscriminate method of living with our drug dependant lifestyles, based on their personal experiences ,and modern day attitudes to cures or even tolerance towards us. But I also believe that in order for this change to occur, we would first need to reassess and restructure the psychiatric methods of diagnosis and treatment of addiction. Trying to change the ways of jurassic psychiatry and its age old non effective treatment of dependancy is definitely going to be the hard part.
Impossible? no.. Improbable, maybe..

 

[Busty St Clare]

The problem with treating addiction as a disease is that your are usually treating the problem too late. It is like trying to treating cancer at the terminal stage when it has already spread throughout the organs of the body. I have yet to meet a person who became an addict after the first hit. There is a gradual (ok, sometimes slightly more rapid decent) into a habit before suddenly it has grown into a recognisable problem. By this stage it is too late.

Thats not to say you can't recognise the problem earlier. Fewer addicts would get to this stage if they didn't first cross an arbitrary line when they choose getting high over healthier pursuits. Its the moment you decide to keep going for another day, or the time you decide to call in sick and get high instead or when you start every Friday with a line and do this again next week, then the next week. This is the time to treat addiction. It's being fortunate to have someone say that perhaps you are caning things a little too hard and you should take a break. I know more recreational drug users than addicts. Believe it or not it is possible to use drugs sparingly without becoming an addict. It's not "boring" to recognise that some things in life are "sometimes" experiences. If more drug users followed the Cookie Monster's lead and practiced moderation you would see fewer addictions develop.

This type of treatment doesn't require an army of health professionals. Sure this takes will power from the user but it also takes support and love from the rest of society. It is our fault we don't tap our friends on the shoulder earlier and try and help them. It is everyones responsibility to call someone up and give them a healthier option of spending that Saturday night rather than another night on the tiles getting shit faced. Sure you are going to get a few falling through the cracks, you will still get that lonely guy who stays home and get high by themselves, but these people will probably develop a porn addiction just as easily too. If you think back to any of your addict friends you can't tell me in hind sight you can't remember that period of their drug use where it was a balancing time between honeymoon phase and uncontrollable drug use. If more family and friends took the lead at this stage then the success rate of recovery is far greater than what we have now.

 

[thestudent14]

If you think back to any of your addict friends you can't tell me in hind sight you can't remember that period of their drug use where it was a balancing time between honeymoon phase and uncontrollable drug use. If more family and friends took the lead at this stage then the success rate of recovery is far greater than what we have now.

This hits pretty close to home for me right now. But watching one of your best friends become an addict is a strange thing to see. And you find yourself believing that they will bounce back and reduce or quit their DOC. I was right... my friend did bounce back, but it's also too late, he has been kicked out of his home, another home, alienated most of his friends, and become highly paranoid, he has left himself with no positives from his drug use, something that gave him such joy has now taken so much. I wish I'd intervened sooner but I also know that with his personality, trying to get him to tone it down would've probably just made him hit it harder. I'll always be here for my friend, I just miss the real him =(

 

[Caged1]

Its a tough call. Ive been on both ends of this situation. The one whos tried to help and the one who has refused help.

As addicts/users we tend to disconnect from all support networks. Its a discreet, dishonest culture that breeds likeminded attitudes and behaviour. Because of the laws and the social discrimination about drug users, we learn very
quickly to trust within small circles of co-users and it doesnt take long before you get sick of being questioned, judged or stressed out by family and friends that you have left behind. Its easier to just detach from them.
I guess thats why its so common to see longterm friendships fail. You are changed by the lifestyle and the drug, but your friends stay the same, and they can only really watch and hope that you get a grip on it. The more
they try to 'fix' you, the more you resist , lie or just disappear. Sometimes the right thing to do is , nothing. Just be there if they need to talk, thats about all you can do.

I have used drugs for 21 years and the 1 thing that stands out the most for me is 'regrets'.. I have hurt alot of people over that time. I have left behind a long trail of emotional destruction . Family and friends who didnt deserve
to be taken on this journey I chose. The amount of regret I have for the last 20 years is way too much to ever deal with sober . Hopefully I will never have to.

 

[spacejunk]

^ i think that while i agree somewhat with busty's point, there comes a time where 'tough love' is just a pile of bullshit and as you say - the people in your life who use become the ones you feel more connection with, and warmth from.
the war on drugs is about dividing us - the "haves'' and "have nots" and it plays into addiction so easily because people that are force-fed the demonisation of all things related to drugs tend to end up taking it seriously.
once a drug user breaks through the taboo of their "illegal" behaviour, escalation is very easy. parents disown their kids, friends stop being able to relate to one another - because our media and culture have trained us to see the addict as a bad person, a weak person.

it's all well and good to say we should stop people before they fall through the cracks of control, but what if they already have? and who's control is it anyway? who is controlling whom? i'm not saying that it's ok to watch your friends go past the point of no return, or that it's cool to tell people that care about you to get stuffed, i'm getting high - but it's a bit more complicated than being able to pick the exact spot between 'honeymoon period' and 'addiction' and stepping in to put a stop to it. great if you can, but the world doesn't always work that way.
escalation is another of the well established trademarks of prohibition. morphine and heroin didn't get that popular recreationally until opium was banned and people had to be more discreet about possessing and trafficking this intoxicant.
if your friends and family are all on your back about your recreational drug use, doesn't it make a certain sort of twisted sense to want to run away from them and their condemnation? i know i've been there with hung-up family members, brainwashed by tv and moral crusaders - checking my arms for track marks when i got caught with cannabis at 15. it didn't help keep me on the "straight and narrow" - it made me dismiss their worldview entirely at such a young, impressionistic age.

i think you make some really good points, Caged1 and this is a really interesting thread. i don't have any personal experience with rehab, but to me it seems like another phenomenon we've imported from america. celebrities "go to rehab" and their addiction and sins are absolved like going to a confession booth. it supposedly shows an earnest desire to get clean - or at least show your judge or family that you are serious...which is probably a matter of survival a lot of the time, and just wanting to get the world off your back. "rehab" has a glamour attached to it - like admitting you were out of control, but now i'm ok - i'm going to rehab.
it just seems like another demonstration of how little our social understanding of addiction has advanced and matured over the years. to me it still seems to be stuck in a loop of christian morality and threats of legal prosecution.

it does seem like a great place to meet likeminded people, but i don't know much about the longterm success rates of these places.

 

[Busty St Clare]

Australia generally glamourises "getting fucked up" to such an extent that the "larriken" is tolerated as just one of the boys. The annoying guy who has too many, stumbles around the party being inappropriate is never confronted. Compare this to some societies where even being drunk is frowned upon and you see how society can allow hedonistic habits to begin. Now I'm not suggesting that is the only path to becoming an addict, but for many being functional addict is more desirable than being shunned by their families and friends. Having a recognised level or standard of intoxication that doesn't encourage 3 day benders and the social expectation that work and "normal" life should come first before drug use will create some what of a guide for people to judge their own habits.

Not using drugs during the week, or every weekend to "unwind", or to levels where you are not wanted around by family and friends are sensible "rules" to avoid addiction. It's not about about lecturing people, rather educating them as to habits that are more likely to create addiction. Some people seen generally surprised that having a cone every night after work will create a problem.

 

[Caged1]

Spacejunk, Your post is right on the money. Yes Rehab's are too often glamourised and used as last effort options that stop us from either getting disowned or locked up. So obviously if thats the case, the treatment is
redundant. Those who do commit to the program have a much better success rate, but the statistics of staying clean are not very encouraging.

Busty St Clare, I can see your point about 'getting fucked up' being glamourised, but I think thats more pertaining to alcoholics. The users Ive known over the years and even now practise much more discretion in regards to their drug use.
It isnt 'cool' to be seen by the public nodding off on a bus or looking wasted at parties, pubs, etc.. I guess its because its no longer about the drug lifestyle, the stigma attached or the drug culture like it was in the early use days.
I explain it as self medicating myself to the point of which I can function as a 'normal' member of society. I can be productive, go to work, pay my bills, bring up my children, be active in their education and recreational hobbies.
I never look like Im stoned or wasted. Infact if the people I work with, or sit on committees with, or even new friends that I have met since I moved 'knew' I used and what I used, they would be absolutely blown away. I think I would have to
show them proof.

Even my family , who I led into a life of drug hell during my early years, believe Im sober now. So I guess what Im saying is that I use drugs to be normal. If ever I want to get wasted like old times, I do it in the same way people organise a holiday.
I plan for it and make sure all safeguards are in place, yeah, its my time out.

Im not saying this style of living would suit all users. Its a 'fake' life at best. I can never be 'me' with newly found sober friends or work mates. I cant be honest with my family. No-one wants to be associated with drug users,and noone wants to employ them
even if you have been a reliable worker or a good friend, it doesnt matter, you are now a drug addict. I find it much easier to not let people in anymore, to disconnect as realistically possible from society.
The only drawback is that there is NO support network from anyone. There are rare times I would love to have one to go to, but when you have kept that part of yourself hidden from people, you can no longer
expose it when in need. It helps that I have found this site now There is so much important info here that I would never had access to offline.