Rehab - would you go or have you

[Tony Williams]

Would you go or maintain

Maintain but a holiday is nice

 

[DrunkardsDream]

IF I had to go to a rehab or treatment center I would. Have I been to a rehab or treatment place? No I have not. I have friends who had to go since they went to jail because of possession and were ordered to by a judge, and they got sober that way. I know a lot of people like myself who quit using various drugs including alcohol on our own.

 

[JJ1234]

I went once for three weeks after finding meth. While I didn't agree with most of that twelve step stuff I have to admit the experience was great if not life changing. They told me that if I ever used any drug or alcohol again I would slip back into addiction. This was partially true but my drug of choice was still marijuana even after months of heavy methamphetamine abuse. So the day I got out, I had a drink. I was smoking weed within a week. Meth is not really available where I live so I never used it again. I have binged on many stimulants since then including a few research chemicals but have not been seeking meth.

Anyway one thing rehab did for me was sober me up long enough to realize I was on a downward spiral. The time was great and the sobriety really brought out the best in many of the people there. I never thought I could have fun being sober but there were a few times when I actually was having fun there.

So I have now faced the fact that I will smoke weed daily as long as it is possible. I consider it medicine because the only time I ever quit in the last 20 years was a 2 year break when I was diagnosed with all kinds of mental illnesses. Bi-polar is the main demon. was it caused by years of drug abuse? Maybe, but who really gives a shit if marijuana is the only treatment needed. Anyway this is starting to sound like a pot head rant so I'll move along now.

I wasn't forced to go to rehab at all and was in no trouble with the law. It was a good experience even though I chose not to remain straight and sober. I am glad I went and will never forget it. I would recommend anyone struggling with any substance abuse problem to give it a try. It couldn't hurt, really.

 

[Vaya]

Inpatient rehab paved the way for three consecutive drug and alcohol free years of my life... some of the happiest, most productive years of my life. Rehab isn't entirely about working a formal program of recovery (ex. AA/NA); the best part about it, for me, was being in a safe environment amongst others my age with whom I could relate and to be physically removed from the galaxy of distractions that always, always, always de-railed even my sincerest attempts to maintain a sober lifestyle prior to that.

Find a rehabilitation center with a good reputation and a clean facility, and I'd recommend that to practically anyone. Sometimes, watching other peoples' struggles is as much an aid to your resolve as is the awareness of the pain your own struggles have caused you.

~ Vaya

 

[neversickanymore]

You can learn amazing stuff as far as addiction, recovery, and life at a good rehab place.. but don't think its going to "fix" you.. you have to develop a recovery plan that works for you , taking into account and addressing the issues that caused you to use in the first place, as well as the new issues that addiction caused.. but as long as you learn as much as possible, realize that it isn't even close to a guaranteed "cure" and plan to develop and strengthen your own recovery through all successful means you find.. then a period of education and sobriety is a very good choice.. the more neural pathways you develop that don't end in use, the better.. and a good rehab can give you a good start. Very best of luck

 

[Vaya]

but don't think its going to "fix" you.. you have to develop a recovery plan that works for you , taking into account and addressing the issues that caused you to use in the first place, as well as the new issues that addiction caused..

Yes! +10! These are the most critical factors to be aware of when considering rehab. Well-played, nsa... very well-played, indeed!! :D

 

[Vaya]

Tony Williams, I am going to move this thread of yours over to our Sober Living forum where I believe it will garner the attention you may need it to

TDS >>> SL

All the best,
~ Vaya

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I think I might have gone to rehab if any of the rehabs that I thought looked good weren't exceedingly expensive. For example one in my area that looks decent is $30,000 for 40 days (I'm assuming that prices for rehab are ok to post, right?). No way in hell could I have afforded that. Then after being on methadone for so long, my primary problem was detoxing off of it, which I could find any detoxes equipped to help with, I called a bunch and all of them said all they would do was put you in a bed for a week while you were tapered off methadone or some said they could switch you to Suboxone and taper you off that. Not very helpful for me! Most rehabs around here (excluding the one I mentioned above which includes a 5 day detox) expect you to be completely detoxed before you can get in and are more for the helping you stay clean after detox part. I looked for unorthodox detoxes, one using ibogaine looked promising but again was very expensive ($10,000 for 10 days) and they said they were actually out of business because even at those rates they were not making enough money to survive, even as a non-profit. It was extremely difficult to find any options for getting off methadone. Methadone is believed by many to be a "treatment" for opioid addiction/dependence, and the most common ideas seems to be that either: A) you shouldn't try to get off methadone, you're supposed to stay on it for the rest of your life (common phrases being, "Addiction is a disease - if you were diabetic you wouldn't stop taking your insulin would you?" or, "Staying on methadone for the rest of your life is better than risking a relapse!"); B) methadone should be easy to taper off on your own at any time and any difficulty in doing so is solely psychological and undeserving of help; or C) you can always switch to Suboxone. I have huge problems with all of those ideas. I eventually ended up finding a good doctor who was willing and able to help me, but it was a huge ordeal with a lot of time wasted to get to that point. As for rehab back when I was using heroin and ended up going on methadone, the only option that was available to me and within my budget (zero dollars) at that time was a 5-7 day completely unmedicated detox with a long waiting list, followed by a rehab where all you really do is go to NA meetings every day. And it was very hard to even get any details about those options. Needless to say, I didn't like those options and ended up on methadone.

If I had had the opportunity to go to a GOOD detox and/or rehab things might have turned out differently.

EDIT: I really agree with neversickanymore that rehab isn't a cure and you still really need to be motivated and to do the work on your addiction, why you use in the first place etc. Most people I know who went to rehab solely because they were pressured into it (for example their parents made them go, or they had their kids taken away and going to rehab was a pre-requisite for getting them back) ended up relapsing soon after they got out. But I think (the right) rehab can be a very useful tool if you are ready to use it and you continue making changes after you get out. As for using it merely as a "holiday" from addiction, I'm not sure how I feel about that...

 

[Mehm]

I know a lot of people who started their sobriety in rehab. Most of them think it was helpful, largely because it taught them how to go to meetings.

To answer your question specifically, I went once when I was 14 and used for 13 more years once I got out. The second time around I would definitely not have willingly gone to rehab. I went to jail instead. It was probably a little bit cheeper (still really expensive) and just as effective.

 

[soundsystem00]

I've gone to rehab twice. Both times I went, I didn't stay long.

I went to a prison/rehab/boot camp called SAFEP. I owe my sobriety to that. It was an intense 6 month program. If you screw it up, you go back to county jail and have to either do it again, or go to prison. Most cases you have to do it all over again.

They called it a "behavioral modification facility" .. You have 10 major rules and 10 cardinal rules.

Cardinal rules were big things like fighting, gang representation, trying to escape, possession of narcotics, etc

Major we're things like profanity.. I forgot the other ones.

But you had to say "pull up for profanity" then write a ticket. You would drop the ticket in a box, then the counselor a would get it the next day. You would go in front of the counselor and either "own the behavior" or "not own" .. If you didn't own it, the witnesses of the ticket would be called in.

Once you "own" the behavior, you get "sanctioned" and confronted. Sanctions included a "pole announcement" where you would have to get in front of the chow line at chow time and say things like "I GOT A POTTY MOUTH WASH MY MOUTH OUTBWITH SOAP" three times in front of everyone. Or clear the shitters or get your commissary taken. At the end, you would get in the confrontation circle. That is where the while dorm, about 70 ppl would circle and the two people would get in the middle. The person who wrote the ticket would confront the person ticketed.

It seems strange but this shit works for a lot of people. Let me know if anyone is familiar with this program.

It's referred to as "therapeutic community" or TC

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^I guess that approach can work for some people, I'm glad you found it helpful . I would find it horrible personally. Although I am female and there is evidence that TCs don't work for women [see]. Also just wanted to point out that "therapeutic communities" in other countries are very different from the type in the US which you are presumably referring to.

 

[MzAnthroP]

To echo what others have said, rehab is not a fix. I think that unfortunately it is sometimes sort of portrayed in the broad media as if it will "cure" a person. Personally, I have never been to rehab... I didn't have the money or the resources to go. I went directly from a detox into a halfway house hundreds of miles away from the city I came from. It worked for me.

Again, to reiterate what's already been touched on: rehab is supposed to be a safe place to go and begin to let the dust settle. I worked in a rehab that was fully equipped with detox patients for over a year. It was incredible how a guy would come in so beaten down, start to feel better, and then jet off with a female patient only to be back two months later to do the whole thing all over again. This isn't how it's supposed to be... it's a place to build a foundation and begin living life in a new way with a new perspective. But it's just the beginning. The real work always takes place after discharge

 

[Space Firebird]

I would not have been able to afford either detox or rehab, I had to determine to change my own life on my own.
It was probably more difficult in some ways, but I had my own program and I stuck to it, just as if I were a center.
I knew that if I didn't do it, my life would turn into a failure, so I resolved to find the strength to walk away on my own.
Friday is 50 days clean.

 

[RobotRipping]

if i could go to a nice one i would. I always struggle with the idea that it is human nature to want/be able to alter your conscious or your mood/feelings, like part of evolution. I just try to not let it ruin my life or myself. Opiates in particular fuck me over but it took me a while to realize that the negatives were actually far outweighing the positives.

I thought about going to detox a few times because of benzo and opiate w/d, there's a big waiting list and they treat you like shit, especially if you are detoxing from benzos, so i was recommended by others not to go. A nice 100 day free rehab/proper taper in a mansion on a tropical island would be fucking great though. I think anyone would benefit from that though, drug addict or not.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

I've done many inpatient rehabs. Some are better than others.. some are total shit. Unfortunately, a lot of the good ones get a bit pricey. Either way though, no matter what program it is, the vast majority of rehabs have incredibly high relapse rates for their patients after they leave.

 

[RobotRipping]

^so in essence the rehab industry is just capitalizing on drug users? though i do think the ones that give the patients therapy and get to the root causes have great benefits but a detox certainly doesn't do that.

It seems to be that it is all set up somehow in a nice little circle, Dr.s give out opiates (which often end up on the street anyway), person becomes addicted, goes through rehab tons of times then ends up on methadone. Where's all that money going to? the pharm companies and related industries, just seems like a big scam. The more relapses a patient has the more money both industries make, it's like a win win for everyone except the addicts who believe that these programs are there to help and not just steal money.

 

[Maya]

I would definitely go if I had to. I have known people who's lives have improved due to being rehabilitated and one of them is my cousin who has been addicted to crack for 10 years. She had relapses but she kept going to rehab centers because she was determined to stay clean.. After 3 years of hard battle she is now clean and sober for 5 years

 

[OverDone]

^so in essence the rehab industry is just capitalizing on drug users? though i do think the ones that give the patients therapy and get to the root causes have great benefits but a detox certainly doesn't do that.

It seems to be that it is all set up somehow in a nice little circle, Dr.s give out opiates (which often end up on the street anyway), person becomes addicted, goes through rehab tons of times then ends up on methadone. Where's all that money going to? the pharm companies and related industries, just seems like a big scam. The more relapses a patient has the more money both industries make, it's like a win win for everyone except the addicts who believe that these programs are there to help and not just steal money.

Relapse is just a pretty word for "i decided to get high". Treatment centers provide some tools to help addicts adjust to such a drastic lifestyle change and provide a (mostly) safe environment away from the drugs.

Its up to the addict to do what they need to do in order to stay clean after they leave treatment. If they decide to get high after treatment,then that's on them, not the facility

 

[behindblueeyes]

My mom went to rehab for alcoholism. She relapsed not too long after. Have I thought about rehab for myself? No. Detox? Yes. Especially since I'm addicted to downers and it might have been medically necessary. But after detox, I would probably pursue outpatient treatment. In rehab, IMO, it's easier to be sober, as you don't have the stress of daily life coming at you. But once you're thrown back in the real world, you have to cope sober.

I'd rather just learn to cope sober straight away by living through it.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

I went to a 12 step rehab for 8 weeks at the end of last year, although it was a bit different in that you lived in rehab houses they owned in the normal community (withh other rehab clients) and visited the treatment centre on a daily basis.

It was a good experience for me and I have been clean since.