Why Does Drug Rehab Sometimes Not Work?
If you're a loved one of an alcoholic or an addict who has gone in and out of rehab facilities, you probably have questions about why drug rehab doesn't work.
It's not that it can't work; rather, a successful drug and alcohol rehab facility offers the resources that any struggling alcoholic or addict can use to improve their own lifestyles and lay the foundation for sobriety. However, this does not guarantee that drug or alcohol rehab will be effective, and there are a number of explanations for this.
Based on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is the largest? Treatment enables individuals to reclaim control of their lives by overcoming the addiction's strong disruptive effects on their minds and behaviour. Since the disease is chronic and has both physiological and behavioural components, relapsing to substance abuse is not only possible but also likely. Symptom recurrence rates are comparable to those for other well-known chronic medical illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma.
Due to the insidious nature of addiction, it is common to view an addict's inability to maintain sobriety even after receiving treatment as a failure. However, as the NIDA notes, "This is not the case: Effective therapy for addiction generally requires ongoing evaluation and adjustment as suitable for the patient, similar to the approaches adopted for other chronic illnesses. Relapses into drug abuse for an addicted person do not signify failure, but rather that care needs to be resumed, adjusted, or that alternative treatment is required.
Why Drug Rehabilitation Fails Us
It's crucial to distinguish between programmes that actually provide effective addiction treatment and those that make the claim to do so but lack the tools, resources, or expertise to do so in order to better understand why drug rehab doesn't work. Why does that matter? Even though 12 Step programmes have helped millions of alcoholics and addicts establish a treatment facility that only uses 12 Step, abstinence-based treatment is frequently regarded as an antiquated practice.
According to South African drug rehabs article the "Minnesota model," which gave rise to what is now commonly referred to as drug rehab, was developed in the 1950s at a treatment facility in Minnesota that would later become the Hazelden Foundation. The prototype for contemporary rehab was created, according to Scoblic, as "this Minnesota mosdel enticed more people from AA," and it was inspired by "the folk wisdom of recouping individuals, especially through the viewpoints of Alcoholics Anonymous and connected twelve-step programmes." Scoblic continues, "moral principles are not medical treatment, even though that wisdom can provide a strong foundation for drug and alcohol rehab treatment. Additionally, utilising AA as the sole form of rehabilitation instead of a supplement to other forms of care ignores the fact that there are numerous other efficient treatment options.
The AA self-help-style system was created by and for problem drinkers more than 80 years ago, when cognitive science was in its infancy. However, these programmes essentially control the market for addiction treatment, making it impossible for even the most perceptive observer to tell apart abstinence-only based rehab from more efficient treatment approaches.
So how can one tell if an alcohol and drug rehab facility is successful?
What should prospective clients check for to make sure drug rehab is effective? The NIDA states it clearly: "Treatment varies based on the type of drug and the patient's characteristics. It is crucial to an individual's success in going back to the process of helping in the family, place of work, and society that treatment options, interventions, and services are tailored to that person's specific problems and needs.
In other words, a treatment will be more effective if more comprehensive services are provided. Facilities that emphasise abstinence can be very therapeutic if the 12 Step model is supplemented with research-based psychotherapies. The use of techniques like Cognitive Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapies, Trauma Therapy, and others is acknowledged as an effective way to treat the psychological problems associated with addiction and to help those who are affected realise that treating addiction entails more than just stopping drug use; it also entails addressing the causes why those people continue to use.
Why, then, does it not work?
It is vitally important to comprehend that addictive behaviour is a chronic illness. Why does that matter? The NIDA states that "relapse, or a revert back to drug use after such an attempt to quit can be part of the process" for some people due to the persistent nature of addiction. Drug use relapse rates are comparable to those of other chronic medical conditions. People are more likely to relapse if they stop following their mental health treatment plan.
Then how does an effective treatment program work?
It entirely depends on the person and the setting. Reputable facilities will create treatment plans that best suit the patient's requirements. Dual diagnosis treatment is essential because, for instance, a patient's drug use may be connected to psychiatric conditions like anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder. Trauma Therapy is crucial to severing the links between childhood abuse and addiction because it may be the cause of another patient's drug use. The NIDA continues, "Behavioural therapies assist people receiving treatment for drug addiction in changing their attitudes and actions associated with drug use. As a result, clients are better equipped to deal with stressful circumstances and different triggers that could result in another relapse.
Consequently, how do those behavioural therapies operate? The Harvard Mental Health Letter published an article in 2007 that stated that "Social skills and challenge training demonstrate them how to refuse offers of drugs, create other interests and skills, deal with stress without resorting to inebriation, and recruit the remaining power of the cerebral lobe to stop and think about the consequences of relapse.
They learn to reject pessimistic thinking that turns transient relapses into catastrophes through cognitive therapy. By offering encouragement and modest rewards for avoiding the drug, contingency management modifies their incentives. Through family and couples therapy, the addict solicits help from close friends and family.
Addicts can find new friends and learn how to help others while also helping themselves through group sessions and self-help groups. Addicts are removed from environments where drug reminders are everywhere in therapeutic communities.
To put it another way: Effective alcohol and drug treatment doesn't just focus on abstinence; it also aims to give those who use them the skills to change their behaviour, manage impulses, stop obsessive thoughts, and make up for the extremely clear biological changes that occur in the brain.
And occasionally that entails changing those treatments following a relapse. A bigger question might be, "How can addiction treatment work better?" Instead of always asking "why drug rehab doesn't work," And that's a question that reputable addiction treatment centres frequently ask themselves.
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