What's The Deal With Rehab?

Experiences with drug treatment or rehabilitation (rehab) have become increasingly common with youth. Teens are needing treatment for marijuana, ecstasy, and heroin use as well as alcoholism stemming from underage drinking.

Treatment is needed when people depend on substances to have fun, feel good, or just get through their usual activities. People who use substances become addicts when substances change their brains so that they have a physical need for more of the substance.

Treatment involves:

• Detoxification (detox) which clears substances out of the body through the passage of time and usually involves medical or nutritional treatment to help the person get through the withdrawal process.
• Counseling, education, and psychological therapy done one on one with a therapist or in a group of other substance abusers. The purpose of therapy is to get people to face up to their drug problem and be responsible, to teach people to recognize and cope with their behavior problems, and to let people learn from others with a similar problem.
• Prescription drugs may be used to block cravings for the substance of abuse.

Various treatment methods may be combined to create an individualized treatment program. Since addicts may also have additional problems with mental illness, crime, and family conflict many treatment programs also deal with these issues. Some people will take part in a residential/inpatient program which requires them to stay at a facility 24 hours a day for anywhere from 10 days to 12 months and others will take part in an outpatient program where they meet with a counselor or attend a group session on a prescribed schedule.

Drug treatment is effective! Addiction is a difficult disease to manage and many addicts will need treatment more than once. The more time spent in treatment and belonging to a support group increases a person's success rate of staying substance-free.

A Final Thought

Most people in treatment started out believing that the substance(s) they were using were harmless or that they had everything under control and could quit whenever they wanted. Treatment is the only way out of an addiction. Treatment is mentally and physically difficult. People with addictions are more likely to become and stay substance-free when they have ongoing support from their family and friends.

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