Drug Rehabilitation centers provide the essential support that addicts need, if they are to kick their drug habit.

Drug rehabilitation is best handled in a residential setting, where the clients have no access with the outside world. Mobile phones, Internet access and phone calls are not allowed. This is to prevent clients arranging illicit supplies and undoing all the good work being done.

They are not rest homes and many addicts find the regime unpleasant, but that is only to be expected with any system that deprives them of their daily drug needs.

Before sending an addict for treatment you should visit the center and assess for yourself the level of care and treatment provided. Having made a careful decision you will have to harden yourself against your relative’s complaints.

Drug addiction is physical as well as a mental dependence on drugs. A drug addict’s body has adjusted to cope and expect the daily dose of whatever substance the addict is using. The body shows unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that the addict has to go through.

A rehab center will have medical, nursing and care staff to cope with the needs of the addicts. This should reassure addicts’ relatives, who will have no contact at all for the first month or so, and only limited contact after that.

The cost of drug rehabilitation is high, but worthwhile to the addict’s parents. The high cost is inevitable with residential treatment and the cost of nursing and medical staff wages. The treatment will only be permanent however, if the addict has made the decision to come off drugs him or her self.

Permanent rehabilitation means that the client will need support after leaving the rehabilitation center. He or she will need a job and some positive leisure activity that will ensure total removal from the circumstances leading to the previous addiction.

Addicts and relatives need to be aware that one dose of the drug that caused the addiction is enough to undo all the hard work and send the addict back to square one. Drug addiction, like alcoholism is permanent, there is no cure, only help to get through the withdrawal symptoms.

Choosing a drug rehab treatment center is a decision that calls for both negative and positive emotions. Nobody wants addiction to overtake their life to the point that rehab is the necessary step. However, the decision to go to one is something to look forward to, as it is the decision to rebuild a healthy life. It is the conscious realization of a problem, and it is the first conscious step towards healing. Understanding what drug addiction entails and how it affects the user is important for healing substance abuse. As well as understanding addiction, knowing what rehabilitation is will help the patient understand what he is going through and the purpose of the treatment. Lastly, the type of rehabilitation program is of vital importance for the patient. Understanding that a rehabilitation program is as personal as the patient’s problem will certainly help to ascertain the treatment needed for the specific patient. Rehabilitation must be a positive program motivating the patient by his successes and discouraging him from relapses. To reach the stage of being in a rehab center that positively works to heal addiction, the patient and all concerned must understand three things: what addiction is, what rehabilitation is, and what treatment can and should be like.

Drug addiction is much more complex than merely ‘too much drug use’. Drug and substance dependence is beyond the control of the user – he is no longer in control and does not have much choice in the matter of continuing use. In the short term, drug use affects the brain’s reward system, flooding the brain with dopamine, otherwise termed ‘a high’. While the high is a short term effect, long term effects are to follow, which cause the addiction. When our brain’s reward system is working, proteins activate which teach us to pursue the behavior which causes us to feel so good. Naturally, this reaction is in response to food, exercise, and sex. Due to the larger amount of dopamine released due to drugs, the protein reaction is stronger than normal. As a result, drug use is quite addictive, and once the moment is reached that a person cannot control his use of drugs, this is termed addiction, or substance dependence. While willpower is important to controlling anything in one’s life, in drug addiction a lack of willpower is not to blame. Willpower is at play at the first stages of drug experimentation, but at a certain point in addiction, it loses its function. Drug addiction is an illness, and rehabilitative treatment is the only means of curing this behavior.

Rehabilitation, then, is the path that leads to an effective treatment of drug use. Research has shown that addiction is treatable. Research has not shown, and will not show, that treatment is easy. Rehabilitation is the recovery of diminished capacities due to injury or illness. The word itself comes from the latin prefix re meaning ‘again’, and root habilitar meaning ‘to inhabit’. Thus ‘rehabilitate’ literally means to inhabit yourself again – and that is the aim of rehabilitation: to return former capacities to the inflicted person. This is especially true in drug addiction. Freeing oneself from addiction is a type of homecoming to a life of control.

Rehabilitation aims at more than ending drug use. As previously mentioned, rehabilitation cannot be a punishment for drug use. It must be the gradual process of ending dependence while also rehabilitating the patient into society. This is often the most difficult aspect of rehabilitation. It is important that the patient realistically understand that the future will consist of effort to reintegrate and rejoin society. The patient is assisted by counselors throughout the treatment, but the patient himself is the main catalyst in rehabilitation. The family and friends of the patient must also go through aspects of rehabilitation, for life after rehab will not be a continual sunny day. The forecast predicts many rain clouds at first, with occasional storms down the road. The family must know how to be supportive and helpful throughout the stormy weather.

The rehab treatment center can be considered the umbrella in the stormy weathers. It cannot control the weather, but does shield and help the patient and family on their way through the tempest. While there is no one correct rehabilitation treatment, as each treatment must be tailored to the particular needs of the patient, there are means of ensuring that the rehab center chosen is one that will provide a positive environment to optimize the long term results of rehabilitation. The personal treatment for the patient must be continually checked and improved, as different steps throughout the treatment call for different measures, and each patient needs a different length of time for treatment. The personal treatment must also take into account the various problems beyond drugs which the patient faces. Drug addiction is often the result, and not the core of the problem – this core must be dug up through various therapies, counselors, and activities, which all should be readily available through the treatment center. A forced treatment is not necessarily a bad thing – again, depending on the treatment center. With a good treatment center, a person who initially will not admit to his problem or the need for a solution can be fully rehabilitated. Extremely beneficial are experiential therapies, which, through their communion with nature help the patient gradually reintegrate into life, which will eventually ease reintegration into society. A rehab treatment center must be rigid in its aims to help the patient, but cannot be rigid in its process.

Understanding what addiction is and why it happens is vital for the patient and the chosen treatment center. Once this is established, there can be a mutual respect, in lieu of distrust and judgment. The next step is to understand what rehabilitation is. It is a dedication, again, on the part of both the patient and treatment center, to heal a drug problem and, more importantly, rebuild a life – to bring the patient home in the spiritual sense. With these two concepts well understood and looked after, the patient has great chances of succeeding to overcome the addiction. The treatment center that fully understands addiction and rehabilitation will be the center that offers a full and varied program that will be created and recreated for the particular needs of its patient, and that will guide the patient not only through his addiction, but through his reintegration into life and society.

Drug and alcohol addiction is a disease where the individual suffering will need to detox or enter into rehab to recover. Addiction cannot be cured, so the individual might have craving’s their whole lives, but the addict can still live a happy, healthy life if they abstain from the substance.

When substance abuse is stop, there are several withdrawal symptoms that occur, ranging from mild to severe, depending on the individual and the substance. Withdrawal from a chemical may be done at home or in a hospital, but should always been done under medical supervision, as detoxification from a chemical is always dangerous. Many individual might want to take the drug just one last time in order to cease the pain of withdrawal. However, it is after detoxification is complete and problems in the persons life trigger cravings that there is a real risk for relapse. There are many programs for the newly clean drug addict that offer support and counseling in the process of long term recovery.

If you have a friend or family member who has a problem with addiction, you should talk to them, and ask them if they want help. It is important to specialize the process of recovery to the specific needs of you’re the individual. You should also be a positive role model for your loved one. Encourage activities that do not put the person in a situation where they would be around drugs or alcohol. You should always be supportive and caring, although you might be frustrated at times. After your loved one has become clean, remember they need all the love they can get so they don’t go looking for it in self-medication.

Do you have an addiction? The question shouldn’t be hard to answer. There are fairly clear lines between an addiction and a casual behavior.

According to substance abuse experts Chris and Pax Prentiss, founders of Passages Malibu, a residential drug rehab, addiction is caused by underlying problems in a person’s life that they are unable to cope with. When someone is unable to cope with their circumstances they sometimes turn towards drugs and alcohol for relief. In essence it is not the drugs that are the problem it is rather the underlying problems that need to be addressed and healed in order to cure the addiction. When the underlying problems are no longer present the person will no longer need the drug.

People who don’t have the individual therapy it takes to become healed will most likely continue taking the drugs.

Tolerance. When you take a habit-forming substance regularly, your body eventually accommodates the substance. You don’t get the same feeling you originally got, or at least not the same strength of feeling. This does not mean that you are getting stronger and can handle the drug. Instead, your body is becoming dependent on the drug. Some people addicted to certain drugs may even die if they stop taking the drug suddenly.
Withdrawal symptoms. Different addictions have different withdrawal symptoms. The list of possible withdrawal symptoms is very long, stretching from watery eyes to delirium and even death, depending on the substance, the length of the addiction, and the user.

In short, if you’re not sure if you’re addicted your best bet may be to ask yourself these three questions:

- Do I get the same experience from the substance I got when I first started on it?
- When I stop taking the substance on a regular basis, do I feel worse, emotionally or physically?
- Is there anything in my life that is causing me pain that I might be self medicating?

If you can answer yes to any of those questions, you are probably addicted.

So, you’re addicted. Now what?

Abstention and the Risk of Relapse

According to Chris and Pax Prentiss, one of the biggest misconceptions about addictions is that they’re a disease. Through years of research they have figured out that addiction is definitely caused by underlying problems in a person’s life that they are self-medicating. The addiction will usually continue if the underlying problems are still present. In order to get sober and stay sober it is of utmost importance that the underlying problems be treated.

Every day, addicts everywhere decide to stop. That is, they abstain. But unfortunately, most of those people will relapse. Why is relapse so common? The Prentisses have a few insights:

Habit. Without realizing, you worked your addiction into the everyday rituals of life.

Dependence. The physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms can be brutal. In some cases of addiction, simply abstaining from a substance suddenly, without medical supervision, may cause the individual serious harm, even death. Yet many addicts who abstain are able to get past the withdrawal symptoms–and still end up relapsing. Why?

Underlying causes. Addictions usually have an underlying cause. There was a reason you took the substance in the first place. Once you are done fighting withdrawal symptoms, you will be back fighting whatever problem led you to addiction in the first place. Finding the underlying cause of your addiction will be the most important step in ending it forever.

Ultimately, then, the hardest part of overcoming an addiction may not be stopping, but not starting again. To do that, you need to find and resolve the underlying problems in your life.

Residential Rehab: Do You Need It?

According to the Prentisses, some people can get over an addiction without a residential drug treatment center. But given the challenges of overcoming an addiction, the support of a residential rehab program is invaluable. Have you tried to end your addiction without residential rehab? It might be what makes the difference this time.

Why Do So Many People Fail after Residential Rehab?

You’ve heard of all the people who went to residential rehab and then relapsed–even went and relapsed several times. According to Chris and Pax Prentiss, there are some common causes of residential rehab failure, causes you can avoid.

- Quality of the program. If your rehab program wasn’t great to begin with, you won’t be in good stead to avoid relapse. Before signing up, find out the success rates of past participants.

- Group rather than individualized therapy. Post-rehab relapse is so common largely because most rehabs don’t have offer any individual counseling. When someone sits in group meetings all day they don’t get the therapy they need in order to get better. When they check out of a rehab like that they usually still have the underlying problems that they checked in with.

- Lack of aftercare services. When you leave residential rehab, the whole web of support that kept you out of addiction suddenly falls away. Only choose a residential rehab that provides aftercare support to make the transition easier.

- Need to change everything. Without realizing it, you wove your addiction into the fabric of your life. You need to pluck the threads of addiction out of your life, or reweave the fabric completely. If you can’t transform your everyday life, you will likely relapse.

Regardless of the difficulties present in the rehab process, the experience can absolutely be a success unlike any other. Please consider the rehab option if you think you or your loved one may be in need. There is always someone there to help.