Drug Rehab Programs

All drug rehab programs are not created equal; there are many different types and formats. There are long term, short term, in-patient, out-patient, traditional 12 step, and non traditional to name but a few. One big difference to be aware of is whether or not the drug rehab programs you may be looking at are drug free or whether the program embraces the use of other or substitute or additional drugs and ‘medications’ in an effort to control or alleviate addiction. Narconon Arrowhead is a long term, non traditional, drug free approach to the problems of abuse and addiction. These points set us apart from many of the other drug rehab programs available. We start with the assumption that the being is basically good and despite any appearances to the contrary actually wants to attain a completely drug free productive life. The Narconon program embraces many, many different factors that stop or inhibit the individual from reaching this goal. The majority of Narconon staff are ex-addicts and alcoholics themselves and know what it takes to get lasting results – we’ve been there! When examining the various drug rehab programs look for one thing – LASTING results and success.

Long term drug treatment is proving to be more and more effective in handling addiction and alcoholism for a lifetime. With the majority of rehab participants entering treatment with multiple drugs of abuse and addiction a long term drug treatment becomes more and more an important point in obtaining lifetime sobriety. There is also marked increase in potency of many of the drugs on the market these days to say nothing of the epidemic increase in the abuse of prescription drugs many of which have life threatening side effects. Treatment needs to be monitored not in terms of days spent in treatment but rather in terms of lasting results for a lifetime.

We can’t help but wonder what causes one person to become in drug or substance abuse while another person can walk away from it. Drugs or alcohol are use in an effort to handle a problem or physical/emotional pain of some sort. The drug is found to offer short term relief to the problem or pain. What happens in many cases is the individual continues to use drugs and alcohol to mask the symptoms and obtain relief rather than handle the actual source of the problem or pain. Most drugs used have a tolerance factor where it takes more and more of the drug more and more often to achieve the desired results. This leads to abusive and addictive use which adds additional problems and pains and yet at this point the person thinks there is no other solution or relief available. Thus the person enters the downward spiral of abuse drug and substance abuse and addiction.

Boy, what a mouthful that is! What are we talking about here? Well, inpatient refers to a facility where the individual actually resides at the facility as opposed to commuting daily from home. Rehabilitation refers to restoring someone to a previous or improved state or condition. Alcohol treatment is of course handling the elements that have resulted in alcohol abuse and or alcoholism. This generally involves withdrawal from use and at Narconon Arrowhead goes on to include full bodily detoxification as well as multi-faceted approaches to actually handling and resolving the three main factors contributing to relapse – cravings, guilt, and depression. Finally, ‘center’ refers to bringing all the above points together. Some centers only offer one or another of the above elements. When looking for truly effective alcohol rehabilitation look for as comprehensive a program as possible to ensure maximum success.

If we understand rehabilitation as restoring someone or something to a previous or improved state, then we can get a good idea of what should occur at a drug addiction rehab. A truly effective drug or alcohol addiction rehab does much, much more than simply get someone off drugs. The assist the individual in locating and handling the barriers to continued sobriety. The barriers of cravings (mental and physical), guilt created and felt that is hard to live with, and depression as the result of the addictive lifestyle are the barriers that left unhandled, leave the entire subject of addiction unhandled. With these points fully handled and addressed one can achieve lasting sobriety, with unhandled the only other choices are death or jail. This is the reality of addiction no matter how harsh it may sound.