Best Choice Rehabilitation

Addiction is among the most insidious and life-threatening conditions known to man because of its progressive nature. In its progression, the urge to use becomes essential for achieving a sense of normalcy, rather than a high. This connection between drug and alcohol abuse and a sense of regularity makes the path to sobriety increasingly obstructed with each passing day. Whether an addict likes the lifestyle associated with his/her addiction or not, he or she feels a need to continue using, and the idea of not having one’s drug of choice to cope is terrifying. For this reason, the decision to enter into an addiction rehabilitation center is the hardest and most important decision an addict will ever face.

Choosing the Best Drug Rehabilitation Center

Once the choice has been made to enter into a drug rehab center and the search for help begins, there is an instant barrage of facilities and programs claiming to be the best choice. It’s important to understand what the best choice is, and what sets it apart from everything else. The essential characteristics of effective drug rehabilitation are four-fold, and any successful program must provide four basic, yet imperative elements for the sustained recovery of any addict.

Treat the addiction

The first step in addiction treatment is removing the drugs and alcohol from the body, otherwise known as detoxification. This process can last anywhere from 3 to 14 days, depending on the substance of abuse. Once the detoxification is completed and normal sleep patterns are restored, the body needs to be nurtured and strengthened with vitamin therapy and exercise regimens to provide a strong foundation for sustained health and recovery of normal brain function. Drug and alcohol abuse changes the way the brain functions in many ways. The most damaging is the depletion of neurotransmitters (chemical messages sent between neurons) in the brain that control human functions like behavior, sleep patterns, moods, and pain perception. The ongoing presence of drugs that alter the brain’s natural functioning patterns is what produces the unmanageable behaviors and lifestyles associated with addiction. Thus, it is imperative for the first step in addiction treatment to be the removal of those drugs through the detoxification process, thereby providing a “clean slate” upon which to rebuild normal brain function. Read more about neurotransmitters, and how they are effected by drug and alcohol abuse.

Once detoxification is completed, a cleansing process must begin. During cleansing, the body and brain need revitalization with vitamin supplements, nutritious meals, and physical activity to rebuild normal and healthy function. Nurturing the body’s natural process is an essential element in healing from the traumas inflicted by addiction. This is accomplished by regulating sleep patterns, individualized vitamin therapy, regular exercise regimens, and practicing nutritious eating habits, all of which are required for whole body healing and strengthening. At the center of this process are vitamins, minerals and amino acids, because they are the building blocks of all natural bodies. Without vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, the body cannot function properly, so the regulation of these elements in the body is essential for all processes of healing a body devastated by addiction. Read more about vitamin, mineral, and amino acid therapy.

Treat the individual

Most treatment centers do not treat the individual because they do not respect the fact that every individual is different, therefore every addict, and his/her addiction is different. Individualized treatment is the process of getting to the underlying causes of addiction for each addict, and treating them. No two addicts will have the same past, traumas, grievances, or transgressions, and most will have several years or even some decades of issues that need to be addressed. When an addict is treated as an individual, he or she can learn to process feelings about previous experiences, and understand that personal trauma does not define the person. Addicts gain a greater sense of self awareness, and begin to realize their worthiness of sobriety. Without treatment of the individual and personal triggers, relapse is always a close and constant threat.

Provide useful aftercare

Many addiction rehabilitation programs offer aftercare, but it does not have the same meaning from one program to the next. For many programs offering aftercare, recovering addicts are provided with a list of addiction specialists in their home area, a list of meeting places for addicts in recovery, and a phone number to call for support. While all of these things have their benefits, they are resources, and not actual aftercare. Additionally, aftercare at most drug rehabilitation programs does not include the family and loved ones of the addict. The ability for an addiction rehabilitation program to understand that addiction affects everyone around the addict allows their aftercare plan to be more useful because it places the the needs of family and loved ones of the addict at just as high a priority as the addict him/herself. Upon completion of a drug rehabilitation program, newly recovering addicts are faced with rebuilding their lives, establishing their careers, trying to salvage and strengthen broken relationships, and doing this while remaining sober. The people in their lives who had been negatively effected by addiction, have similar challenges as they prepare to have their loved one rejoin their lives. The reunion of addicts and their loved ones can be bitter-sweet as it is always a relief to see someone formerly suffering from addiction in a healthy and sober condition. However, along with relief, there can be tremendous stress and anxiety surrounding the uncertainty of the future. Useful and long term aftercare aids in the rebuilding processes, maintains constant contact with recovering addicts and their loved ones, and coaches them through the unsure times of rebuilding their lives and relationships. The process of rebuilding a life devastated by addiction is a long and often difficult journey, as it requires practice and reinforcement of the body, mind and spiritual achievements that are required to complete treatment. Read more about aftercare.

Provide multiple paths to spiritual freedom

Regardless of religious background or personal belief, spiritual freedom is imperative for any addict to achieve recovery because it provides the individual with something greater than themselves in which he or she can find peace, serenity, and enlightenment. Whether it’s through self discipline paths like martial arts, or religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, or Judaism, the ability to have spiritual freedom provides addicts with an essential part of their complete healing, and serves as a constant pillar of strength in recovery. Read more about our treatment plan.

How Long Does Drug Rehabilitation Take?

The ability for a drug rehabilitation center to offer effective treatment is incumbent upon the aforementioned factors, but how long does all of this take? Most addiction rehab centers offer 28-day programs, or programs operating on a 30, 60, or 90 day cycle. However 30, 60, or 90 days may not be enough for reaching the personal goals that address the underlying causes of addiction, thereby establishing a safe path to sobriety in the outside world. While it is likely that detoxification may be successfully completed in a 28-30 day time frame, the treatment of the causes of addiction for each individual cannot be constrained to time limits, not even 90 days for many addicts. The underlying causes of addiction are unique to each addict, and they almost always involve some form of trauma, grief, or pain that has perpetuated their desire for an escape from reality. So long as these issues remain unaddressed and lingering, addicts face significantly increased risks of relapse, making sustained recovery virtually impossible. An effective, results-based addiction treatment program sets goals for each individual’s safe reintegration to society before leaving the program, and will continue working towards these goals with no time limit until they are achieved.

What Happens After Drug Rehab?

After completing treatment at most time restricted rehabilitation centers, recovering addicts return to their homes, where dangerous triggers and risks that lead to relapse are around every corner. Despite completing treatment, and returning home with information and tools to assist in maintaining sobriety, many recovering addicts are less than 30 days sober when they return home to face:

• Friends with whom they drank and/or used drugs
• The hidden drug corners, liquor stores or bars where they used
• The pain of unresolved issues from their past without the escape of drugs and/or alcohol to numb their feelings
• Trying to employ sober ways to process pressures, stressors, accomplishments and disappointments
• Feeling left out of social gatherings where others are drinking or using drugs

When addicts return home to familiar people, places and things associated with their addiction, they are instantly placed at a disadvantage in their fight to remain sober. Furthermore, without having addressed the underlying causes of their addiction, there is little to stop recovering addicts from falling back into their addiction. Countless addicts have gone into treatment, where they have achieved sobriety, sworn off addiction forever, then returned home only to relapse within the first week. This horrible reality is one that is perpetuated by most addiction treatment programs that release addicts on a preset date, before they are ready to confront the obstacles they will undoubtedly face upon returning home. The vicious cycle of entering treatment, coming home, relapsing, then going back to treatment, just to come home and relapse again has been a horrifying reality for many families for decades. Complete body, mind, and spiritual health before leaving treatment, will end cycle of relapse and open the door to a new beginning of health, happiness, strength, and sobriety. At Best Choice Rehabilitation, each phase of our treatment program ensures the accomplishment of personal goals, which provide the tools needed to handle life’s challenges and obstacles by achieving personal goals prior to leaving the protection within the facility walls.