Do Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Centers Work?
"Rehab" seems to be the new Club Med for young, beautiful celebrities such as pop starts and actresses. Although drug addiction rehabilitation centers have helped turn the lives around of celebrities like Robert Downey, Jr, can they also help the average person or person down on their luck who is a drug addict? The short answer is no. No one pill, speech or drug addiction rehabilitation center will work turning an addict around all by themselves. The addict has to want to be cured and work at getting cured.
Tool Givers
Everybody has lived through a scene like this, but hardly any of us will admit it. You look at Joe, the town drunk, pulling on a can of Super Brew and you ask, "So, uhh, Joe - how was rehab?" Joe answers, "It wasn't bad. Very nice vacation. If only they'd let you drink, it would be perfect."
Now, this doesn't happen for every addict ordered to alcohol or drug addiction rehabilitation centers, or even those who enter voluntarily. But if the addict doesn't want to stop, they will pass the rehab program with flying colors just so they can go back using or drinking again.
But for those who really want help, a drug addiction rehabilitation center is a Godsend. They get shaken out of their usual surroundings and taught to confront their inner demons without the crutches of alcohol or drugs. They let the counselors give them the tools for coping with their lives and practice how to use them. They often get counseling, nutritious food and given very odd time consuming tasks (such as cleaning an entire bathroom with a toothbrush) in order to keep them distracted.
You Can't Go Home Again
The real test of how successfully the addict has learned their new tools is when they go back to their usual lives. They have to walk by their drug of choice being used by others, by their dealers, by the places they used to use and not give in to the subconscious associations with using. Some addicts have to give up all of their "friends" (fellow addicts) and move to a different town in order to be free of these associations.
An addict usually relapses. Another stay in a drug addiction rehabilitation center can help remind them of the tools they had learned preciously and to let them know that they are not a lost cause. But again, this only works if the addict really is committed to quitting.
