There are so many people that are addicted to drugs and alcohol in South Africa, yet only a fraction of these individuals get into addiction treatment. While it may be easy to simply blame other outside factors for this, the real reasons actually lie with us. Addiction is a disease that has no preference and when it is left untreated, it can cause irreparable damage to the addict and those closest to them.
In this article, we are going to tell you why addicts avoid rehab and also, how to get addiction help for yourself or a loved one.
Shame
When someone is addicted to drugs and alcohol, they will often tend to hide the fact due to the stigma and labels that society has attached to it. It’s normal for people to not want to be seen as an addict, in fact, families often tends to hide the fact that their loved one is addicted to drugs and alcohol because of the supposed embarrassment that comes with it. The truth is that addiction is chronic illness, just like diabetes or asthma. Like these medical conditions, there is no cure available for it yet and recovery is a lifelong commitment that requires lots of hard work and dedication. When addiction is left untreated, it has the ability to cause serious damage to the health and wellbeing of the addict and the people closest to them.
Fear
Forget what you have heard about what happens in rehab, it’s not as bad as you think.
Fear often plays a key role in keeping addicts away from addiction treatment, because they don’t know what happens in rehab. The main aim of addiction treatment is to prepare addicts to live without drugs or alcohol for the rest of their lives. Patients will receive 24 hour medical care, counselling, therapy and education to help them safely return back into society. Every single staff member at the clinic has one goal in mind – to make sure that you receive the best possible care available. Now is that something to be scared of?
Finances
Another stumbling block that many addicts face is the fact that they don’t have the money to get into addiction treatment. Here at WeDoRecover, all of the private rehab centres that we offer accept all South African medical aid schemes that will cover the majority of the costs of rehab. There are also various free self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) that have proven to be very effective in helping alcoholics and drug addicts achieve long term sobriety.
However, when an addiction is left untreated over time the costs of it will be much more than what you would have paid for rehab. For example, drugs and alcohol are expensive and to maintain dependence to these narcotic substances can seriously damage your financial situation. Throw in broken relationships; loss of marriages, legal costs and suddenly the costs of it doesn’t look that bad at all!
Addiction Treatment Help
We understand that you might have worries and fears about getting into rehab, that’s why we are here to help you. Call us now and let one of our qualified addiction counsellors provide you with expert and confidential advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.