How Does Drug Rehabilitation Work?
While drug rehabilitation will only last for a few months, recovery from addiction is a lifelong commitment to remaining clean and sober after treatment. Drug rehabilitation is only one of the stepping stones that need to be walked upon the road to a life free of drugs. The importance of it however, is invaluable. Drug addiction is a disease that unfortunately cannot be cured but this should be seen as a challenge rather than an obstacle. Drug rehab prepares those in addiction treatment to regain control of their lives, that’s currently being dictated by a harmful and useless chemical. With the right medical help and guidance, there is no reason why long-term recovery cannot be achieved. In this article, we’ll tell you how does drug rehabilitation work.
What is Drug Rehabilitation?
Drug rehabilitation can be defined as receiving medical, physical and psychological treatment for an addiction to a narcotic substance. Drug rehab aims to help addicts become healthier in every aspect of their life being affected by the addiction and to show the individual how they can live and enjoy themselves without using narcotics. There are two common forms of drug rehabilitation, namely inpatient and outpatient.
What Happens in Inpatient Drug Rehabilitation?
Inpatient drug rehabilitation involves a residential stay inside an addiction treatment centre. The best inpatient drug rehabilitation centres will customise and modify their treatment programs to suit the individual needs of each and every patient they admit. However, the pattern that each patient follows is almost similar. Let’s go through the inpatient drug rehabilitation treatment process step by step.
Detox
Upon admission, patients will undergo a medical detoxification, supervised by the qualified doctors and staff at the inpatient drug rehabilitation centre. Detox helps to remove all the harmful chemicals of the drug left inside the body. It also assists in minimising the effects of any cravings or withdrawal symptoms that may be experienced. The medical detoxification process will usually last for anything from a couple of days up to 2 weeks; however, the actual length of it will be determined by the addict’s current health, weight and gender.
Rehabilitation
Once the detox phase of inpatient drug rehabilitation has been completed, recovering addicts can now partake in counselling and therapy, which are aimed at educating the patient about their addiction and how they can live without the addictive substance. Counselling and therapy will be done individually and in groups, each being beneficial in its own way. Individual counselling allows recovering addicts to open up and find out why they become addicted to drugs in the first place. Group therapy allows patients to interact with people in similar positions as themselves and learn from the personal experiences of those who have previously completed rehab. Patients are required to stay in inpatient drug rehabilitation for a minimum of 4 weeks (28 days) and can last up to 90 days. However, the actual treatment length will be determined on the severity and nature of the addiction suffered and how well the patient has progressed in rehab. For more information about inpatient drug rehabilitation, give us a call now.
What Happens in Outpatient Drug Rehabilitation?
Outpatient drug rehabilitation gives patients the opportunity to get treatment for their addiction while residing at home and completing other important obligations in their lives. Patients will have to attend regular, daily meetings in the evening during the week at the rehab clinic, where they will receive medical treatment, counselling and therapy. However, outpatient drug rehabilitation isn’t just for anyone. There are set criteria which have to be met before someone can be admitted into this form of treatment.
Firstly, there is no detox stage as done in inpatient drug rehabilitation; therefore outpatient treatment may only be suitable for those with mild-moderate symptoms. Secondly, the patient has to be motivated to want to recover from their drug addiction without constant supervision. These are two basic requirements of outpatient drug rehabilitation. Patients will also be subjected to random drug testing, just to make sure that they are staying clean and sober. For more information about outpatient drug rehabilitation, feel free to give us a call.
Finding a Drug Rehabilitation Centre
If you or a loved one is addicted to a narcotic substance, we provide access into the best private drug rehabilitation centres in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. Call us now and let our qualified addiction counsellors assist in finding the best treatment available.