How to find a reputable drug rehab?

Now days there are so many treatment options when choosing a substance abuse provider for you or a loved one.  Finding a reputable drug rehab can surely be a daunting task.  Years ago the rehab industry was mainly made up with treatment facilities with one main purpose and that was saving people lives.  Providing help to others that truly needed it, who were most often looked down upon and shunned from society.

Addicts were often treated as if they had the bubonic plague true in the sense that alcoholism and drug addiction is a disease and surely just as deadly but that’s not the reason for the divide.  For decades addicts were looked upon as if they were the scum of the earth, lowest of low and had no place in the community.  The problem with this line of thinking is the fact that those assumptions are inaccurate to a degree.  Absolutely stealing, manipulation and disregard for the law play a part in addiction especially when someone is so deep into their addiction and find themselves only a shell of their former self.  When they’ve destroyed relationships with family, ruined careers and lost just about everything worthwhile in life.  Addiction does not discriminate and society has started to realize that in recent years.  It affects everyone from billionaires to the impoverished.  It’s a disease that progressively gets worse and for those who truly have it will either have to get help, become incarnated or die.

As society has become more aware and accepting of this disease along with realizing the fact that the war on drugs is a never ending battle the rehab industry has exploded in recent years.  Calling the market saturated is an understatement.  Many rehabs have opened in recent years with one main goal, turning a profit.  These places are putting money above all else, quality of care is suffering and it is leaving many people scratching their heads wondering how they just spent $20,000 on addiction treatment and have turned out worse off than before.  Many of these rehabs fail only to have another take their place and in the end the patients are losing out the most.

People have to do their research.  Many rehabs service men and women in co-ed facilities which often times create intermingling and the possibility of sexual encounters between the two.  It is very common and challenging for these facilities to control.  People are in treatment because their lives are falling apart.  They need to be focusing on making positive change not sneaking around with others.  Try to find a place that is non co-ed and/or provides services for men and women at separate locations.  People also need to be aware of a rehabs detoxification and treatment protocols.  Many places prescribe medications to patients who don’t need it.  Some patients end up leaving with more medicine than what they came in with.  They are simply trading one addiction for another.  How about that for a reputable drug rehab! Just because a rehab has a lap pool, acupuncture sessions, maid service and gourmet dining doesn’t mean they are reputable either.  In truth, most of the time those are the last things patients should be taking part in while teetering on life and death.  Rehab is not a vacation!  Drug and alcohol treatment is about educating people on how to change their lives to live happy, joyous and free from the effects of alcoholism and drug addiction on a daily basis.

If you take away anything from reading this please understand its imperative to do your research on a reputable drug rehab.  When you talk to a treatment provider ask these questions about their services.

1. What can you expect if/when insurance benefits run out prior to your agreed upon length of stay?  Please do not admit into a program expecting to get 30 days of treatment only to be discharged early or approached for more out of pocket expenses after 2 weeks of treatment.
2. What’s their detox and medication protocol?
3. Are they a co-ed facility?
4. How long have they been in business?
5. Visit with people in the local Alcohol Anonymous community.  Many of those people have been through treatment before and know of a reputable drug rehab in the area.
6. Ask friends or family who dealt with the same issues.
7. Don’t go off strictly off rehabs online reviews, a lot of these get rich rehabs hire outside ad companies to write positive google reviews for them.  It’s a marketing ploy.
8. If you notice rehabs advertising their “Success Rates” please read the fine print.  This is another sales tactic in which company’s often select specific data of their choice and skew it in their favor.  Do not fall for this.

Find a reputable drug rehab by taking the time to ask questions and expect the admissions director to be able to answer all those questions for you.  Remember the most expensive doesn’t necessarily mean the best.  Lots of these rehabs have boards of directors and investors to satisfy.