Originally Posted by
courage2 
Does anyone know of any non-anecdotal evidence that inpatient rehab is more successful than free peer support-based programs for helping alcoholics/addicts in general achieve sobriety for a long term (say, 1 year)? [*]Do people think there any particular kinds of addiction or addicts who really need or are likely to profit inpatient rehab, and why? When is inpatient the best option?[/LIST]
Honestly, do y'all think I'm just trying to be provocative?
I don't think anyone could give hard evidence that inpatient rehab is successful. I don't think that you can find any real evidence that any peer support treatment is all that successful. At least unbiased evidence. I do believe that any treatment is successful for those that have the true desire to succeed.
I went to inpatient and attended AA and have been sober for more than 2 1/2 years. The thing is, I was resolved to the fact that it was either stop drinking or loose all and probably die from it. I found the whole rehab experience quite ridiculous. It was a one size fits all carnival of AA mashed in with a bunch of fluff. There were a lot of different people there that needed a lot of different types of help but they were all fed the same medicine. The only thing that kept me sane though it all was finding the humor in the whole situation. It did have the desired effect of getting me out of a really hostile environment for a while.
The point is nothing works if you don't make it work. If your not willing to suffer for it you will never reap the benefit of any type of recovery, treatment, program or what ever you want to call it.
Are you trying to be provocative? What fun would it be if you weren't.