Titanic

IMHO, it's a waste and unreasonable for insurance to cover anything less than 90days of rehab. Professionals say that the national treatment standard is 90 days. Pay for the darn 90 days!

What do you think, As and family members? Correct me, educate me or join me.

If As got the 90 days in rehab:

Wouldn't a 90 day rehab work better and, ultimately, save not only insurance company money but also many more lives, jobs, relationships and families? What's the cost of those?

sugarbear1

Everyone is different.

I attended 3 rehabs. It still took me 10 more years of drinking to finally stay stopped.

Did rehab help? I guess somewhere inside of me I've been educated. Did it help me to stay stopped, I'm not so sure since it took me more years of drinking.

I had to want to stay stopped.

Threshold

I'm with Sugar on this. Rehab is an opportunity for someone who is serious about recovery to get a little time under them. To help them over some of the real physical hurdles, and give them some information and resources and encouragement.

Lots of people have no access to rehab at all, and recover. Many people do short, long, inpatient, outpatient 30, 60,90 day rehabs and keep on drinking and using. Some people spend three months in posh recovery spas, only to go straight to a bar when they get out. Some people do 90 day bootcamps and have their dealer pick them up at the gate.

Recovery is an inside job. There is no magic cure, no number of days, dollars, etc that guarantee anything.

At some point an addict either decides that they are going to recover and work as hard at it as they did at drinking/drugging, or they are not going to make that decision.

I didn't do rehab. I did more than 90 in 90 in NA and still kept relapsing. But one day I decided I was going to recover and THAT is when it happened. At the time I was 2000 miles from my sponsor and had no meetings available, but I decided it was time and used every resource and energy I had to recover. I've wracked up my longest amount of clean time under those circumstances. Until I was ready, no amount of input or support from outside was of any use to me.

When I first got into recovery I wanted to believe that there was something I could plug myself into and download recovery. I was angry and righteous and blaming. Since then I've realized it's a program I have to write for myself.

I am really anxious to hear what people with various rehab experiences have to say about this.

CarolD

Are you asking for personal expereinces?

If so...I have no opinion on treatment centers...
.never went to a rehab...but AA has been working
great for me for over 23 years....

Titanic

Anything, personal experiences, what professionals have told you, your thoughts, what you've learned through your AA contacts, anything at all.

CarolD

My AA meetings are busy with shares about how to live sober and enjoy it.

Treatment centers ...insurance company practices are rarely mentioned
And...
AA could be considered a program full of "experts" IMO

Yes we can and do recover...I hope you are doing well...

BackToSquareOne

I attended a 30 day rehab in 1991, it was a forced by family pressure thing. I got nothing out of it as I put nothing into it, same for AA at the time. In fact I was back to drinking the first day I got out of rehab. In my honest opinion the desire to quit comes from within, once that desire is strong enough the person will throw in the towel with or without a program. I didn't throw in the towel until 2008, the change came from within. By that point tho, I was just done with it. Never looked back and never will.

Maylie

My first gut reaction was to say that the longer someone stays in treatment the better but then I thought about it and if the A doesn't want to recover then it doesn't matter how long they go away.

I never went to rehab but instead go to a Subutex doctor and honestly it has to do with the A's commitment to becoming clean. After any complications/dangers/personal struggles of detoxing passes it is up to the person to commit to recovery and work their butt off rebuilding their lives or they aren't ready yet.

I do on the other hand believe that if someone feels they need 90 days they shouldn't be forced to do a mere 30 days because their insurance will not cover it. I know many people who their insurance covered their doctor visits and millions of scripts of the pain meds that got them to this place but would not cover anything over a 30 day rehab if that.

spryte

In my opinion, rehab is a nice bubble. Also in my - unqualified! - opinion:

It takes 30 days to even have the ability to think straight.

The chemicals are gone within 1 - 2 weeks, and then you have those 1 - 2 weeks to get used to life without chemicals. After having chemicals for years.

There may be a lot of personal things outside of drinking to get sorted out, or maybe not. Those with lots of personal things to get sorted out, I think they need to stay in rehab for a longer time.

Those that don't, I think assisted living is a great option for months 2 - 12. They can work out their issues with one foot in 'the real world' and one foot in a protected space to work out their personal issues.

Rehab is expensive. Really expensive. And I think caution is advised in holus bolus throwing money at it. When I was faced with the rehab option, I turned it down because it was too expensive and I didn't see why so much money should be spent just so I could dry out. I don't need a team of psychologists in week one and two to talk to me. They'd be screaming at the wind.

I think more money should be put into local detox centers, to allow people to dry out, and then sort out what is the best option for them: rehab or more local options.

Titanic

Doin' okay, One Day at a Time, I guess! The AA and Al-Anon programs say not to talk about specific treatment centers, so I suspect that's a big reason it's not talked about in meetings. The other big one being focus on the 12 Step program.


Ain't that the truth!

I do believe recovery is an inside job for the A. I wonder if the extra days would affect the A really "getting" that.

Auvers

I agree with Threshhold, great post. Other than medical supervision for severe withdrawal issues, I think success in quitting for good comes from a personal decision to change. Being in a facility for 90 days could have a negative effect on sobriety, delaying the development of feelings of accomplishment and empowerment, encouraging feelings of vulnerability.