Do all alcoholics have to go to rehab?
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: VIC, Australia
Posts: 146
I tried myself a few times and had a number of inpatient stays in psych hospitals (not really addiction related) then finally I went to a rehab for five weeks and it helped me a lot. I came off heroin, booze and all psych meds while there and found the support invaluable during the withdrawal and initial weeks.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 2,937
No
But my private, non Nhs therapist was persistent.
She kept saying it will be the best
£5000 - £10,000 you will spend.
In truth, I spent thousands on her 'treatment', never worked. I was indulged after every weekly blip! It didn't matter, it was okay with her.
In the end I went to AA for free.
I was welcomed, but told some hard truths - the yets, the pickled cucumber, the excuses drinkers give.
I have been drink free for 2 years. Since Feb 2012.
Some of the coolest, most rational, experienced, clever people Ihave ever had the privilege to meet we're at Aa.
They don't have degrees, diploma's or certificates.
They have their own real life, rock bottom experiences.
I wish I had done that first before spending all that cash.
I could have bought a new pair of knockers.
I probably could have bought everyone on SR a new pair of knockers!
However you do it.
Do it safely and do it in the way you feel most comfortable BUT make sure you do do it.
It's not easy at first, it takes work, you have to work it if you want it. Don't waste another 1/5/10 years deciding to how to do it, like some of us here. I am right at the top of that offending list for dithering.
It is brilliant to end that life and start another one.
The peace you feel is amazing.
I wish you the best.
Xxxx
But my private, non Nhs therapist was persistent.
She kept saying it will be the best
£5000 - £10,000 you will spend.
In truth, I spent thousands on her 'treatment', never worked. I was indulged after every weekly blip! It didn't matter, it was okay with her.
In the end I went to AA for free.
I was welcomed, but told some hard truths - the yets, the pickled cucumber, the excuses drinkers give.
I have been drink free for 2 years. Since Feb 2012.
Some of the coolest, most rational, experienced, clever people Ihave ever had the privilege to meet we're at Aa.
They don't have degrees, diploma's or certificates.
They have their own real life, rock bottom experiences.
I wish I had done that first before spending all that cash.
I could have bought a new pair of knockers.
I probably could have bought everyone on SR a new pair of knockers!
However you do it.
Do it safely and do it in the way you feel most comfortable BUT make sure you do do it.
It's not easy at first, it takes work, you have to work it if you want it. Don't waste another 1/5/10 years deciding to how to do it, like some of us here. I am right at the top of that offending list for dithering.
It is brilliant to end that life and start another one.
The peace you feel is amazing.
I wish you the best.
Xxxx
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
I eventually got sober in AA. I was put in the rehab one time but they couldn't make me want to sober up, so they were unsuccessful with me.
If you have the chance to go to a good rehab, by all means go. They are a great way to get sober, though the treatment is not one that will keep you sober without other changes in your way of life.
The rehab industry did not exist prior to AA. Up till that time, alcoholics were just hopeless, they didn't make a good business proposition. When AA got going, suddenly, for the first time thousands of people were getting sober. Some but not all, were hospitalised for a few days at the start, but they all recovered in AA.
My intake at the rehab was an interesting one. There were ten of us that had any hope of recovery. When we were discharged, two went to AA and recovered. That was 1979 and they are both still sober today. About a year later I went to AA and haven't needed to drink since. The other seven never went to AA. By the time I got sober, they were all dead.
Even so the stats look pretty good. Of that group that went to treatment, 30% recovered. Of those that went to AA, 100 % recovered, even though I was a late starter.
If you have the chance to go to a good rehab, by all means go. They are a great way to get sober, though the treatment is not one that will keep you sober without other changes in your way of life.
The rehab industry did not exist prior to AA. Up till that time, alcoholics were just hopeless, they didn't make a good business proposition. When AA got going, suddenly, for the first time thousands of people were getting sober. Some but not all, were hospitalised for a few days at the start, but they all recovered in AA.
My intake at the rehab was an interesting one. There were ten of us that had any hope of recovery. When we were discharged, two went to AA and recovered. That was 1979 and they are both still sober today. About a year later I went to AA and haven't needed to drink since. The other seven never went to AA. By the time I got sober, they were all dead.
Even so the stats look pretty good. Of that group that went to treatment, 30% recovered. Of those that went to AA, 100 % recovered, even though I was a late starter.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
Originally Posted by olometal 
she told me I needed to go a detox/inpatient program some of which are 30-60 days.
what will that do to my work life.
Seems best you go and learn to live a sober life.
Most States (if not all) will not let ones get fired or laid off due to time spent away in treatment. But note -after treatment it is best to keep the nose to the grind stone at work. It's as if we are being closely watched for some time.
My boss was all so happy to see me sober. He used to let me go to an occasional morning AA meeting on company time.
Mountainman
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
It depends, where you live, what's your job, who's your employer, what's the family situation, does your employer have an EAP program, etc.
A counselor figure out in twenty minutes I had to go to rehab, the insurance company figure out in three days I didn't need to go to rehab. The rehab figured out on day one - or actually predetermined - that I had to go to another rehab for 30-60 days.
I figured out immediately that rehab was the only thing keeping a paycheck coming in.
I also quit drinking on my own before I went to rehab. But I was told that I had to drink the morning of going to rehab so I would get a "better" assessment to be admitted. Isn't that grand?
Rehab works for some, for some it an inconvenience. If you really WANT to stop, go to rehab and learn something. In the USA almost all rehabs push the 12 steps down your throat. To them it is the only way. It actually makes their job easy because they force AA on you and push you out the door with follow up care being attend 90 meetings in 90 days. Then they're done with you.
Some people absolutely NEED to go to rehab - it is the only way for them to control their addiction. It is a safe haven for a period of time. Once they get out though...
Good Luck.
A counselor figure out in twenty minutes I had to go to rehab, the insurance company figure out in three days I didn't need to go to rehab. The rehab figured out on day one - or actually predetermined - that I had to go to another rehab for 30-60 days.
I figured out immediately that rehab was the only thing keeping a paycheck coming in.
I also quit drinking on my own before I went to rehab. But I was told that I had to drink the morning of going to rehab so I would get a "better" assessment to be admitted. Isn't that grand?
Rehab works for some, for some it an inconvenience. If you really WANT to stop, go to rehab and learn something. In the USA almost all rehabs push the 12 steps down your throat. To them it is the only way. It actually makes their job easy because they force AA on you and push you out the door with follow up care being attend 90 meetings in 90 days. Then they're done with you.
Some people absolutely NEED to go to rehab - it is the only way for them to control their addiction. It is a safe haven for a period of time. Once they get out though...
Good Luck.
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