Time4Me1

My first question is does in patient work for someone who doesn't really want to be there?

My second question is, how does some one qualify for in patient?? Apparently insurance wont cover it unless there is a medical necessity like heart problems, or mental illness. Shouldn't alcoholism be a qualifier in and of itself?????

And my last question is, how should family members relate to an alcoholic who is in out patient but still drinking. Should we ignore it or let her know that we are aware of this. We know we cant force her and we don't want to exacerbate it with negativity, but we don't want to pretend any more either.

coyote21

My axw went to court ordered rehab for 28 days, and phoned me wasted 10 days out. So in her case, no it didn't work.

Our medical insurance paid for it. I'm pretty sure, since it's considered a disease, it should be covered, at least once. I had to call the number on the back of the insurance card to get the details.

My axw also used to pick up a six pack of tall boys on the way home from IOP. At least she was sober when I got home from work on those days, so that was kind of a blessing.

Over 4 years later she is still drinking, as far as I can tell, and almost died a few months ago at age 40.

All I know for sure is, alcoholics will drink till THEY decide to quit.

Thanks and God bless us all,
Coyote

DesertEyes

Hello there Time4Me, and pleased to "meet" you

Sometimes. It depends on what got them into treatment in the first place. Usually, it's some kind of "ultimatum" or perhaps an "intervention". The typical is an employer who says "get treatment or get fired". Once they are in treatment they get exposed to a whole lot of information about addiction and recovery. Sometimes that gets their attention and they "get it". Sometimes not.

The next question is what happens _after_ in-patient. If the only reason they went in was to avoid some kind of "threat", then what's to keep them sober once the threat is gone?

In patient, by itself, is not a good way to "nudge" somebody into recovery. There has to be a long term motivation that will last long after the time in treatment, which is why so many people say that a person much want recovery for themselves if it's going to last more than just a few weeks or months.

Every insurance company is different. The larger employers have coverage thru the "mental health" options, but you have to read the fine print in the insurance policy. There is also a big difference between "detox" and "inpatient". Most insurances will only cover "detox" if there is a medical necesity, but that's under the medical coverage part of the insurance. Most in-patient facilities will not offer detox at all, because they only cover "mental health". It can really be confusing.

In order to get the answers you need for a specific person you have to visit a few inpatient facilities and speak with the "intake counselor". They can tell you which insurance companies cover their services and under what conditions.

Actually, neither. The best way is the standard al-anon way. First you determine what specific behaviors are harmful or dangerous to you and your family (that's called a "boundary" ). Then you determine how you can protect yourself from those behaviors (that's called a "consequence" ). Then you figure out how you are going to deal with the anger, resentment and manipulation that is going to get thrown back at you.

That's the short version. It really takes quite a bit of careful planning to make it work, and a lot of support from other people. Which is why you see us always encouraging folks to go to meetings of al-anon, or CODA, or therapy, or whatever works for them.

I hope I made some sense with that.

Mike
Moderator, SoberRecovery

skippernlilg

An RA friend of mine told me that for an alcoholic, there are three choices:

Sobered up,

Locked up,

or

Covered up (buried)

I think when they realize that, there is a chance of a successful recovery.