Symmetry

My brother is entering treatment again. He told me that the last time he was there that several people there were using during their stay including himself. I was speaking to a staff person about this and his response was "Well we are dealing with addicts". Well yeah I suppose if they actually got better you might be out of a job! Honestly. Just needed to get that off my chest. Not only that, I got the impression that I was being a bother by sharing that. Do you know anyone with years of sobriety under their belt as a result of treatment?

Learn2Live

No one can quit for me but me.

"Making" someone go to rehab, esp when it wasn't their idea in the first place, doesn't make the person want to quit.

choublak

There's probably nothing those staff members haven't seen or heard.

posiesperson

Hi Symmetry,

I hear you, and it's really difficult to understand. On another side of the same issue I know of family members who have been so desperate to have contact with their addicted family members who are in treatment that they secretly violate the "no contact" rule during the early days of inpatient treatment. Which, of course, undermines the treatment program of the person who is trying to get clean/sober. Addiction comes in all kinds of forms, and is slippery business...

Addiction: cunning, baffling, powerful...

posie

Charon

Just got back from Brattleboro Retreat PHP program. I was staying in Riply House while undergoing treatment/therapy/recovery classes. There was a zero (and I mean ZERO) tollerance policy. During my 15 days there there were a number of people sent home. Some of the violations were kind of minor - BUT everyone was aprised of the rules and the consequences. I agree that it only works for those that want it. However, the people there who are serious need to be protected from those that have no intention of quiting. The zero tollerance policy does that and in addition helps protect the counselors from burning out due to people taking up space and resources, who are perhaps mandated and have no intention to even try quitting.

Hopeworks

Only one in ten that want treatment actually are able to get it... sadly we have situations where people are taking up beds and space that have no desire to get clean while others are suffering and would be serious if they had the opportunity for treatment.

It is the nature of the disease to deny, lie and manipulate and that doesn't go away just because you walk through a treatment door willingly or by court order.

Eddiebuckle

Sure do. Me - two years on Thursday.

One of the biggest hurdles to sobriety is denial/self delusion. To use while "in treatment" is a farce. Why bother to even go? I am not suggesting that the employee that you spoke to isn't part of the problem, but nobody can make someone else get sober. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I hope your brother see's the light.

choublak

Doesn't the Salvation Army offer free live-in rehab?

Hopeworks

There are some Salvation Army Recovery Centers ... there is one in Orlando and attempts to get people in have been difficult as they always have a waiting list.

Most cities do have Salvation Army locations that house the homeless for the night and feed the hungry. Those who arrive drunk and high are usually asked to leave and not allowed to come back.

Quality rehab for the poor is almost nonexistent... I know because I work with families all the time who are desperately seeking help for loved ones but do not have 15,000. or 25,000. a month for residential treatment.

On the other hand you have those who are in treatment centers but do not really want to be sober ...

And then you have those who are not "ready" or have not reached their bottom but their time in rehab is part of their journey and something they hear they will remember and use in the future.

Cyranoak

...and many who have failed despite treatment. Treatment plants the seeds for recovery, but it can also help them hide their drinking more as they compare notes.

As always, ultimately it comes down to if the addict alcoholic is ready. When they are they are, when they aren't' they aren't, and treatment can't change that part of the dynamic. It can, however, provide enough clarity that the patient can realize they are ready.

It's a case by case basis and there are no guarantees. That's painful-- I wanted a guarantee for the $8,000 I spent. I didn't get it, and I didn't get a sober wife until several years later after her second rehab (the one she asked to go to because she was ready-- and turned out to be telling the truth).

choublak

Oh okay. I was under the impression that these centers were in most cities and not that difficult to get into.

Really? Isn't that a form of discrimination?

MTSlideAddict

This is so true. When my husband went to the emergency room in 2010 for detox he asked a social worker about a program. The social worker was very nice and found a lot of resources, but nothing that he could have transferred to from the ER. We didn’t have health insurance at the time, not that they cover rehab all the time anyway. The ER had to release him, and signed his discharge paperwork after a discussion on how it is dangerous to just stop drinking cold turkey after drinking to that extreme. They advised him to keep a bottle of some sort of alcohol in the house and when he felt he “needed” it to take a drink. I was baffled, but really what could they do?

All the resources on the list she provided either wanted thousands of dollars (he was a pizza delivery guy; not even feasible), or just exhausted him with a run around until he gave up. It wasn’t until a suicide attempt that put him onto the fast track for detox and rehab directly from the ER.

NYCDoglvr

You can't stay sober or off drunks without brutal honesty.

Taking5

Choublak-

Discrimination is not illegal, unless it is done on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc., etc.

choublak

The employee has probably seen/heard everything, including family and loved ones with expectations that the employees will work miracles on the addict. I understand having hope, but keep in mind these employees deal with disappointed, unsatisfied and sometimes angry loved ones, every single day. Some of whom, I am sure, try to put all the blame on an employee for not "curing" their addict loved one. Also, the incident you spoke about wasn't that serious in comparison with, say, someone repeatedly attempting suicide or something.

Charon

Not always true. Brattleboro takes Medicaid patents and is a state of the art facility. They also try to work something out with people in need that don't qualify for Medicaid. It is several orders of magnitude better than anything I found in my area of Upstate New York. Moreover, only the people who really want to get and stay clean are allowed to remain - urine tests three times a week with random tests at any time and zero tollerance for a dirty test. Resources aren't wasted on those who have no intention of getting sober and staying that way. I found not a single staff member that was jaded or burnt out.

Learn2Live

No. That's called "rules."

Justfor1

Addicts have been known to have family/friends bring the drugs to them on visitation day just like in prison. They also can make alcohol "hooch" with a plastic bag, fruit ect... and let it sit. It becomes potent stuff that they can then share with other patients. I would say that these folks are in the minority though & the majority of rehab clients do want to get better. Certain rehabs are better at controlling this than others.

choublak

Interesting. And here I thought it was only in prison that people did that.