For those of us who haven’t had to battle a major addiction, or any addiction for that matter, it must be difficult to understand the struggle that some addicts go through in order to kick their habits and begin a new life without drugs or alcohol. There are thousands of cases of addicts who were unable to conquer their addiction, and there are plenty who with the help of family, friends and experts, were in fact able to finally put down the bottle or toss out their stash for good. The attitude towards addiction that many people have is that it’s the person’s fault for ever trying the drug or drink in the first place and that they should just go to rehab or a few AA or NA meetings and just stop drinking or using, the end. It isn’t that easy, especially if you look upon addiction as a disease as many medical specialists and rehab clinics are now doing. No one questions a person’s fight with cancer. They realize that it isn’t as simple as going through radiation or chemo treatments. Cancer patients require strong relationships with their doctors, and many of them have the support of their families and plenty of other resources available to them in order to make their particular fight just that much easier. Why is it then that the stigma surrounding addiction remains so stagnated? Even if we agree that addiction is a disease, it is perhaps one of the most complex diseases out there to effectively cure. Even if an addicted patient completes their rehabilitation and succeeds at curbing their addiction for the usual 30 days, their fight isn’t over. They then have to spend the rest of their lives resisting the urge to use or drink, especially the so called “window period” when an addict leaves rehab and hasn’t had enough time to readjust to life outside a rehab facility.
“As if all the above isn’t enough, here’s the killer: post 30-day rehab is potentially the most perilous period in recovery. It is the fragile stretch of time where addicts are at their most vulnerable, physically and mentally.” Into the Heart of Addiction editor and writer, Martha Lockie, sites this delicate time as fertile ground not only for relapse, but also serious health consequences and even death.
The article provided at the end of this article lists a number of reasons why 30-day rehab isn’t always successful or even a good idea in some cases. They cite that 30 days isn’t long enough to really change behavior or tendencies. The article also mentions that being around so many addicts may have certain negative consequences and the fact that once addicts leave their particular facility they often return to familiar neighborhoods and circles of friends without an in-between period that would enable them to make the required changes in their out-of-therapy life. While this is the opinion of the writer of said article, many people believe that the current practice of dealing with addiction is founded in addiction science and has helped thousands of people around the world. The trick, it seems, is a solid support network of drug educated family and friends that can undertake the burden of helping a fresh-out-of-therapy addict make the life changes they need to in order to put them on the road to lasting and healthy sobriety.
