How many times can an addict fail drug rehab?
Many people report going to drug rehab again and again only to relapse upon leaving. When considering drug rehab, individuals want to know if it really does work and how many times people fail.
Unfortunately, the answer is not simple. There is no specific number of times a drug user will fail drug rehab. The time spent at rehab correlates directly with many other factors – which may or may not be motivating the user to recover from drug addiction. Interestingly, the success or failure of drug rehab varies from state to state and it varies year to year. Drug rehabs.org notes, “when thinking about a person’s failed attempts at rehab, consider how many times it takes to learn something new. That is essentially what people in recovery are doing, relearning to live without drugs or alcohol.”
It is important to note that changing one’s behavior is difficult! Sometimes individuals have regression, moments where they are in neutral, and moments where they might feel stuck. Sometimes when drug rehab doesn’t work it simply means that the individual wasn’t applying the learned changes, or they weren’t ready. Some ask if this means drug rehab was a waste of time. The answer is: absolutely not! If an individual is continuing to make progress (even if it is small, or short-lived) it is still progress, and should be applauded. Again, change is very difficult. Returning home to past environments can prove to be hard, running into old contacts, becoming overwhelmed with day to day things that were not present in drug rehab, can also be a lot to handle.
It’s also good to make sure the person in drug rehab is ready to be there. They may not want to come initially, but they need to have a desire to change in order for success to happen. Trying to force a person to do something they do not want to do will always fail. Allowing patients in drug rehab to have choices and feel in control of part if not all of their decisions is very helpful in recovery.
Sometimes people have to fail at drug rehab and try again or fail a few times and then try again. But, this process is part of their healing and taking charge of their life and it takes time. Many addicts may relapse nine times before it finally sticks on time number ten, but the drug rehab involved in the nine failures, certain helped in the tenth time being a success.
Those who have experienced success at drug rehab note that the best way to get the most of out drug rehab is to simply do what they tell you to do! It’s a safe environment and generally medically supervised. Individuals who take directions, learn new ways, “surrender” their life entirely to recovery, take action, and follow through will generally reap the benefits of drug rehab.