Addiction is a serious matter. When left untreated, it can debilitate a person’s life so badly that they can no longer function. Often, addiction is treated like a less serious matter than a physical illness because it is harder to quantify, but the fact of the matter is, a person’s life can and will come to a screeching halt if their addiction is not treated properly. For this reason, it is important to keep in mind that inpatient addiction treatment has been found to have the most success in helping clients recover from addiction.
In order to make a full recovery from addiction, a person must be immersed in their treatment for an extended period of time. Touch and go treatment is not the answer for someone deeply entrenched in their addiction. Someone who is struggling desperately to recover from addiction needs their recovery to be their reality for a time. The most important part of addiction treatment is enabling the addict to get back in touch with their non-addicted self. When they remember how to navigate that identity and reality, and practice it, they are safe to re-enter the world.
That time to form new habits is essential. A person’s negative thought and behavior patterns do not change over night. They are deeply ingrained psychological problems that were years in the making. Changing them requires a great deal of conscious effort, that typically needs guidance. Navigating our own psychologies can be nearly impossible without help, which is why having professional counselors and social workers in the same environment as the addict is invaluable.
And finally, the security that a recovering addict receives from the inpatient treatment environment is very beneficial to their recovery. Addicts who are struggling to recover from their addiction are very vulnerable people. They are prone to unstable emotions and easily triggered behavior that will run rampant in the outside world. Inpatient rehab neutralizes this threat by providing the recovering addict with a totally safe environment.