Drug rehab is intended to enable the drug addicts to cease drug abuse activities, in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse. Drug rehab is used as a treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines.

Drug rehab is used to address drug dependency and there are two natures of dependency which are physical and psychological. Physical dependency involves a detoxification process to cope with withdrawal symptoms from regular use of a drug. With regular use of many drugs, legal or otherwise, the brain gradually adapts to the presence of the drug so the desired effect is minimal. Apparently normal functioning of the user may be observed, despite being under the influence of the drug. This is how physical tolerance develops to drugs such as heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine or alcohol. It also explains why more of the drug is needed to get the same effect with regular use. The abrupt cessation of taking a drug can lead to withdrawal symptoms where the body may take weeks or months (depending on the drug involved) to return to normal.

Psychological dependency is addressed in many drug rehab programs by attempting to teach the addicts new methods of interacting in a drug-free environment. In particular, drug addicts are generally encouraged or required not to associate with friends who still use the addictive substance. Twelve-step drug rehab programs encourage addicts not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but to examine and change habits related to their addictions. Many drug rehab programs emphasize that recovery is a permanent process without culmination. For legal drugs such as alcohol, complete abstention—rather than attempts at moderation, which may lead to relapse—is also emphasized (“One is too many, and a thousand is never enough.”) Whether moderation is achievable by those with a history of abuse remains a controversial point but is generally considered unsustainable.

Not everyone needs alcohol or drug rehab, and no one should enroll in costly and disruptive drug rehab until they have first tried to quit on their own and quit with help on the outside. If neither of these two strategies to abstinence works, there is no point in continuing with failure, and it’s time to take the only action likely to have much impact.

No one wants to pay for drug rehab, and no one wants to spend a month or more away from family; but if it’s the only thing that can work, you cannot accept anything less.

Drug Rehab