Self-Help Treatment or Inpatient Drug Rehab for Addiction Recovery?

Addiction is a devastating condition that affects the lives of everyone involved including the addict and the loved ones as well as employers, friends, and even outsiders. For the individual, addiction may mean losing everything they own, including their own soul. For the family, addiction leads to relationship loss, broken promises, lack of trust and other serious problems. But there is help—for addicts, and for those who are directly impacted by addiction, both self-help treatment and inpatient drug rehab programs are available to aid in the recovery process. But which one is best for you?

Determining whether inpatient treatment or a self-help program such as a support group is the right method of care for you will depend on a number of factors. If you’re motivated, both can be valuable options but in early recovery, when withdrawal symptoms run high and the risk of relapse is most prevalent, it may be best to choose an inpatient program over a self-help group simply because the structure care will be more suitable to your recovery needs in this early stage.

Benefits of Inpatient Rehab

Medical staff hold you accountable for your recovery in inpatient rehab.

If you’re heavily addicted, the benefits of an inpatient rehab program will most certainly outweigh those of a self-help program of care—here’s why:

• Inpatient rehab provides around-the-clock support.
• Inpatient rehab reduces the risk of early relapse.
• Inpatient rehab uses reliable treatment methods that have proven effectiveness.
• Inpatient rehab is a professional approach to care.
• Inpatient rehab includes counselors, therapists, nurses, doctors and support staff that hold you accountable for your recovery.

When you enter an inpatient rehab program, you will have no other choice but to focus on your recovery. You’re stripped away from the outside world, you will attend regular counseling and therapy sessions daily and you will not be surrounded with drugs and alcohol which means you can focus more on getting well and less on getting high.

Why Not Self-Help?

Self-help treatment simply is not a viable source of treatment for early recovery, but this doesn’t mean that these programs cannot be helpful in the later term stages of the recovery and healing process. If you’ve already completed an inpatient rehab program or if you are in residential treatment, self-help can contribute further to your ongoing recovery and healing.

When to Choose Self-Help

Once you’ve finished residential rehab, you can choose a self-help program of care to continue your healing. Self-help programs include:

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Narcotics Anonymous
• SMART Recovery
• Rational Recovery
• Self-help books

Any of these can be used as an accompaniment to your residential rehab or as an accompaniment to the outpatient care you receive following time spent in residential treatment.

For help determining what the best course of treatment is for you or for someone you love, call 800-430-1407Who Answers?. Our helpline operators are ready to assist you in finding and choosing an inpatient drug rehab center that will provide you with the foundational support necessary to begin your recovery and healing. Once you’ve finished a residential program, any of the above self-help programs can be used to continue toward your long term recovery goals.

5 Ways Inpatient Drug Rehab Facilities Help Patients Heal