6 Things You Won’t Find in an Outpatient Program

As drug addiction rates continue to see steady increases the demand for treatment that actually works rises accordingly. Finding treatment that works means finding a program that best matches your specific treatment needs.

In spite of the many treatment program types available, they all boil down to two types: outpatient and inpatient. While outpatient programs offer a range of treatment benefits, they pale in comparison to inpatient treatment care.

This is especially true for people coming off severe addiction problems. When treating severe forms of addiction, the benefits of inpatient treatment become an outright necessity considering the range of problems severe addiction breeds.

Call our toll-free helpline at 800-430-1407Who Answers? to ask about drug rehab treatment options.

6 Benefits of Inpatient Treatment You Won’t Find in Outpatient Programs

1. Round the Clock Monitoring & Supervision

Inpatient programs provide a more comprehensive and personalized treatment approach.

After so many months or years of living with an addiction problem, drug-seeking and drug-using behaviors become part of a person’s daily lifestyle. Under these conditions, stopping drug use entails fighting both physical and psychological cravings at the same time, according to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.

Whereas outpatient programs allow for considerable flexibility and independence, inpatient treatment takes place within a live-in facility where patients stay for the duration of the program. Someone battling intense physical and psychological cravings will most definitely require a live-in treatment setting.

2. Comprehensive Medical Treatment

With long-term drug abuse, chronic medical problems can easily develop as the effects of drugs weaken the body’s overall health. For someone in this condition, an outpatient program is ill-equipped to treat a co-occurring medical problem.

Inpatient programs specialize in treating the addiction as well as any conditions that develop as a result of long-term drug abuse.

3. Comprehensive Treatment for Mental Health Problems

The ongoing effects of drug abuse slowly but surely wear away at a person’s mental well-being, warping his or her thought processes and overall outlook on life. For this reason, many people coming off chronic addiction problems also struggle with full-blown psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

While outpatient programs can provide treatment for these types of conditions, addiction and mental illness must be treated together or the symptoms of one condition will aggravate symptoms of the other. Inpatient programs employ an integrated treatment approach that’s designed to treat these two conditions as one rather than separately.

Choosing Between Inpatient Rehab and Outpatient Treatment: Which is Best for Me?

4. Medication Therapies

In the most severe cases of addiction, the damage done to brain cell functions can be extensive. At this stage, the brain has become a drug-dependent environment that can no longer function without the drug’s effects, according to the U. S. National Library of Medicine.

Consequently, someone trying to stop using drugs will experience distressing withdrawal aftereffects long after drug use stops.

Both outpatient and inpatient programs can administer medication therapies, such as Antabuse (for alcohol) and buprenorphine (for opiates). Inpatient programs offer the added benefit of ongoing monitoring of dosage levels to ensure withdrawal discomforts are kept at a minimum.

5. 24-Hour Access to Counselors

Stopping drug use can be one of the most difficult stages of recovery. While the body goes through a range of uncomfortable changes and effects, a person’s emotional well-being also suffers a great deal.

The live-in conditions afforded through inpatient treatment gives you 24 hour access to counselors. This added level of emotional support can make all the difference in the world during the early stages of recovery.

Please don’t hesitate to call our helpline at 800-430-1407Who Answers? if you need help finding a program that meets your specific treatment needs.