Substance use disorders are prevalent. The 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that 46.3 million people in the United States had a substance use disorder in the past year. That translates to 16.5 percent of people 12 and older. Of that 46.3 million, 29.5 million struggled with alcohol, 24 million with drugs, and 7.3 million with both. Many people grappling with drug use think about drug rehab but may talk themselves out of going due to multiple reasons. Let’s look at the benefits of drug rehab.

Customized Therapies and Treatments

Each person is different, and therapies and treatments that would work well with one person might have the opposite effect on another person. Rehab counselors and specialists know this.

Rehab centers tailor their approaches to each patient rather than use a cardboard-cutout solution. Staffers stay up to date on the most recent trends and therapies, including EMDR therapy. This type of therapy can work for drug addiction, PTSD, and other issues. For many people, it reduces negative feelings and the chances of relapse. The treatment uses sporadic visual stimulation to help explore and heal trauma.

Treatment centers may offer this type of therapy along with other methods such as detox, counseling, individual, group, and family therapy sessions, behavior therapy, different levels of care with varying intensities, ongoing treatment, and possibly medication.

Further, many people do not struggle with just drug use or drug and alcohol use. They may have depression, anxiety, or other mental or emotional issues. Rehab often provides whole-person treatment for comorbidities. After all, a person’s substance use is likely to pick up again eventually unless other underlying problems, causes, and triggers get worked out, too.

Can Work With Your Schedule and Lifestyle

At a rehab center, you can typically choose from care levels such as residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, inpatient, outpatient, and recovery, among others. The different options mean you can get help with minimal effect on your schedule in some cases.

For instance, a center could offer an intensive outpatient program for patients to attend three times a week at various times. That way, you do not necessarily have to quit your job or cut back on obligations to get the substance abuse help you need.

A Focus On Real-Life, Enduring Results

Rehab centers do more than wean patients off drugs temporarily and hope they stay off. Most offer ongoing treatment and support groups for patients as well as assistance with finding community resources such as 12-step programs.

Rehab centers understand that recovery typically is a lifelong process, not a one-and-done thing. No one is shamed for relapsing. In fact, relapses are generally accepted as part of a lifelong process.

Similarly, rehab professionals have experience in helping people identify triggers. Counselors, specialists, and patients collaborate to figure out practical ways for patients to avoid bad situations and relapses. That is one reason support groups are so important. They provide an alternative space for patients to be in so they can bypass people and situations not good for them.

Structure is one essential aspect that rehab offers to all types of patients. Inpatients, for example, get daily routines for attending therapy and treatment and building productive habits. Over time, this structure helps them break self-sabotaging habits and maintain a focus on sobriety.

Even outpatients benefit from the structure and built-in accountability of rehab. Community meetings can provide further structure, too.

Sense of Community

Addiction is often a lonely path. You may feel ashamed, embarrassed, worthless, and other negative emotions. It’s hard to talk to people about your feelings because you have hurt these people or they may get angry or judge you. A vicious cycle ensues, and you may see no way out of drug use without a supportive community.

Rehab centers provide a sense of community that is valuable. The people in the community understand the addiction struggle even though each person’s journey is unique. Community members can lean on one another, listen, offer advice, and provide support.

Communities and support systems also provide accountability. That doesn’t mean judgment or criticism necessarily but rather help and support. Many people leave rehab with genuine friendships and lifelong bonds.

Helps Heal Relationships

Addiction wreaks havoc on marriages, parent-child relationships, and many other bonds. Through patients tackling their issues and through methods such as couples therapy and family therapy, rehab can facilitate the healing of relationships. That is a tremendous benefit because the recovery journey tends to go much more smoothly when patients have supportive family members and friends in their lives.

Rehab is not a place where you check in for a few weeks and hope for the best. It offers structure, tailored treatment and therapy, varying levels of care, ongoing support, a built-in community, trained, compassionate professionals, and much more.