Honestly, it’s mostly faith based stuff almost everywhere. Secular programs are on the rise, but they’re still greatly outnumbered by things like traditional AA.
Research has shown that people have the best results when they find a recovery program that they vibe with. If that is AA or NA, awesome. Have at it.
But if the god stuff or lack of self determination is not your jam, Life Ring and Smart Recovery are good alternatives. Harder to find meetings outside of the major metros, but they have lots of zoom meetings now.
Also, the best program is one where you also include a doctor. If your health insurance will cover a medical treatment program, that is also wise.
If your health insurance will cover a medical treatment program, that is also wise
I think stuff like methadone and/or suboxone works, but rehab is sort of a scam. Maybe because I live in what’s termed the “rehab capital of the world” but it has a piss-poor success rate and it just seems like a way to extract as much money as possible from insurance companies by unscrupulous companies.
and sure, fuck insurance companies, but we’re talking about real people here. people from all across the country come here, end up meeting a bunch of other addicts, get a bunch of connections to find drugs and end up addicted here in south florida. it’s a very common story
I have a friend of mine who ended up working as a therapist in a rehab, had a master’s degree in psychology and all that - he had gone to rehab over 10 times and was still struggling. He relapsed and lost his job last year.
My 2¢ as someone who has been volunteering to run some outpatient stuff in a large not for profit American HMO for a decade.
These days, inpatient recovery (what most people consider classic “rehab”) often deals with people who have the most severe disease. And with any disease, you typically have the poorest treatment outcomes when you’re dealing with the most severe cases. It’s not the treatment that’s the problem - it’s the disease progression and its level of severity.
These days the research has shown that the standard of care should be to start with outpatient care, then to dial up the level of care if the patient needs something more intensive. The hospital that I’ve been volunteering in has a spectrum of treatment options. Support groups, weekly outpatient stuff, once-a-night outpatient, all-day outpatient (IOP), all the way up to full on inpatient care and or living in an SLE.
Having done NA to get clean from heroin nearly a decade ago, I’d just like to say it wasn’t really a religious thing at all.
One of the steps is “surrender to a higher power” but everybody explained to me at the time that it doesn’t have to be religious.
The idea behind the surrendering thing is that you must
a) realize that if you’re addicted you’ve been doing something wrong. Something about your habits and/or belief system caused you to get addicted. If you want to get clean, you must change something.
b) by surrendering you essentially say “OK. I don’t know everything. I will take a leap of faith and try something new”
I credit NA for my sobriety much more than expensive therapy.
And I’m not religious and haven’t been since I hit the age of reason.
Although, I know people that really don’t dig the surrendering thing at all, and they’re looking for more of a self empowerment format like Life Ring or something.
My 2¢ is that it’s not one size fits all. Everyone’s
Recovery program is going to be bespoke to them. Moreover, no single meeting or single doctor is a complete representation of a treatment program. It’s best to sample lots of different formats, meeting times, etc. until you find what clicks for you. Even within one program you’re going to find a lot of variance depending on attendees and conveners.
all valid points. an AA/NA meeting in an urban area is going to be fundamentally different than a meeting in a rural hillbilly part of the country.
I agree with what you’re saying. better to sample all sorts of different things. Really I just don’t want people to be scared of going to meetings because of the religious element. I like NA because you meet other people and you start to see patterns and get a sponsor and really dig into why you’re addicted, your life circumstances, etc as you follow the steps.
I went to 3 meetings a week for 6 months until I felt I didn’t need it anymore and I’ve been clean since. Doesn’t have to be the dramatic “90 in 90” that they recommend.
Some research on this topic, for the case of Iran: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32387885/
Support websites show it’s mainly faith-based recovery programs in Muslim communities:
https://www.addictioncenter.com/treatment/faith-based-drug-and-alcohol-rehab/muslim/
https://rehabs.com/rehab-options/islamic-rehab-centers/
Honestly, it’s mostly faith based stuff almost everywhere. Secular programs are on the rise, but they’re still greatly outnumbered by things like traditional AA.
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Research has shown that people have the best results when they find a recovery program that they vibe with. If that is AA or NA, awesome. Have at it.
But if the god stuff or lack of self determination is not your jam, Life Ring and Smart Recovery are good alternatives. Harder to find meetings outside of the major metros, but they have lots of zoom meetings now.
Also, the best program is one where you also include a doctor. If your health insurance will cover a medical treatment program, that is also wise.
how they give his own show to tad ghostal?
I think stuff like methadone and/or suboxone works, but rehab is sort of a scam. Maybe because I live in what’s termed the “rehab capital of the world” but it has a piss-poor success rate and it just seems like a way to extract as much money as possible from insurance companies by unscrupulous companies.
and sure, fuck insurance companies, but we’re talking about real people here. people from all across the country come here, end up meeting a bunch of other addicts, get a bunch of connections to find drugs and end up addicted here in south florida. it’s a very common story
I have a friend of mine who ended up working as a therapist in a rehab, had a master’s degree in psychology and all that - he had gone to rehab over 10 times and was still struggling. He relapsed and lost his job last year.
My 2¢ as someone who has been volunteering to run some outpatient stuff in a large not for profit American HMO for a decade.
These days, inpatient recovery (what most people consider classic “rehab”) often deals with people who have the most severe disease. And with any disease, you typically have the poorest treatment outcomes when you’re dealing with the most severe cases. It’s not the treatment that’s the problem - it’s the disease progression and its level of severity.
These days the research has shown that the standard of care should be to start with outpatient care, then to dial up the level of care if the patient needs something more intensive. The hospital that I’ve been volunteering in has a spectrum of treatment options. Support groups, weekly outpatient stuff, once-a-night outpatient, all-day outpatient (IOP), all the way up to full on inpatient care and or living in an SLE.
Having done NA to get clean from heroin nearly a decade ago, I’d just like to say it wasn’t really a religious thing at all.
One of the steps is “surrender to a higher power” but everybody explained to me at the time that it doesn’t have to be religious.
The idea behind the surrendering thing is that you must
a) realize that if you’re addicted you’ve been doing something wrong. Something about your habits and/or belief system caused you to get addicted. If you want to get clean, you must change something.
b) by surrendering you essentially say “OK. I don’t know everything. I will take a leap of faith and try something new”
I credit NA for my sobriety much more than expensive therapy.
And I’m not religious and haven’t been since I hit the age of reason.
Well said.
Although, I know people that really don’t dig the surrendering thing at all, and they’re looking for more of a self empowerment format like Life Ring or something.
My 2¢ is that it’s not one size fits all. Everyone’s Recovery program is going to be bespoke to them. Moreover, no single meeting or single doctor is a complete representation of a treatment program. It’s best to sample lots of different formats, meeting times, etc. until you find what clicks for you. Even within one program you’re going to find a lot of variance depending on attendees and conveners.
all valid points. an AA/NA meeting in an urban area is going to be fundamentally different than a meeting in a rural hillbilly part of the country.
I agree with what you’re saying. better to sample all sorts of different things. Really I just don’t want people to be scared of going to meetings because of the religious element. I like NA because you meet other people and you start to see patterns and get a sponsor and really dig into why you’re addicted, your life circumstances, etc as you follow the steps.
I went to 3 meetings a week for 6 months until I felt I didn’t need it anymore and I’ve been clean since. Doesn’t have to be the dramatic “90 in 90” that they recommend.
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