Manasicha Wongpaiboon

Gilchrist
ENC 2135
February 27, 2017

Are residential rehabilitations effective?

I admit it myself- I use to believe drug and alcohol abuse users placed themselves in the

situation to stay in their position, socioeconomic class, their situation. I pondered on why addicts

would admit themselves into rehabilitation to only leave a few days or weeks later and continue the

cycle of using once more. For many it is not their perspective or aspiration to stay in the position

they were once in but it is the environment to which they are prone to and the lack of efficiency in

the care of these individuals who suffer from an illness whether that be mental or physical. The

complication to an addicts life and illness is much more than their self control and their

environment; it is the absence and the effectiveness of treatment in the rehabilitation that they once

admitted themselves into. There is great debate and controversy in the subject area of inpatient and

outpatient rehabilitation. Some professors and psychologists deem inpatient rehabilitations for

drug and alcohol abuse as unethical or too intense leaving them into a state of a trance where they

face more problems than when they came in with including stress, anxiety, and depression. These

researchers are favor for outpatient services believing that interaction between the external world

and the addicts is the cure for addiction. If that is the key to the cure of addiction then why are 23.5

million unrehabilitated Americans still suffering from addiction when in contact with society? Why

are drug and alcohol users shunned and isolated from society to only be left in the same position

they started using? These questions arise among several psychologists, psychiatrists, and an array of

other health professionals not only in the country but around the world. These questions were

proposed by the Research Institute on Addictions (RIA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA), RAND Drug Policy Research Center (DPRC), and much

more. These institutes and researchers focus on the counter argument that rehabilitation and

inpatient rehabilitation services are more effective when compared to outpatient services. The

physical isolation and deprivation of freedom from external forces allow for the consumers to get in

touch with themselves, regain self esteem, and regain self- control as researched by leading

psychiatrist Margaret G. Stineman of the Archive Physician Medical Rehabilitation journal.

Another psychiatrist for the journal researched and compared the two services of inpatient and

outpatient rehabs over the period of 12 months. Natasha Kareem Brusco stated that there is an

important distinction between achieving short term gains following an intervention and sustaining

these gains over the medium and longer term. It was gathered that although outpatient drug and

alcohol rehabilitations are effective it is the inpatient and long term rehabilitations that lead to

consumers to sustain their sobriety and improve their quality of life. It was also gathered in this

article that patients being discharged from their inpatient rehabs had a higher rate of health care

and community resource use such as the readmission to inpatient health services, visits to allied

health professions, and the use of informal care (Brusco 2). Simultaneously, these advantages are a

result of the intimacy and close network between the facility and the consumer upon entering a

residential rehabilitation. Being that consumers reside and spend hundreds and thousands of hours

with the staff of the rehabilitation it may be the long period of time that allow them to form these

connections and not just as a means of how really effective inpatient services are.

It is essential to also identify the variables among both inpatient and outpatient rehabs that

play a role in the treatment of its consumers. Over a broad number of statistics and research

compiled by the National Institute of Drug Abuse exhibited higher retention and success rates
among inpatient rehabilitations when compared to the outpatient services. However, it may also be

the isolation of stressors and triggers that allow for such a high success rate that is necessary for

consideration. Residential rehabilitation residences are kept contained or even captive away from

friends, families, and the obvious- their drug of choice. Their sobriety throughout the time of stay is

a result of the absence of these substances and would explain why they have a higher success rate.

Outpatient services are scheduled daily or weekly with no mandatory stay but only check ins. This

broad array of freedom exposes the consumer to their stressors and triggers which would explain

why outpatient services are not as successful as inpatient.

I intern seven hours a week at Disc Villages Sisters in Sobriety, a residential drug and

alcohol rehabilitation for women. There has invariably been two sides to whether the program has

assisted in their recovery towards sobriety or if only allowed them to keep a distance from them or

in other words, avoid their triggers. Some indicate that the program has truly played a role in their

road to sobriety, that the treatments, clinical therapy, group therapy, counseling, detox, etc., are the

components to what led them to heal and grow out of the need and desire of addiction. On the

other hand, others believe that the facility is objectifying and institutionalized feeling as they are

back in prison or treated like a child. They believe their time residing at the facility has surely

assisted in their recovery but not for the treatment that they undergone but the fear of coming back

to this facility again. Many of the women within this intensive program are court-ordered. Sisters in

Sobriety is a nonprofit rehabilitation and as a result may have led to these reactions of their

consumers. Another variable in understanding the effectiveness of residential rehabs is the financial

condition of each facility. For example, being that Disc Village is a nonprofit organization its
rehabilitation ethics and treatments may not be as effective or appealing to the consumer as it

would for Aton Center, a high end luxurious drug rehabilitation.

Sources:

http://www.rehabs.com/the-10-most-luxury-drug-treatment-centers-in-the-world/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4438580/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=inpatient+drug+rehabilitation4

http://drugabuse.com/the-25-best-sources-for-drug-addiction-research/4

http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/AddictionTreatment&RecoveryInAmerica.

pdf

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/effective-addiction-treatment/?_r=0

http://www.rehabs.com/about/inpatient-vs-outpatient-rehabs/

http://www.newbeginningsdrugrehab.org/inpatient-drug-rehab/

http://www.projectknow.com/research/inpatient-programs/?v=lib1-control

http://www.rehabs.com/about/120-180-day-long-term-rehabilitation/