What is Residential Drug Treatment?

When a loved one finally faces up to the fact that he or she is addicted to drugs, the first major step has already been taken.

Experts agree that acknowledging there is a problem and that treatment is needed is the catalyst for recovery, but it is not the only major factor that needs to occur. With a varied selection of treatments to choose from, he or she must also decide which one would be best. For many, residential drug treatment is the best option.

Residential drug treatment is the method which most of us imagine treatment for drug dependency actually is. In truth, it is a very common and very successful form of treatment. For almost half a century, it has been used by tens of thousands of people as a way to finally break their addiction and return to a normal, healthy life.

In effect, the patient is removed from their lifestyle until they reach a stage in their recovery which suggests they are independently capable of staying clean. A patient lives in the drug rehabilitation center, often for a prolonged period of time, and in doing so is far from the circumstances and people that previously tempted them into drug use.

A residential drug treatment program is designed to make the transition as smooth as possible. Patients are encouraged to become active. Some residential treatment centers are actually run by the patients, as they do the cooking, cleaning and maintaining of the center themselves. Also, the treatment allows for patients to participate in a variety of activities such as disciplined sports (judo, boxing, karate etc), arts and crafts, designing and many other things.

The idea is that the patient recovers pro-actively and in a highly supportive and positive environment that is also completely drug-free. Within this community atmosphere, they can re-learn the skills needed to live a drug-free life on the outside, which is where they must eventually return.

However, all this is not achieved easily, with many sacrifices made by the patient in order to make a full recovery. Besides the withdrawal symptoms a patient can suffer, there is also the difficulty of being separated from what is familiar to them. That is why residential drug treatments are very carefully structured, with particular care taken to observe the progress of a patient. A course of treatment is divided into different stages, which the patient must progress through before reaching the final one and returning to the real world. It means that it can be a long and arduous journey for a patient.

Compared to the alternatives of outpatient and inpatient treatments, residential treatment is seen as the most progressive as it takes on a more nurturing role. Inpatient treatment is often short-term and restrictive (in hospitals for example), while outpatient treatment can see the patient continually surrounded by temptation. Living and recovering in a community, away from temptation and amongst similarly focused people, gives the patient the best chance of changing his or her life for the better – and for good.