Why Drug Rehab Sometimes Fails (And How to Ensure Success)

Drug rehab success is not something to be taken lightly, and it’s definitely not something that’s achieved overnight. You might compare recovery from drugs to bodybuilding. Just like you’re not going to get that strong, chiseled body overnight, you’re not going to overcome a drug addiction after just a day or two of treatment. It would certainly be great if it worked that day – but then, if it was that easy, rehab programs wouldn’t be necessary in the first place!

Drug rehab is very serious business and it requires a lot of effort to emerge victorious. That’s certainly not meant to discourage you – rather, it’s meant to ensure realistic expectations because without them, drug rehab success is unlikely.

Why Do Drug Rehab Programs Fail?

There are many different reasons a rehab program might fail. One of the most likely one’s is a lack of commitment. That is a key factor. Some might refer to it as a loss of will power as well. Today, psychiatrists and doctors around the world who specialize in drug treatment may prescribe a number of programs, therapies, and medications respectively. The goal is to give you every opportunity to overcome your drug addiction.

While drug treatment programs, various types of counseling or therapy, and medications are often successful in terms of helping you overcome a long-term and challenging drug habit, commitment and determination are also a necessary part of the equation for success.

When you make the decision to check into a drug rehab program, you should bring those two things along with you. They have helped ensure drug rehab success over the years. Together, they’ll give you the will to succeed and break free from the clutches of drugs. If you are determined and are willing to fight it out, your dream of drug rehab success will become a reality that will substantially change your life for the better.

Other Issues That Lead to Failure

Two other reasons that some people fail, even after spending time in the best drug rehab programs, are 1) because they give up too quickly and 1) they then go back to their routine prior to treatment – the very routine that contributed to or enabled their addiction. As with any thing that is truly worthwhile – but also requires a lot of hard work – giving up just before the miracle happens all too often in drug treatment.

You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who’s gone through drug treatment who is going to sugar coat it and tell you it’s easy. It’s not. But if they successfully completed the program and have maintained their drug rehab success, they’ll also be the first to tell you that it is absolutely worth it – no matter how difficult it feels at first. If you don’t give up on the process, you’ll have a great shot at recovery.

But, if you go all the way through treatment and then go right back to your old lifestyle, you’re setting yourself up for the fast track to a relapse. You can’t hang out with your friends who continue to use, or go to places where drugs are readily available, and expect to stay clean for long.

Failure before Ever Starting

Of course some fail before ever starting. They consider drug rehab, but they never take that step to actually going into treatment. Many addicts cite embarrassment and disgrace as reasons for not checking into rehab. Sadly, they fail to realize that admitting the problem and going through treatment is far less embarrassing and disgraceful than their drug habit itself. If your concern is embarrassment, consider all the times your drug use has caused you humiliation in some way – wouldn’t you rather put an end to that once and for all and be proud of your drug rehab success?

Choose Success

Even though it may not seem like it, you’ve probably already done a lot of tough things in your life such as learning to ride a bike or drive a car, passing your first exam, getting through your first job interview, and so on. You may have thought you would never get through any of those. But, you did.

It is the same with drug rehab. You need to give it a chance – give it your all and consider all the ways your life will change for the better. With drug rehab success, you’ll finally get to see what you were missing while you were using.

Drug rehab success is NOT easy. Quitting and giving up are. If you had given up the first time you fell off a bike, you wouldn’t be riding one today. If you hadn’t studied hard for that really important exam, you wouldn’t have passed with flying colors. Those are all achievements in your life that you can look back on and smile. There can come a time when you will do the same when you look back on your drug rehab – remembering how hard it was, and proud that you pushed yourself to get through it.

Ways to Ensure Success

Most experts believe that majority of the drug rehab programs around the world succeed due to a strong commitment and determination, along with tremendous support. A good support network is crucial to your drug rehab success.

A good support system will help you hang in there when you want to quite. It can help you maintain that determination to stop using drugs once and for all. You support system may be comprised of your parents, siblings, friends, significant other, etc. However, when it comes to those you choose to support you through this ordeal, make sure they truly want nothing but the very best for you. When they put your best interests first, they will play a very important role in your drug rehab success and ongoing recovery.

While there are always exceptions, parents are often the strongest supporters you will have. No matter how old you are, you are still their child. You friends (the ones who are clean and sober) are also great a choice because there will be things that you can discuss with them that you may not feel comfortable talking about with your parents. And they’re your peers, so they can often relate to things that your parents might not be able to.

Keep in mind that no matter how great your support system, the outcome of your treatment ultimately depends on what you put into it. Your drug rehab success will depend on you in the end.

Stay the Course

Remember that life does not always give us many chances. There are many individuals don’t get the luxury of a second chance. Make full use of every single opportunity for success on your journey to recovery. It will be tough, it will be thorny, and it will feel horrible at times. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Draw strength and encouragement from your support system, as well as from the commitment and determination within you.

After Rehab – Avoiding Relapse

The true test of drug rehab success is whether or not you stay clean once you leave treatment. Remember the bodybuilding analogy? Unless you work hard to maintain that chiseled physique that you worked so hard to acquire, all your efforts will be nothing but a waste of valuable time and energy.

While going through rehab is one thing, staying away from drugs after treatment is another. Again, giving in to temptation is easy, but doing so would be to give up on yourself as well. Using again after all the struggle, all the pain and agony you went through to overcome your dreadful drug habit would be like setting fire to a home that you built yourself.

Once you have successfully completed rehab, make a point to get connected with a support group and/or a counseling program. When you are just out of rehab, there is always this lingering tendency to go back for one last hurrah, so to speak. If you do that, it can be very difficult to avoid continuing to use. Support groups and counseling programs can help you remain clean by enhancing your drug rehab success.

You may, in time, even become a keynote speaker on drug related issues as part of these programs. You would be able to help others undergoing the same ordeal as you promote drug rehab success.

As mentioned earlier, it’s also important that you religiously practice avoiding the company of friends or acquaintances who are actively using drugs. Friends can easily influence you to slip back into your old ways. “Just this once” is a very seductive line they often use.

Strive to find new friends who will support and encourage your clean and sober lifestyle, not ones who may wreck your life by derailing your recovery. If you had been part of a group that indulged in drugs, you must muster the courage to not go back after you’ve completed rehab.

Life is short. Recovery from drug addiction may seem like an endless road, but in the whole big picture it’s only a very small part of your life – and one that will make a huge difference in the quality of your future. The mistakes you made that resulted in your addiction don’t have to define you. Remember, it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up that matters. Drug rehab success depends on how you get up.

Make most of life and enjoy the journey, tough as it is. You can look back on it with pride, knowing you had the courage to succeed. Drug rehab success is worth all the hard work. Your life is precious – the sooner you decide to take that first step toward recovery, the more life you will have to enjoy once you become clean.