Drug Rehab Treatment For Doctors?

Addiction is a mental health issue that is best treated by a team of professionals, including a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction. This is not the type of disorder that can be adequately addressed by a family doctor or general practitioner and very few active addicts can successfully treat themselves. Drug rehab centers have been set up all over the country to deal with addiction-related disorders.

Certain individuals (especially those who have access to addictive medications, routinely witness other people’s trauma, or have high-stress professions) are incredibly vulnerable to addiction disorders and may require even more specialized addiction treatment than members of the general population.

Doctors Reluctant To Enter Treatment

One such subset are physicians who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol and need to enter a drug rehab facility to recover, either voluntarily or at the request of an employer or licensing body. However, since the mere disclosure of the existence of the disorder can mean the end of a doctor’s career, physicians are often reluctant to participate in mainstream addiction treatment programs where anonymity is not assured and significant periods of time off work is required.

However, when addressing the fact that disclosing an addiction problem can threaten a physician’s professional career and reputation, one must weigh the potential fallout against the potential harm suffered by a patient who is being treated by someone under the influence, in withdrawal or just hung over. Keeping in mind the doctor’s oath to “first, do no harm”, the necessity to seek professional treatment for a drug or alcohol problem is obvious. Professional treatment programs can help physicians get the help they need while minimizing damage to ongoing careers.

Specialized healthcare for doctors as patients is not a new concept. Over the past few decades, states have sponsored their own physician health programs with the goal of encouraging doctors to seek treatment for issues that, in the absence of assured privacy, they would tend to keep hidden.  Addiction has been, and continues to be, one such disorder, where the professional stigma attached to entering drug rehab can follow a doctor even after recovery.

Physician Addiction Treatment Steps

The hallmark of any good physician health program will be an addiction treatment plan completely individualized to meet each doctor’s treatment goals in a way that best assures confidentiality and minimizes career disruption. During the initial evaluation, intake professionals at the physician health program will evaluate not only the level of drug or alcohol addiction, but also screen for co-occurring addictive behaviors and other mental health disorders.

There will often be a team of highly qualified addiction professionals working together to help the physician achieve lasting sobriety and, in some cases, may communicate with professional monitoring agencies when treatment has been mandated by a licensing body.

Support For Family And Staying Sober

In addition, support for partners, spouses, and children will be offered through specialized family programs. After initial recovery, the physician treatment center may offer continuing care to help the doctor maintain sobriety even after he returns to his job. This is especially important when the presence of triggers, such as medications, stress and patient trauma, will continue to be an everyday occurrence.

The most important aspect of physician treatment programs, however, is that they work. When matched with an appropriate drug rehab, doctors can get and stay sober even when their careers require them to be in the presence of powerful triggers on a daily basis. Recent research surrounding professional addiction treatment for doctors shows that this specialized type of care can dramatically reduce the rate of relapse after initial sobriety (as low as 3%) and help save careers. In fact, over 95% of participants in physician health programs successfully return to work. In comparison, the US population suffers a staggering 50% relapse rate.