BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Religious Craziness Sends Man Back to Jail

F.O.A.D.

On 8/28/13 11:57 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Aug 2013 17:40:56 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 8/28/13 5:35 PM, wrote:

OK your turn. Show me some peer reviewed studies about the 10 year
success of "rehab".

I'm sure you can do your own lit search. Have at it.

I have not found any reliable study that says any significant number
of substance abusers come out of rehab, therapy or any or any other
program with a 10 year success rate. There are a few people selling
rehab who say they have amazing success rates but they are selling
something, not doing research.

It was your contention I was wrong. Prove it.

I would accept 25% as a win for you if it was a real study that
actually tracked patients for any significant amount of time.
(not just people who stopped coming back)

I only have to look at the half million or more addicted homeless to
see all is not going well in paradise. That does not include those dis
functionals who are living with friends or family.

Then you have the addicts who are working at some level of
functionality and the high functioning addicts.

Once again, you are exhibiting an inability to think abstractly. Drug
addiction is not an illness like, oh, the usual childhood diseases that
can be prevented by an inoculation or that caught once, tend not to
haunt you again. Drug addiction treatment, once administered, does not
mean the individual who receives it has lifetime or even 10-year
protection from a relapse.

Drug addiction is a chronic disease, and it can be managed properly and
successfully. But relapses are more than possible, as they are with
other chronic medical illnesses, such as asthma or hypertension. And
because there are strong possibilities of relapses with drug addiction
doesn't mean treatment is a failure. As with other chronic illnesses,
treatment for drug addiction necessitates lifetime evaluation and
perhaps modifications when necessary. If you suffer from diabetes,
proper treatment can help you get it under control and most of the
symptoms will disappear, and the treatment is successful.

What happens if you discontinue treatment for your chronic disease? It
probably returns and you have a relapse. When a drug addict relapses, it
doesn't necessarily mean the treatment he is receiving (or ignoring) has
failed. It may just mean the treatment needs to be re-started or changed.

Many people with certain mental/emotional illnesses get relief with a
combination of medications and therapy that help them feel better and
regain control of their lives. Some of those illnesses will require
patients to take medications for the rest of their lives. After a while
on meds, though, some patients talk themselves into believing they are
"cured," so they stop the medications. So, what happens? In many cases
the symptoms of the mental/emotional illness returns.

Oh, and once again, 12-step programs are not treatment…they provide support.