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Posted by: raysny on 2009-11-11, 07:36:06
Few pay for rehab out of pocket, they are able to charge obscene amounts of money because insurance or Medicaid usually foot the bill. They stay in business by spreading the myth that people NEED rehab and AA in order to quit. Over 90% of rehabs are AA (12step) based, the rest are almost all Narconon (Scientology based) or religion based. Here is a list of 48 types of alcoholism treatments, ranked by effectiveness: behaviortherapy.com/ whatworks.htm Note that Twelve-step facilitation (rehabs) is in 37th place, AA 38th. AA has about a 5% success rate, the same as spontaneous remission, or quitting on ones own. "Another estimate is that at least 50% of alcoholics eventually free themselves although only 10% are ever treated. One recent study found that 80% of all alcoholics who recover for a year or more do so on their own, some after being unsuccessfully treated. When a group of these self-treated alcoholics was interviewed, 57% said they simply decided that alcohol was bad for them. Twenty-nine percent said health problems, frightening experiences, accidents, or blackouts persuaded them to quit. Others used such phrases as "Things were building up " or "I was sick and tired of it. " Support from a husband or wife was important in sustaining the resolution. " Treatment of Drug Abuse and Addiction — Part III, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, October 1995. The system we have is broken, not because of the huge cost of existing treatment, but because the type of treatment being offer boils down to faith healing. They teach people they are powerless to do anything about their drinking, that God will grant you a day by day reprieve if, and only if, you work their program properly. They also teach people that they are not responsible for their addiction, that they have a disease. I spent almost twenty years of one and off AA attendance, along with four rehabs, unsuccessfully. It wasn't until I took responsibility for my addiction that I could take responsibility for my recovery. Rehabs are little more than indoctrination centers for AA/ NA. They even joke about it, saying that people spend thousands of dollars to find out they need free AA. They are staffed by people who major qualification is a year or more of sobriety through 12step treatment. Basically, they keep a person away from drugs and alcohol and keep them away from the people they used with and the places where they used for 30 days, while teaching AA dogma.Once a person is in AA, there is peer pressure to stay clean, but little else. |
