What is Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment?

Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment is addiction treatment offered within a residential facility. While addiction and mental health treatment are always offered within the least restrictive modality of treatment possible, there are times when it is necessary to treat alcoholics or addicts on a residential inpatient basis. Residential Treatment offers medical care to those who need it during their recovery process, more structure within the recovering environment, and greater restriction of individuals being treated, imposing more behavior control.

Controlled Envioronment

• Addicted persons are sometimes unable to remain drug-free on an outpatient basis, especially if the drug involved is an extremely addictive substance such as crack cocaine or methamphetamine. The addicted person may also have medical issues that require he be treated within a hospital setting by skilled medical staff.
  Much of recovery for addicted persons involves the learning and establishing of new habits within one's life environment that do not include substance use. Since forming new habits can be a lengthy process, young people and teens are often vulnerable to peer pressure from old friends and acquaintances who encourage them to return to drug-use. Young people often return to drug-use under such circumstances, before new habits can be formed, justifying residential treatment as the best option for many of them.

Dually Diagnosed

• Many alcohol and drug abusers are also diagnosed with another mental disorder that needs to be controlled through medication, and initially monitored by mental health and medical staff. Such individuals are extremely vulnerable to relapse on an outpatient basis, because their mental health issues may cause some of the drug or alcohol use as an attempt to deal with the psychological and emotional disturbances also present. Residential Treatment offers the dually diagnosed individual concurrent therapy for her substance abuse and other mental health problem(s) simultaneously.

Routine

• Residential Treatment involves high structure and a daily routine to prepare recovering individuals for the demands of a drug-free environment that includes employment, as well as meeting other deadlines and expectations. Residential clients are usually expected to arise early in the morning, as is often required of those employed on traditional jobs, and maintain a consistent schedule throughout the day. Since substance abusers generally grow accustomed to avoiding responsibility and structure, the imposition of both in their life works to form new habits that are vital to their recovery process. Relapse to old habits is generally avoided long enough to allow the new habits and behavior to take hold.

Greater Access

• Residential Treatment offers 24 hour access to counseling staff and other support systems within the recovery environment. For those who also suffer from mental health disorders, or medical problems, in addition to addiction, doctors and other professionals are never far away. The residential treatment option also offers greater access to 12-step, and other recovery self-help groups that often meet on the premises, for the purpose of support and education about addictive disease. Residential facilities usually provide books and other publications about substance abuse for the support of their recovering residents. Residents would not enjoy the same level of convenience on an outpatient basis.

Safety From Relapse

• Residential Treatment offers more time to adjust to drug-free living for those who tend to be relapse prone. Many individuals who enter residential facilities have already attempted to remain drug- or alcohol-free on an outpatient basis before doing so. Residential treatment provides relapse-prone individuals with opportunities to experience drug- and alcohol-free living and learn relapse prevention skills to carry back into the outside world. After relapsing to substance use on many occasions during times of stress, anger, frustration or trauma, the individual learns through daily association and feedback from counseling staff and fellow recovering individuals how to deal with these problems through the development of new coping skills that do not involve substance use or abuse.

Vulnerable Populations

• Residential is often also the treatment of choice for other vulnerable populations including homeless substance abusers, pregnant or mothering women who abuse substances, and returning veterans of war who suffer from combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).