How long do I stay in a drug

rehab program?

In deciding on the length of stay within an inpatient facility for yourself or a loved one, there are many choices. Some programs are 3 days long, some are 18 months long. What is the difference? it is not uncommon to make the mistake of thinking that recovery can be a "quick fix".

To understand the nature of treatment today, it is important to know the recent history of treatment that eventually led to its current condition. Prior to 1960, a majority of drug and alcohol treatment facilities were open-ended or without any set time frame, and usually your insurance company paid for most of the treatment. If it took you 3 months to get sober and stable, you stayed 3 months, but ideally you didn't leave until you and your case manager came into agreement. In 1957, the American Medical Association declared alcoholism a disease and insurance companies had to take even more responsibility for addiction. Addiction became more "socially acceptable" and helped to take away the stigma attached to it. People that weren't necessarily inclined to enter treatment now did so willingly. Treatment centers began to fill up and insurance companies that were paying for all this influx of new clients began to lose money...lots of money. As a reactionary backlash, within about a 5 year period, a majority of insurances companies collectively got together and altered their benefits so that they were only required to pay no more than 28 days of inpatient treatment.

And so was born the "28-day" program of the 1970's and 80's. Treatment programs that were once open-ended either created new programs or readjusted themselves into 28-day versions of themselves in order to accommodate those with insurance benefits. Unfortunately, the creation of shorter term programs led to a general decrease in overall success rate. A majority of those that entered a 28-day program without receiving additional treatment ended up relapsing and then returning back into an additional 28-day inpatient program. Interestingly enough, a decision by insurance companies to limit benefits to 28 days ended up created a situation where they lost even more money due to chronic relapses and abusers re-entering treatment again and again.

In the last 10 years, insurance companies have responded to this by limiting benefits even more. Now the average coverage for a insurance beneficiary is 14 days of drug and alcohol inpatient coverage only once per lifetime. And now we have the 7-10 day program. The doesn't currently exist a comprehensive case study of the success rate of those attending only 7-10 days of inpatient care. Some studies suggest the number to be around .01%. Of course, many factors need to be taken into consideration (ie: aftercare, 12-step programs, therapy, outpatient, etc)

The bottom line..
In almost every major study done on treatment in recovery, the longer the stay the more effective the treatment. Understandably, in some cases, a lengthy stay is not practical nor possible. Call now and let us help to guide you through a solution that works to give you the greatest chance of long-term recovery.