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Luxury Rehab

  • anonymous Asks ...
    anonymous

    Is there any disadvantage to going to rehab on a tropical island or beach spa type place. We are picking a place for my sister and the costs are outrageous. Beyond this, many of the places seem to be selling themselves more like vacation resorts than places of treatment. I don’t want to be the Grinch of the family bit it seems to me that she has lacked responsibility her whole life and everyone has always just picked up the pieces for her so she never had to learn to do it herself. Now she’s really messing up so she’s getting sent to rehab, but instead of getting sent somewhere serious, we are all looking over places with massages and private chefs. Isn’t there an advantage to going to a place that isn’t like a vacation? It seems to me she should go to the Salvation Army or someplace similar, so at least she can start to face the consequences of what she has become. Am I correct? Is there something I am missing?

  • Zelik Mintz Says ...
    Zelik Mintz

    Any rehab can be effective if the person who is dealing with addiction is committed to recovery.  Is your sister committed and ready for recovery or is she only ready if she goes to an inpatient rehab that resembles a luxury vacation?  If your sister only wants to stop using with the condition of pleasure and comfort, chances for recovery are slim. Rehab from addiction is neither easy or comfortable.  Addiction is self-medicating pain and recovery a very difficult struggle wherever rehab takes place.  If the motivation for recovery is not coming from the person dealing with the addiction, and the addict has conditions about what a rehab place provides, rather than being motivated by a commitment to stop using,  the focus is misguided and recovery not promising.

    Why is your family looking for places with massages and private chefs?  Is that your sister's requirements or your discomfort with the serious and difficult road to sobriety for her?  Are there co-dependent and enabling issues in your family?  There is no guarantee whatsoever that the more comfort gotten or money spent on an inpatient rehab will be more effective.

    At the same time, a place does not have to be uncomfortable or a punishment for addiction. And if yours sister is not ready to "face the consequences of what she has become" and do whatever it takes to achieve recovery, no rehab environment will be effective.

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