Why Rehab Doesn't Usually Work

Rehabs would be a lot more effective if an addict introduced a new habit that is intended to replace the drug use into their lives before entering into a rehab, and before quitting using drugs.

Addicts are so used to doing the same thing over and over that without using drugs they feel completely out of their element when they try to stop. Addiction is a lot deeper than a physical craving. It is a deeply embedded habit. This isn’t new information, most people know that. But what they don’t realize or value enough is that an addict needs to start incorporating new habits before they go into rehab. Not just a few days before, like months before.

It takes about 90 days for a new habit to form. The addict needs to start training prior to rehab to replace their negative habit with a positive one. If they start introducing these new habits into their daily routine before rehab they have a much greater chance of succeeding. It is so much work to create a new habit. They have to get comfortable with the idea of this switch. When they stop using drugs, they will naturally feel depressed, anxious and overwhelmed. When we then expect them to also learn a new healthy habit to fill their idle time, it becomes too much.

Habits are a comfort for all us. It requires a great deal of commitment and energy to change even a basic habit., let alone one as deep addiction. A support group isn’t as effective when the participant is in the middle of feeling the crises. It makes the transition a lot harder, and makes the participant resist the change and dislike the rehab up front. They associate the rehab with something really negative.

Imagine your whole life you have been brushing your teeth every morning. When you brush them you feel good about yourself, more confident, cleaner and in a small, but general way, happier. Now, what if all of a sudden you were unable to brush your teeth. Instead, you were condemned for using a toothbrush, and instructed that you had to use a strong vinegar tasting mouthwash. In the long run you’ve been told will clean your teeth better, but it will take some time. You would not only have to deal with knowing you have bad breath, feeling plaque building up, and having last nights food stuck between your teeth. You would also have some feelings of shame and embarrassment that you haven’t been using the vinegar all along. And, you also have to get used to using this disgusting mouthwash daily.

You are going to start feeling negatively about yourself and become self conscious. You’re going to be resistant to the mouth wash and immediately hate it. However, the longer you go without brushing your teeth you eventually get used to the idea you’re never going to be able to do it again. You get used to the grime and dirty feeling and the nasty breath you have. And the longer you use the mouthwash you start eventually noticing the positive effects it is having. It eventually might work if you are able to stomach through those first couple weeks while you build up the new habit of using the mouthwash. This is what we are expecting addicts to do when going into rehab; stomach through the change and hope you can be strong and committed enough. Hope that a few people telling them all the bad things abouts the bad habit, along with knowing other people are suffering too, will make the change easier. Well, it doesn’t.

Now, imagine how much easier it would have been able to start using the mouthwash before you stopped brushing your teeth. The mouthwash would still be awful. It still wouldn’t provide the same satisfaction, but you still are able to do what you really enjoy doing for a while longer. You eventually start getting used to the mouthwash, and at the same time you are now more used to the idea that it will replace brushing your teeth. So when you do have to stop brushing, you are more mentally prepared for it, and the new habit doesn’t feel so foreign and uncomfortable. Now, you will be able to enter into the ‘toothbrushing rehab’ with a more positive mindset and get the support needed to get over the physical short term discomfort of not being able to use a toothbrush. You would be more receptive the information you learn and more motivated to keep giving the mouthwash a chance to succeed.

Habits are extremely difficult to change. Let’s be kinder and more understanding of those trying to face that challenge and give them support before they change, not just after.