Drug treatment today takes on many different forms that fall under three basic categories.  There are residential drug treatment programs, outpatient treatment programs, and then everything else.  Everything else of course means a lot of things but includes support groups and therapy.  Residential drug treatment programs are the most intensive forms of treatment available, and are a great place to start if you’re just thinking about getting started in recovery from addiction.

Residential drug treatment of course gets its name from the fact that you live in the treatment facility during the course of the program.  This conveys a lot of advantages that speak to people new to recovery that the other forms of treatment lack.  Chiefly, it is extremely hard to relapse while in a residential drug treatment facility.  Any decent inpatient facility will take strong measures to ensure you don’t have access to any mind-altering substances you shouldn’t be taking.  So you get an automatic chunk of sobriety right off the bat, which is crucial since much of what fighting addiction comes down to is buying yourself time.

During your time in a residential drug treatment facility, you can begin to learn skills and tools that will help you to keep up your sobriety even after you leave.  For this reason, it’s a great way to get started in recovery.  It’s hard to treat a condition that when you are right in the middle of it and aren’t even sure what’s really happening.  Removing yourself from your own routine and staying in a new environment for a while is in itself a great way to get a better look at your life.  

Residential drug treatment centers vary in cost and are sometimes covered partially or entirely by health insurance.  If you have a choice in the matter, I recommend looking into finding a medically based treatment center.  These centers have a medical staff that can help address any medical issues you may be having that impede your recovery.  Also, look for centers that offer a variety of different therapies.  The more different treatment approaches you learn the more likely you’ll find some that work for you.

While the statistics on the likelihood of getting into recovery are overall low, your ‘odds’ of success are significantly greater if you start with a residential drug treatment facility.  Don’t let the low statistics deter you; while you may not find immediate recovery with your first try, you’ll more than likely at least make some serious progress, and with repeated attempts and follow-up treatments the odds are in your favor.