Admittedly, I am only familiar with what addiction does to friends and families, but does it make sense that so many rehab centers are in resort areas?

It seems like one where the summers are in the desert/swamp and winters are in the tundra, would be more motivating….

I do not think that punishment is in order for addictive behavior. There are varying levels of care for patients. Perhaps you have noted that celebrities frequently have addictions. Those folks are not likely to admit themselves to a dump. A good restful setting helps to contribute to a successful outcome.

Not to mention that it probably makes it a whole lot easier to recruit counselors, psychiatrists, and butt wipers.

Docs & Nurses & other medical staff would much rather work in a pleasant environment than for example, say maybe, Minot North Dakota or Great Falls MT the winter.
.

The rehab I worked at wasn’t a resort by any means. It was more akin to an underfunded state college. Do you want people to get well? That’s the point, right? Yes, there are some places that charge stupid amounts of money and only take primo patients that can afford to stay as long as they want. Then there’s other places that have stained carpeting and poorly patched holes in the wall where some meth addict on his second week had a fit because he was told to go to group instead of go smoke cigarettes.

I think the key here is you have no experience with it, and it’s hard to build a decent perception of something you have no experience with. We bag on people who vote for stupid gun laws all the time out of sheer ignorance and then we have threads like this. I predict some spectacular draconian ignorant posts will ensue.

Do a web search for the “Florida Shuffle.” It is pretty infuriating what goes on (and gets billed to the government) between dirty rehabs and “sober living houses.” Pensacola alone has an astounding number of them.

I have often thought a "boot camp" approach would do more good than a resort / spa experience. Seems like it would be a lot cheaper too. I don't know about making clients suffer temperature extremes.

quote:

Originally posted by John Steed:
I have often thought a "boot camp" approach would do more good than a resort / spa experience. Seems like it would be a lot cheaper too. I don't know about making clients suffer temperature extremes.

I had a few patients in their 60’s and 70’s who couldn’t walk without assistance.

quote:

I have often thought a "boot camp" approach would do more good than a resort / spa experience

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Those are rather plentiful but are reserved for teens and patients in their early twenties.

... Patients in a rehab can leave at any time. They're not forced to be there. Even if (for example) it's a condition of their probation or similar and there will be consequences for them not following through with it, it's not like they're locked in there.

Why would you want to make rehab a miserable place, which would merely encourage people to drop out and go back to using?

The rehab industry is full of operators who charge huge amounts of money but don´t guarantee any results. I often think that instead of going to a rehab place, people would get better results if they just isolated themselves on a farm that was hundreds of miles from where they could get the substance they were hooked on. But then people always want to find a easy way out of hard situations and many people that by paying money they will get results. I don´t think that is the case with these rehab places.

quote:

Originally posted by Cabellocabeza:
The rehab industry is full of operators who charge huge amounts of money but don´t guarantee any results. I often think that instead of going to a rehab place, people would get better results if they just isolated themselves on a farm that was hundreds of miles from where they could get the substance they were hooked on. But then people always want to find a easy way out of hard situations and many people that by paying money they will get results. I don´t think that is the case with these rehab places.

When I was 15 I got hooked on Morphine by the hospital I spent 6 months in.

When I found out what was going on, I decided to go cold turkey on my own. The doctor said they'd wean me off, but I told them I was done with Morphine and never touched it again.

If you want to kick it, you can, but if you don't want to bad enough, you won't. It's really that simple.

quote:

Originally posted by Cabellocabeza:
I often think that instead of going to a rehab place, people would get better results if they just isolated themselves on a farm that was hundreds of miles from where they could get the substance they were hooked on.

If you don’t change your thinking while there…then that won’t work, either.

Rehab is a product/service people buy, and a lot of the time with other peoples (insurance companies) money. The rehabs that look/are the most pleasant likely get the most business.

And if you believe the shrinks (and I can't say I entirely do), it's the quality of the psychiatric rehab services provided that counts. They're not trying to beat them into sobriety.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
If you want to kick it, you can, but if you don't want to bad enough, you won't. It's really that simple.

There’s a difference between chemical dependency and addiction. For an addict, it really isn’t that simple. If you weren’t breaking into homes and cars to steal things you could pawn, giving blowjobs in a parking lot, or robbing people to get that that next fix after you lost your job, your house, your family and everything you ever had in life, then you really have no idea what it is to be an addict. There’s a major difference. You didn’t have the mental illness, and so you cannot say how easy it is for someone who does. It’s that simple.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
If you want to kick it, you can, but if you don't want to bad enough, you won't. It's really that simple.

There’s a difference between chemical dependency and addiction. For an addict, it really isn’t that simple. If you weren’t breaking into homes and cars to steal things you could pawn, giving blowjobs in a parking lot, or robbing people to get that that next fix after you lost your job, your house, your family and everything you ever had in life, then you really have no idea what it is to be an addict. There’s a major difference. You didn’t have the mental illness, and so you cannot say how easy it is for someone who does. It’s that simple.

I would've done all of those things to get more morphine if I hadn't been flat on my back in the hospital. That's probably the only thing that saved me.

Unless you've been there personally, you'll never understand it.

I've been there.

Apologies is this seems unsympathetic, but that is a lesson I'd rather not learn!

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Unless you've been there personally, you'll never understand it.

You're drawing erroneous conclusions. If you want to talk to me about it, shoot me an email, I'll be happy to discuss everything with you openly, but I don't want to talk bona fides on an open forum.

Look, if you think I’m full of it, I invite you to find any meeting you like off this list, join, and share your suggestion of willpower and cold turkey with these people:
https://nastuff.com/

I like you, man, but you’re wrong on this one. Trust me on this. Once an addict or alcoholic, always an addict or alcoholic. It's not a phase you go through.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. Go to a few open AA or NA meetings.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Once an addict or alcoholic, always an addict or alcoholic. It's not a phase you go through.

Permanent, Progressive, and Fatal.