An FAQ on inpatient drug rehabs in Dallas
In recent years, inpatient drug rehabs in Dallas have largely adjusted to meet the growing threats of the opioid and meth epidemics that have plagued the region.
In this article, we’ll answer questions Dallasites ask about inpatient drug rehabs, especially the ones located in North Texas.
What are inpatient drug rehabs?
An inpatient or residential drug rehabilitation program is a type of substance use treatment plan that requires participants to stay in a specified facility for a set period. These facilities are usually located a specialized treatment center or hospital wing.
Inpatient programs are often recommended for moderate and severe addictions or substance use disorders. People who participate in an inpatient rehab program are called residents, participants, patients, or recovering individuals.
Are all inpatient programs the same?
No. While all inpatient programs broadly share the same goal, which is to improve the health and well-being of individuals with drug use disorders, not all inpatient programs offer the same sets of approaches and treatments.
For instance, not all inpatient programs may have medically-assisted substance detox included. What all these programs do have in common, however, is that they restrict the movement of the program participant to prevent early relapse.
What is substance detox?
Medically-assisted detox, substance detox, and withdrawal management, all refer to the practice of helping an individual with a drug use disorder withdraw from their substance of choice.
Drug withdrawal symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable or even fatal in some cases. This can lead to high relapse rates and other serious complications should an individual try to stop using drugs by themselves. This makes it critical that most attempts to quit harmful substances should be done in a monitored medical setting.
Detox programs may also give certain types of patients, particularly those with opioid or alcohol use disorders, life-saving medical intervention as they go through excruciating withdrawal symptoms.
Do inpatient rehabs always include detox?
Substance detox is often associated with inpatient rehab. While mostly true, not all inpatient rehab programs do a medically-assisted detox and not all detox sessions are done as part of an inpatient program.
Detox sessions are often done in an inpatient setting to prevent the patient from harming themselves and others. Regardless, there are now several options for outpatient detox in North Texas. This is mostly because inpatient detox can be expensive and disruptive to the income of many individuals, making outpatient detox the only practical option for many cases.
However, inpatient detox is still the most recommended for serious substance use disorders. Strong cravings are likely to remain throughout the early recovery period, and selecting an inpatient detox program can effectively remove the individual from drug use triggers.
What benefits do inpatient rehab programs offer over outpatient programs?
In many cases, cravings for the substance of choice will remain strong for several weeks or months after the initial withdrawal period. Frequent substance use can affect the brain’s functioning and these alterations to the brain’s pathways take a significant amount of time to normalize — much longer than it takes to simply detoxify the body from chemical traces of the substance.
Dealing with these cravings can be very difficult, especially if a recovering individual continues to live in the same environment where their substance misused happened. Given that the brain is still “wired” to feel normal when on drugs during these first few months, early relapse is a common result of not going with an inpatient drug rehab program.
As mentioned earlier, being in an inpatient program can effectively remove the individual from substance use triggers that allow them to act on cravings. This gives their brain the time to readjust and heal. Inpatient rehab programs will also provide participants round-the-clock support and resources for helping them adjust during this difficult period, something that’s not usually possible with outpatient alternatives.
Can you cure addiction through inpatient rehab?
The word “cure” can be a very loaded term. Complete cures for any serious psychiatric condition are uncommon, and substance use disorders are no different. However, virtually all cases of substance use disorder are treatable can be controlled so that they have either a minimal or no negative effect at all on a person’s life. When this happens, a person could be said to have made a recovery.
Entering an inpatient rehab facility for a long-term program can significantly improve the chances of a patient enjoying a complete recovery, where little or no further therapeutic intervention is needed.
Is rehab the same as recovery?
While these two terms are often used interchangeably, sometimes by drug rehab centers themselves, strictly speaking, they are not the same. Rehabilitation means to regain a life that one had before they became sick, which in this context means, a life before someone developed a substance use disorder.
Recovery, on the other hand, is a term almost uniquely used by psychiatric practitioners that refers to being able to live a satisfying life, even given the limitations of one’s illness.
Can I get fired for entering a rehab program?
While business owners in Texas are within their rights for firing someone for using drugs while employed under them, there are federal laws, particularly the Americans With Disabilities Act, that protect people who are in substance rehab from getting fired. Employers generally cannot also fire employees for drug use that occurred before they became employed.
However, these situations can be an extremely complicated legal matters. Please seek the advice of a qualified legal expert to learn more about your rights in Texas.
Can I keep working when I join an inpatient rehab program?
The nature of most inpatient rehab programs may make it impossible or impractical to continue working once someone has signed up. Not only are participants not usually allowed to leave the premises of the rehab facility, but their communications with the outside world would are strictly limited to prevent contact with potential negative influences. Programs also tend to keep participants on a tight schedule so they don’t lose focus on recovery early on.
Unfortunately, this means most conventional jobs that require regular contact with coworkers and managers may be out of the question, at least initially. Participants in long-term residential programs generally are allowed more freedom as they progress through recovery, which opens up the possibility of a telecommuting work arrangement, among others.
However, some long-term rehab programs such as sober living houses and communities may allow or even require participants to be gainfully employed or actively looking for a job for the duration of the program. Other types of long-term rehab may also allow similar arrangements, depending on the circumstances.
Should I travel away from North Texas for rehab?
You’ll often hear or read recommendations to temporarily move away from your hometown for rehab. While there are some merits to that idea, moving away may not necessarily make much of a difference if you’re merely choosing between different inpatient programs.
So long as the program participant is unable to move out of the facility or contact people that might supply them drugs, it makes little difference where you do an inpatient program.
Where moving away may make a difference, however, is if the individual chooses an outpatient program or a luxury inpatient option. However, Dallas and the rest of the North Texas area have a decent selection of all kinds of rehab programs, which means moving to a completely different part of the country is not always necessary.
To learn about drug rehab options in North Texas, you can contact our team at Dallas Drug Treatment Centers at +1(214) 935-2287.
Is inpatient rehab expensive?
While inpatient rehab programs tend to be significantly more effective than equivalent outpatient programs, they do tend to be more expensive to run. The amenities, utility expenses, food, private rooms, therapies, salaries for a 24-hour staff, and even the location of the facility can all drive up the relative cost of an inpatient rehab program.
However, there are plenty of relatively affordable inpatient options here in the Dallas metropolitan area. Many inpatient programs receive public and private funding which helps make their cost easier to bear. Most of them are also well within reach for individuals who are qualified under Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance plans.
So like many medical treatments, inpatient rehab can be cost-prohibitive if you had to pay out of pocket. However, with insurance, most programs in North Texas may be within your reach.
What therapy approaches do inpatient rehab programs offer?
This all depends on the facility and the program. As mentioned earlier, not all programs offer the same kinds of therapeutic interventions. For example, some inpatient programs will include a detox right at the same facility where the individual will have their psychiatric therapy. Other programs may not necessarily have an all-under-one-roof approach and may have to refer individuals to different facilities for some kinds of treatment.
More traditional inpatient programs in North Texas may also include some kind of faith-based aspect to them as a core part of the curriculum. Others may not have a faith or spiritual component at all. Some programs strictly use evidence-based approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing while others might also include alternative or experimental therapies such as yoga, animal-assisted therapy, and massage, to name a few.
Will inpatient drug treatment programs also address co-occurring psychiatric disorders?
Not necessarily. It’s important to note that not all rehab programs can manage dual diagnosis cases. Unfortunately, co-occurring psychiatric disorders are now understood to be extremely common among individuals with a substance use disorder.
While more and more facilities in Dallas are now offering care for dual diagnosis cases, this is unfortunately not universal throughout the Dallas area. It may be important to get guidance from a psychiatrist and our team here at Dallas Drug Treatment Centers to find an inpatient program that could manage specific types of dual diagnosis cases.
How long does an inpatient rehab program last?
Ideally, rehab should last for as long as it takes for a patient to heal and develop the necessary coping skills that will prevent a catastrophic relapse in the real world. The National Institute on Drug Abuse maintains that rehab should last a minimum of 90 days. Long-term inpatient rehab programs can take anywhere from 6 months to a year, possibly more in a few cases.
However, because of the expense and income disruption associated with inpatient rehab, this may not always be practical for everyone. Short-term inpatient programs lasting more than two weeks and under three months are also available in the Dallas area. These can still be effective for the right people, especially for those with relatively mild substance use disorders.
Get in touch with our team at Dallas Drug Treatment Centers at +1(214) 935-2287 to find rehab programs that work for your recovery needs.
What should I look for in an inpatient rehab program?
The unique needs of a person with a substance use disorder may not be immediately obvious to a layperson. For that reason, qualified psychiatrists should first examine the affected individual before a specific rehab program is chosen.
Unfortunately, the cost of the program often ends up being a primary consideration. However, if one can choose, it’s important to find one that offers a set of different treatment approaches.
As with other psychiatric illnesses, there is no silver bullet for substance use disorder. In many cases, clinicians will have to try several different approaches before they can find one that works for the individual. If a number of approaches could be tested out at one facility, that saves the individual the trouble of having to move elsewhere to try a different approach.
Whichever program you choose for yourself or a loved one should not just be aligned with recovery goals, but with existing values as well. Many rehabs in the North Texas area are faith-based, which often means that a small number of program participants may respond poorly to the approach. Finding programs that the individuals have no fundamental objections to may be a good idea.
What involvement should my family members have in my rehab program?
Ideally, family members and other close relations should participate in family therapy and counseling. Studies have shown that family participation can be a good predictor of long-term recovery from substance use disorder. While family participation is largely voluntary, it is highly recommended that efforts must be made to attend scheduled family therapy sessions.
Find inpatient drug rehabs in Dallas, TX
If you’re in North Texas, finding inpatient rehab and treatment programs that will work for you or your loved one is just a phone call away. Call our team at Dallas Drug Treatment Centers at +1(214) 935-2287 for a comprehensive selection of inpatient drug rehab options near you.