The Canyon

Are you watching someone you love struggle with drug and alcohol addiction? Have you been trying to figure out the best way to intervene and help your loved one get the medical treatment they need at a drug rehab center? Even if you can’t afford to pay for the full bill or even half of their treatment, there are ways you can help the addict in your life get treatment: a drug rehab intervention is often the catalyst that gets people the help that they need to stay clean and sober. Can you think of a more useful gift or a better way to start the new year?

Drug Addiction Treatment: Talking to Your Loved One

Chances are, the person you care about living with drug and alcohol addiction is well aware of that fact, at least on some level. Depending upon how long they have been abusing drugs and alcohol, they may not feel that their abuse has risen to the level of addiction. They may also claim that they are merely recreational users or looking for a good time. If you’re catching them in lies about how much or when they are using or if you find paraphernalia laying around that is used for deadly street drugs, then talking to them is the first step. Try and point out specific incidents in which their drug use has caused them big problems or hurt your personally. Explain that you are not judging them but that you want the best for them and that the life they are living now isn’t it. In many cases, just talking to your loved one is enough to get them to understand that they need help.

Drug Addiction Treatment Intervention

If talking to them doesn’t work, or if your loved one becomes belligerent when confronted, an intervention may be an effective and safe next step. By gathering together a group of people who care about the addict you love, you may have strength in numbers. Just like when you spoke to your loved one on your own, the focus of what everyone says to him or her should be on how their addiction is hurting them and others. Making them understand that without help, they will kill themselves with drugs is essential. When they fully grasp the severity of this concept, they will be more likely to get treatment.

Drug Addiction Treatment: Don’t Let Them Wait

The other goal of a drug addiction intervention is for them to accept help at a drug rehab immediately. To help them do this, you can find a drug rehab for your loved one ahead of time and pack a bag for them so that they can literally leave immediately for treatment if they accept your offer for help. Not tomorrow and not next week—right now. You should be prepared with transportation as well as an escort should they accept your offer and if they refuse treatment, you should be equally prepared to levy the consequences (i.e., they will have to move out or they will lose their job or their relationship).

If you would like assistance setting up an intervention or if you would like to pre-enroll your loved one in treatment at The Canyon, call us today.

A story was recently published about a man in England who reported to police that he purposely committed a crime just to get the drug addiction treatment he needed and knew would be available in prison.

It’s a sad statement on health care availability when you feel like you have to rob a convenience store in order to get medical treatment. Unfortunately, even in the United States, it is often easier to get the help you need that way than to try to figure out how to pay for it.

Paying for Drug Addiction Treatment: Crime

Though it isn’t recommended that you perpetrate a crime specifically for the purpose of receiving the drug addiction treatment you need, it certainly seems that the laws are set up as if to say: “We only believe that your drug addiction is serious when it costs us money and since it costs less to put you in a drug rehab than prison, we’ll wait until you commit a crime before we help you.” California, for example, has had great success with the Prop 36 program that offers drug rehab to those who are charged with possession or other nonviolent crimes attributable to drug use. Though the California prison system is still extremely overcrowded, it is considerably less so than it would have been otherwise.

Paying for Drug Addiction Treatment: Insurance

If you do have insurance, make sure that you look closely at your policy or contact your insurance agent. Even if the whole bill isn’t covered, part of an inpatient drug rehab problem or the full cost of specific treatments may be included. For example, some health insurance companies will pay for outpatient treatment programs only or they will only pay for a detox centers if you have a doctor’s verification that you are physically addicted to a drug and experience withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it. Insurance companies can be tricky with the language in their policies, so make sure to verify what you are eligible for before you enroll.

Paying for Drug Addiction Treatment: Family

Asking your family for a loan at the end of drug addiction is going to be difficult, if not impossible. You’ve likely abused any resource available from family and friends through the course of your drug addiction and no one wants to get burned twice. If anyone you know even has enough money to help you pay for what you can’t, consider asking them anyway. Do not allow them to give the money to you but ask them to pay the drug rehab facility directly. Set up a repayment plan for after you graduate and let them know that you intend to honor your debt by signing a written contractual agreement obliging you to pay. The worst that could happen? They’ll say ‘no’ and you’ll be no worse off than you are now.

So did the English man I mentioned above get the drug addiction treatment he sought when he robbed the convenience store? That still remains to be seen. The latest update is that he was being arraigned on charges of robbery, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment and theft. His bail is 50,000 pounds… more than enough to pay for drug rehab. 

The Recovery Project, sponsored by A&E television networks, just might be the largest initiative ever to reach out to addicts and families in need of this kind of specialized guidance and support. 

The press release on the show highlights findings from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to drive home the importance of the project: “More than 22 million Americans struggle with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, yet fewer than ten percent receive the treatment they need because of stigma, lack of awareness or cost.” 

So how does one lead an addict from the depths of despair to the shores of hope and recovery? 

Build a Bridge toward Recovery

On September 27 last year, thousands of individuals, families, friends, treatment partners, advocates, celebrities, and community leaders linked arms and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge showing solidarity in the fight against the stigma of drug addiction.  As a symbolic vow to support those on their quest through recovery, the human bridge progressed towards Lower Manhattan and rallied on the grounds of City Hall Park.

“Inspired by the incredible response from viewers, individuals and families in recovery to the Emmy-nominated documentary series Intervention… The Recovery Project strives to shed light on the scope of the addiction crisis, and its impact on society,” the release said.

Partner With Organizations Committed to Successful Recovery

A&E is joining forces with nation-wide non-profit groups and federal agencies to spread the word about this multi-year campaign through education, personal stories, recovery and treatment options, plus resources to help parents connect with their kids in an effort to prevent drug abuse:

• NCADD – National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
• SAMHSA – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• PDFA – Partnership for a Drug Free America

Participate in Awareness Rallies or Organize One in Your Hometown

They are doing the rally again this year on September 12, 2009. To become a part of this historic nationwide event, just visit www.therecoveryproject.com to sign up.  If you can’t make it to New York, you can rally your own town to join forces against the stigma of addiction by hosting your own march for solidarity.  Spread the word through your town’s newspaper and local radio station, then visit Recovery Month to add your event to the history books.

Tell Us: Do you think this is an effective way to raise awareness about the issues that drug and alcohol addicts face?