Inpatient treatment is what most people imagine when they hear the term “rehab”. Inpatient rehab involves a patient living within a treatment facility for the duration of the first - and often hardest - part of their recovery.

Many inpatient facilities, or inpatient rehab centers, offer medicated detox programs and intensive counseling programs. Inpatient programs are the most structured and provide the least independence for patients, which is sometimes necessary for recovery.

Inpatient treatment is cited as the most successful recovery option for those recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. This means that of all those seeking treatment for addiction or alcoholism, those who complete an inpatient program are least likely to relapse. Sometimes, time away from your everyday life coupled with the constant attention of trained medical professionals is exactly what you need to reclaim your life from the grip of addiction or alcoholism.

There are many options for inpatient treatment programs around the country, and some are closer to Oak Harbor than others. There are also quite a few reasons that inpatient rehab may or may not be right for you. It’s important to learn as much as you can about this option and be sure you understand it fully before deciding on an action plan. The methods you choose to recover can make or break your future sobriety success.

Often, recovering addicts or alcoholics choose inpatient programs because they provide:

• Constant supervision. This decreases the likelihood of experiencing a medical emergency during the withdrawal process and lowers the likelihood of a relapse during your stay.
• Structure. Inpatient treatment programs provide recovering patients with a full schedule of activities and therapies. This means that patients have less time to worry about the substance they were abusing or addicted to and more time to think about the positive habits and concepts that they’re learning every day.
• Time away. Often, addicts and alcoholics need to remove themselves from their day to day life, friends, or other factors contributing to their problem to really focus on their recovery. An inpatient program allows them to do just that.
• Support. In an inpatient facility, you receive around-the-clock care and support from trained professionals. This can help ease withdrawal symptoms, distract from cravings, and keep you on track when the going gets tough. Overall, this is one of the ways inpatient rehab prevents patients from relapsing during the most crucial recovery period.

Others opt out of inpatient rehab because of the:

• Time. Attending inpatient treatment means taking time off of school, work, or other obligations. Patients aren’t usually allowed to come and go from the facility, and have a tight schedule full of therapy and other activities.
• Removal from Support System. For many people, being away from their friends and family during treatment can be difficult. In inpatient facilities, patients have limited, supervised contact with anyone outside the facility in the hopes of cutting off all contact with anyone who would encourage the patient to relapse.
• Money. Inpatient treatment tends to be all-inclusive, so you’re paying for things such as room and board and food in addition to the treatment itself. This can seem pricey to some, but many of the costs are payments you would be making either way.

It’s true that inpatient treatment has the highest success rates of any recovery method, but it’s important that each patient weighs their options and decides what’s best for them as an individual. The best route will depend on the type and severity of the addiction.

Unlike inpatient rehab, outpatient treatment programs do not involve the patient staying overnight within the facility. Outpatient rehab means that the recovering addict continues to live independently, but comes to the rehab facility for therapy appointments or other recovery-related activities.

Despite being less successful overall than inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment works well for many. An intensive program with frequent check-ins, though, is often ideal to truly overcome alcoholism or an addiction.

Just like inpatient treatment, outpatient rehab differs greatly between different facilities and programs. If you decide that outpatient addiction treatment is for you, you’ll have more decisions to make to choose the exact facility.

If you don’t know if outpatient rehab is the way to go for you, consider the reasons others have chosen for or against it.

Often, people choose outpatient rehab because of:

• Time. Someone can complete an outpatient program while continuing to go to work or school and otherwise continue their normal life.
• Money. Outpatient rehab tends to be cheaper than inpatient treatment because the patient pays just for treatment.
• Support System. Those with supportive friends and families often choose outpatient treatment so that they can continue to be around their loved ones as they recover.

Others decide that outpatient treatment is not for them because of the possibility of:

• Unsupervised Time. Any time spent outside of a treatment facility during recovery opens up the recovering addict to the possibility of seeking out and using their drug of choice. Outpatient treatment provides plenty of unsupervised time for recovering addicts to become relapsing addicts.
• Unenforced Appointments. Outpatient rehab patients are on their own when it comes to making it to appointments on time and there are any number of obstacles that could come up and prevent you from making this appointment. Without it, your willpower could begin to crumble and you could easily, once again, become a relapsing addict instead of a recovering addict.

Remember: Deciding that you want a treatment program with more structure than outpatient rehab doesn’t mean you’re weak. It just means that you want to get all the help you can to make your recovery as successful as possible.