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Rehabilitation facilities can only guide individuals to stay sober

By Staff Writer

Drug addiction costs the U.S. nearly $484 billion every year, according to Drug Addiction Support, a substance abuse statistics site. Rehabilitation facilities can help individuals detoxify, but experts say that keeping former addicts from falling back into old habits is difficult.

The failure rate of drug treatment centers is not a reflection of the programs, according to the Zanesville Times-Recorder. Experts who help individuals sober up say that the problem arises when the addicts return home. The availability of drugs and the opportunity to go back to abusing substances often causes former addicts to relapse.

Rehab center clinical director Tyra Hixon works with addicts to help them learn coping mechanisms when they are faced with these difficult situations. Knowing when to say "no" may be the difference between an individual staying sober or relapsing. Hixon believes that the failure rate of rehabilitation facilities is partially based on whether addicts choose to make smarter decisions outside of the clinic.

Drug use has been linked to approximately half of the crimes in the country, according to Drug Addiction Support. Rehabilitation facilities can help individuals detoxify, but making healthy decisions can help former addicts stay clean.