How low does one have to get in their addiction before they finally admit they need to go to a real serious rehab?
Pretty low, but even if you enter rehab in a serious state of mind and want to get sober, the statistics are pretty grim for serious alcoholics and drug addicts. My therapist at the rehab I was in went to rehab himself 13 times, and the relapse rate for people exiting rehab is about 60% within the first year alone.
The problem is that addiction is something that cannot be cured. Once you are truly addicted you are, and always will be, an addict.
I experienced this first hand when I relapsed. One of the odd things about the relapse was that it picked up pretty much exactly where I left off. I thought, for some reason, that my drinking would be more tame, more manageable when I picked up the bottle again, but it went directly back to me drinking half a handle of whiskey a night and even exceeded my own previous lows.
It is important to note that serious addicts and alcoholics aren't people who are using their substance of choice because they like it too much. It is almost always masking some internal defect or trauma, it helps hide the pain and works to relieve something no other substance or activity could relieve.
I always drank because it worked, and it worked really well, until it didn't.
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