When choosing a rehab, duration of treatment is an important consideration. You’ll want enough time in treatment to establish a solid foundation for recovery. While detox is the first and most important step towards getting well, there’s far more that recovery entails. During treatment, you’ll learn about the nature of addiction and its underlying causes. You’ll also establish new and far healthier coping skills, and you’ll work on building your distress tolerance. Going to rehab is additionally an opportunity to establish a comprehensive relapse prevention plan, create long-term goals, and achieve a sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle among other things.
Many Ohio treatment centers offer rehab programs that last just 28 days. Attending a 28-day rehab is an excellent start. However, rehab programs that last 60 days or longer will give you more time to work on understanding and successfully managing your addiction. After all, with many substances, physical withdrawal can take one to two full weeks to reach its end. In a month-long program, many people spend the majority of their time struggling to get their bearings and largely focusing on detox alone. When it comes to limiting the risk of relapse and getting a truly good start, 60 and 90-day programs in Ohio are both great choices.
Duration of Treatment and Its Impact on Your Success
Longer treatment times often lead to more successful outcomes in recovery. As you learn more about the nature of addiction, you’ll discover that there’s a lot of work you need to do. The good new is that you don’t have to do all of this work during your initial treatment. If you choose to complete a 28-day inpatient rehab in Ohio, you can always follow this up with time in an outpatient program or by staying in a sober living home or halfway house. There are many ways to get the care, support, and resources you need for staying on course, even as you maintain your outside responsibilities, limit your out-of-pocket spending, and strive to achieve other goals. There are two major concerns with making a 28-day program your sole form of addiction treatment.
The first and most obvious of these is that the vast majority of 28-day programs are often spent detoxing. Second, although 28-day programs offer a comprehensive range of services, they aren’t long enough for the brain and body to fully heal. Whether you’ve been abusing drugs or alcohol, your substance abuse has had a major and potentially long-lasting impact on your brain’s chemistry. The chemical changes that occur in the brain during substance use are what create the feelings of being intoxicated or “high”. Using illicit drugs, abusing prescription medications, or drinking copious amounts of alcohol triggers the release of neurotransmitters. These “feel good” chemicals make people feel relaxed, happy, confident, uninhibited, and euphoric among other things.
Over time, they get worn out. During the initial stages of recovery, misfiring or otherwise low-performing neurotransmitters are what cause people to feel:
- Depressed
- Anxious
- Restless
- Unmotivated
Until dopamine and other neurotransmitters rebound, recovering addicts can also feel hopeless and suicidal. These largely psychological withdrawal effects are often referred to as post-acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS). PAWS can last for one to three months, but they may periodically recur for up to one full year. Some research suggests that dopamine rebound and the normalization of other neurotransmitters like it takes about 60 to 90 days.
Thus, enrolling in a 90-day rehab program is an excellent way to get the professional support you need as your brain heals from addiction. After a 90-day program has ended, you’ll likely have a much easier time making controlled, rational decisions, maintaining mood balance, and fighting off cravings and temptation. In short, it will be easier to keep your recovery on track. Treatment and recovery can look different for every individual. Some people succeed after completing a single, 28-day program and going on to receive limited post-treatment support. Others find that spending three months, six months, or even one year in treatment is essential. One of the best ways to gauge your needs for duration of treatment is by assessing your risk factors for relapse.
If you’ve tried and failed in recovery before, have a co-occurring mental health disorder, or have been using highly addictive substances, starting with a 90-day program in Ohio is probably your best bet. To find out more about Ohio rehab programs or to find a rehab center that’s right for you, call 833-820-2922. Our counselors are standing by.