Effectiveness of Early Treatment- Does early treatment work?
September 2005 - GCR Newsletter

In previous newsletters we have discussed how to pick a treatment center and how treatment centers work so this month we thought we would directly address the fundamental reasons for attending a treatment center and why earlier is better than later when deciding when to seek treatment.

It is a universal wish to have happiness and freedom from misery. Some of us have fallen into the trap of thinking that getting loaded through drinking alcohol or taking various drugs that we would find a shortcut to bliss. It seemed to work for a while and then it stopped working and we found ourselves in a life crisis and our shortcut to happiness was making us miserable.

The first step of an effective treatment center is to separate us from alcohol and drugs. We have crossed a line with alcohol and drugs and they do not work and are in fact killing us. The goal of treatment is to start from day one to learn new behaviors and thought patterns that will allow us to live free from drugs and alcohol. The treatment center wants you to return as a contributing member of society, living the life you choose even in the face of outside issues.

Now successful treatment centers are filled with incredible examples of men and women who have lost everything and have rebuilt their lives in sobriety. Individuals who came to treatment after losing their children, homes, jobs, cars, physical health and mental balance and have literally had all these things return to them and more.

But the question of this newsletter that we put to you is why wait until life’s worse tragedies strike before getting help. We’ve discussed the progression of drug and alcohol abuse and if you have a drinking or drug problem you know from your own experience that as abuse increases, problems increase and abuse increases.

The trick is to get help when you first realize you cannot control your drug and alcohol use on your own. Hopefully these realizations comes before the auto accidents, before you lose your job or your house, before your spouse finally gets fed up and takes the kids or before you really do serious damage to yourself.

We know the drinker or drug user is remorseful after heavy binges or runs and we know that he or she often pledges to stop and may sincerely want to but cannot without help. This is when treatment can be most effective.

Early treatment may also require an intervention because the consequences often do not outweigh the denial required to continue to drink and use. Full service treatment centers will offer intervention services and handle all the proceedings from initial contact to enrollment into treatment. Intervention with early treatment can be a powerful combination resulting in long term sobriety without hitting a painful “bottom.”

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