Alcohol Rehab Facilities: Inpatient or Outpatient?

One of the things to consider when one is looking at alcohol rehab center options is whether it is an outpatient rehab center that is to be chosen or whether it is an inpatient facility that is preferable. While both have their merits, there are several points of difference between alcohol outpatient rehab and in patient alcohol rehab:

Practical differences: It is not just a matter of where you lay your head to rest at night that makes outpatient alcohol rehab different from alcohol rehab center that offers inpatient facilities. With an inpatient facility one is required to commit to the program more totally; it offers a 24 x 7 residential facility that isolates an individual from the outside world. With an outpatient facility, one can actually carry on with their regular life in terms of work, school, family, etc.; it is part time so to speak.

Differences in commitment and focus: With an inpatient facility the focus is on recovery, with no distractions or temptations. One would be required to put life on hold for a bit until the alcohol rehab center is able to resolve the problems that one faces and until one is able to be functional without help. With a more severe alcohol addiction problem, an inpatient facility would be indicated, as against an outpatient facility. With an inpatient facility there is more emphasis on the process of recovery and everything is structured towards this. When one is part of an outpatient program the recovery process is only one part of the individual’s life with everything else chugging along as before. An outpatient is more exposed to temptations and has more access to the very materials that he or she seeks to avoid. There is therefore perhaps more of a chance that one may have a relapse; fall off the wagon.

The Cost Factor: Since the inpatient facility includes boarding and lodging apart from the alcohol rehab programs, therapy and counseling that it would also provide, this would be considerably more expensive than an outpatient one. So cost is a factor to be considered when deciding upon whether the correct choice for a given situation is an inpatient or an outpatient facility.

An inpatient facility will require you to prepare for the real world: While one is in an impatient facility one is cocooned from the ‘real world’ with ‘real world choices’ and one’s life is far more structured, controlled and guided by others being in charge. Though the gains in terms of recovery may be bigger, there is some amount of adjustment also required to be made when one ‘rejoins’ the real world and goes back to their regular life, picking up where they left off. In a sense one is then left to fend for oneself, and would typically be required to be cautious about the progress made, lest it suffer a setback. After the isolation of an inpatient facility, the outside world and mainstream life may require a considerable amount of adjustment.

So the choice that one makes should be made after considering all the different factors and the ramifications that they have on one’s particular situation.