Drug Rehab Programs Must Address Mind, Body and Spirit

Although many people believe that addiction is simply a psychological disease or a spiritual affliction, one that could be handled simply by the force of sheer willpower, those who suffer from addiction know better. Many drug rehab programs focus on only the psychological aspects of addiction and believe that by handling the addict’s mind the addiction can be cured.

However addiction affects the mind, the body, and the spirit and all three of these aspects must be addressed in order to overcome addiction. When only the mind has been addressed in a drug rehab program, then the addict is still left with physical and spiritual afflictions caused by addiction. When addicts are told to turn their power over to a force outside themselves and that this is a necessary step in combating their addiction, the addict’s mind and body still suffer, and the likelihood of recovery is minimal.

Those drug rehab programs falter in that they fail to address the mind, the body, and the spirit. It is no wonder that so many drug rehab programs have such low success rates. 12-Step programs focus on the mind and the spirit by addressing addiction as a disease, one that an addict is powerless over. Other programs focus on only the mental aspects and believe that through therapy that addresses the reasons why an addict turned to drugs then an addict can cure the addiction. Still other programs simply believe that after a few days of detoxification, the addict’s body is recovered. None of these methods, although helpful in the short term, provide a long-lasting solution to addiction.

A successful drug rehab program understands that the mental, spiritual, and physical aspects must be completely handled in order for the addict to overcome addiction, and that it is an investment in one’s future life.

Mentally, the drug rehab program must provide a safe environment where the addict can deal with the issues that led him or her to drugs in the first place. In addition, the drug rehab program must help the addict change thinking patterns so that when faced with challenging issues, the addict has new and productive ways of dealing with life.

Physically, the drug rehab program must provide a detoxification program that thoroughly cleanses and returns the body to a state that is not affected by drug residues that remain in the body. If a drug rehab program does not offer a full and complete detoxification program, the addict will continue to be triggered or negatively affected by the residues left in the body.

Spiritually, the drug rehab program must understand that each individual addict perceives the spirit in a different light. The drug rehab program must respect these differing beliefs and allow the drug addict to follow his own opinion and belief system about what the spirit is, regardless of what anyone else believes.

The drug rehab program that addresses the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of addiction will give the drug addict the power to completely overcome his addiction. His mind will be healed. His body will be cleansed. His spirit will be realized. And his addiction will be left in the past.