What is fascinating me now is this TC and AA Vine. 1st question..Who started this connection/introduced AA. 2nd question..Why they (originators) felt it would work. 3rd question..Why it went so wrong.
This is a partial post but I believe dives right into the point folks have been making and what I would like to delve into more.
http://www.national-drug-rehab-treatment-centers.org/Since the 1970's we have experienced a much greater need for drug rehab and addiction treatment in the United States and Canada. This increase in demand for drug rehab and/or alcohol and drug treatment centers comes from an addicted public that dramatically increased in numbers, and continues to do so with the introduction of more pharmaceuticals into the general marketplace. But the more important cause for the rapid rise in the establishment of drug rehab and addiction treatment centers evolved due to the money that was invested into the drug rehab and treatment industry.
In the beginning, most of this money came from health insurance companies that had added a provision for drug rehab or addiction treatment in an overwhelming majority of their health plans. This started with Nixon's War on Drugs and was enhanced by Reagon's War on Drugs and the passing of laws regarding drugs in the workplace.
The problem lies in the fact that drug rehab and addiction treatment centers were established well before there was any workable science to deliver a technology that would handle addiction successfully - and the reputation of addiction treatment has suffered because of the need to quickly establish drug rehab centers without doing the due diligence necessary to find out what clinical actions work and what doesn't. Once these drug rehab and addiction treatment facilities were opened and "serving" the public, they have continued to do their same ineffective treatment without questioning their methods or outcomes. Insurance companies brought in Managed Care consultants to limit the amount they were spending on inpatient and residential drug rehabs or addiction treatment centers, so many of the beginning centers were not able to survive a fee-for-service atmosphere. Most business would work on creating a lasting and real product in order to say competetive, but in drug rehab and addiction treatment, most have yet to question their basic tenants, but rest comfortably on the idea that drugs are becoming more addicting and addiction is a disease of relapse.
:shamrock:
There is that disease word. Thanks to are wonderful Insurance Industry they needed to keep there cost down so you can forget about any quality care. Counseling that Femanon and Anne talked about they would like to see forget it. Ship them off to TC's or whatever.
:shamrock:
Rather than question their approach to treatment, these ineffective drug rehab and addiction treatment centers have redefined the "disease" and the behaviors of the clients, but most of this name changing actually justified the facts that addicts were not getting well. Because it has been labeled a "disease" that is supposedly chronic... meaning it last forever, and progressive, meaning that even if you stop taking drugs, the "disease" progresses with time. Just imagine being a young adult and being caught up in a drug addiction that is ruling your life, and you finally go to addiction treatment, with the idea that you can now begin to be sane and productive, but they sell you the "disease model of addiction".
:shamrock:
This is exactly why I do not like the classification disease, there is no accountability. I agree with you Femanon. AA idea is to explain that you will never be able to drink normal. Now I believe there is some truth to that because I have tried after not drinking for a while and I ended up drinking abusively again. No is this pre-conditioned I'm not sure but my guess would be yes.
:shamrock:
Drug addicts are already depressed about their plight, but they are holding on to some hope that they can turn their lives around. Then they are told by authorities who are supposed to know addiction, that they have a chronic and progressive disease. It is no wonder that many drug addicts go through treatment counting the days until they can go to their dealer for more of the same. Our counselors have talked to numerous drug addicts that have related this thinking when they were attending drug rehab.
:shamrock:
Hmmmmm.....Sad.
:shamrock:
These early drug rehab centers were basing their treatment on the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, which was a marginally successful approach to helping alcoholics recover from their addictions, but was not intended to be an institutionalized form of therapy within a drug rehab center, and by altering its basic tenets, these centers did not deliver the results that one would anticipate if they were seeking a cure to their addiction. For about ten years, this didn’t seem to be a problem as drug rehabilitation was finding clients and making money. This pattern declined in the late 80s and into the 90s and tough drug laws resulted in a skyrocketing jail and prison population full of drug-related offenders.
:shamrock:
This is what I have been trying to say although not intellectually so I could be understood. These TC's, Straight and others changed the basic tenants/principles of AA and tried to teach principles that were based on a suggestive idea not forced.
:shamrock:
In time, the insurance companies and other financial sources became disaffected with these poor results and measures were taken that limited the amount any individual insurance company would pay for addiction treatment and the number of treatment episodes anyone could have within a given year and/or the life of the policy. Most of these drug addiction treatment centers had less than 10% of their graduates leaving their care and being free of their addiction. This meant that over 90% returned to their destructive behavior and, it was just a matter of a short while before these graduates were looking for help again. It wasn’t uncommon to find addicted persons that had attended these types of treatment multiple times, with many going through more than five episodes of treatment and using up all of the money that family could dedicate to their recovery.
:shamrock:
Under Bill Clinton I believe this changed.
:shamrock:
The pendulum has recently begun to swing back in the other direction, though, and legislative and advocacy efforts are once again turning toward drug rehab centers and addiction treatment centers as opposed to incarceration. The money to pay for the drug rehab centers is still being figured out, as insurance companies don't offer as much coverage and there is only a relatively small amount of government dollars available for addiction treatment, especially quality drug rehab centers that get results.
:shamrock:
As usual.....
:shamrock:
Danny
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