The ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen has opted to remain in drug rehabilitation voluntarily following her initial 30 day-stay after a drug arrest in Colorado. According to RadarOnline.com, Brooke Mueller extended plans to continue treatment at an unnamed facility outside of California. This is Mueller’s first attempt at a long-term rehabilitation, and the high profile nature of her case has been drawing media attention since she first checked into rehab two months ago.
Although Mueller’s treatment is ongoing and not conclusive, media reports revealed that she has ended a 10-year smoking habit during her stay. This result of her treatment to date can be an indicator of future progress related to maintaining abstinence regarding drug use. In fact, numerous studies link smoking and the failure to maintain drug or alcohol abstinence. A 2007 study from a team at the University of California at San Francisco was drawn from a telephone survey of clients five years after treatment, and concluded that smokers were more likely than non-smokers to return to alcohol or drug use (64.0% vs. 48.3%) in the 30 days before the survey.
Among the most important guideposts for evaluating treatment options is the success rate of specific program or type of program. While results may not be typical for all who enter a given program, a success rate is a helpful tool. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40% and 60% of people relapse after a short-term drug treatment that lasts no more than 90 days. If Brooke Mueller remains in rehab one more month as expected, she will reach the 90-day mark.
The success rate of a long-term program is considerably higher, as evidenced by the clients who have completed a Continuum of Care at Burning Tree in Texas. In a four-year period ending in 2010, 73% of clients treated during that time remain sober today. In addition, 80% of clients who completed the Residential Treatment program remained sober continuously for a year or more, far higher than the 31%-53% of short-term rehab clients who did the same elsewhere.
The reason for long-term drug and alcohol rehabilitation’s higher success rate can be attributed to a few key factors. A well-designed long-term rehabilitation program offers a custom approach to each individual beginning with intake and the initial evaluation. This first step allows addiction specialists to determine a diagnosis and create a treatment plan that is appropriate for the patient’s addiction, history, cultural background, gender and other personal factors. In some cases, the evaluation may lead to a “dual diagnosis” in which an individual with a documented history of substance abuse has also been living with a mental health disorder that may be contributing to past failed attempts at recovery. During treatment, a variety of coordinated therapies, including psychological therapy and behavior modification, may be offered to the person with co-occurring disorders.
Since chronic relapse is an common occurrence among clients who have repeatedly tried short-term rehab programs, relapse prevention is an essential part of a long-term rehabilitation program. The long-term program staff treats a relapse as an inevitable part of the treatment and recovery process, while teaching the individual how to recognize warning signs and behaviors that lead to relapse. Relapse prevention also encompasses learning how to create a new support system that will help sustain a recovery attempt.
Burning Tree is a renowned long-term rehabilitation facility with two locations in Texas. Addiction specialists at residential facilities outside of Dallas and Austin treat people from all 48 contiguous states. To learn more about the drug and alcohol treatment services at Burning Tree, visit www.burningtree.com, or contact Burning Tree by phone at 866-287-2877.
Kinship Provides a Clue to Addiction Risks
A link between siblings and self-control uncovered by researchers in Britain is drawing attention from addiction specialists at Burning Tree, a long-term drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilty in Texas. The research shows shared brain abnormalities among brothers and sisters even when one only of the pair is drug dependent. This new, evolving understanding of how different behavior can result despite common brain features can enhance Burning Tree’s mission to treat chronic alcohol and drug abuse and educate clients and family members about the benefits of an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
Researchers at the Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at Britain’s Cambridge University scanned the brains of 50 sibling pairs, one with a cocaine dependence and the other with no history of chronic substance abuse. These scans were then compared to scans of healthy individuals. While previous brain-scan studies have documented noteworthy differences in the brains of drug addicts, this research noted the siblings’ common abnormality in the part of the brain controlling behavior, suggesting that these brain differences could not only precede the onset of addiction but increase a susceptibility to addiction as well.
Although published in a peer-reviewed general-science journal, the findings hold value in a practical application manner too. The research provides a basis for beginning to assess how one sibling avoided or resisted dependence while the other sibling did not. The results also suggest another variable, beyond family history of drug abuse and occasional recreational use of drugs, that can influence the development of an addiction due to affected self-control abilities. That kind of information can assist in tailoring more effective treatment and relapse prevention plans.
As advocates of long-term treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, the addiction specialists at Burning Tree in Texas provide resources for individuals seeking treatment and their family members. Residential care is available at locations outside of Dallas and Austin for persons from all 48 contiguous states. An overview of services can be obtained online at www.burningtree.com or by phone at 866-287-2877.