The Pitfalls of Finding Drug Rehabs on the Internet

Having worked in the field of addictive disease for the last 10 years I feel compelled to communicate, generally, how difficult I have lately observed it to be for individuals and their loved ones to choose the right drug treatment setting for the identified patient.

Addictive disease is almost always a family-involved problem…if not by the impact the addictive behaviors have on the family unit, then by the initial development or exasperation of the disease in the sufferer. In data collected over the last 5 years, I have observed that approximately 54% of the inquiries to drug treatment centers are made initially by family members or concerned bystanders. Of the total admissions to drug treatment centers in the same time period, 85% of the treatment episodes were financed directly by family members or loved ones…which brings me to a point. Families are definitely more involved in choosing drug treatment centers then one might always suspect.

Even if often the identified patient is making the initial call to the treatment center, the family members or loved ones are closely observing the research process because inevitably they know the will be financing the care.

Unfortunately, the educational curve for the loved ones of the individual who are suffering is vast and varied. Often loved ones have no idea about addiction, co-dependency or the principles of recovery. The certainly are not directly versed in the Minnesota Model of Treatment…

More often than not, loved ones turn to the only resource they feel they have…the internet. Why this is could be debated incessantly, but my feelings are that families and loved ones are often ashamed of their situation. They might feel that they are alone in the same or in a similar way to how the identified patient feels about their addiction. In is an uncomfortable thing for families or loved ones to share publicly what they are experiencing…so the internet becomes a ready option to begin the outreach process.

So the internet comes into the field of play and this is brewing to be both the pinnacle and downfall of the treatment industry. Although some ethical centers will speak clearly to the caller and of the importance of proper, empirically-based treatment most web portals are set up purely as a mouse-trap.

These unethical centers make promises that are ethereal and intangible. They promise success rates which are erroneous and treatments which are harm-reduction in disguise. They promise the best in care and the “cure to addiction”…and people buy it…literally.

We as treatment professionals must stand up for what’s good and right and I’ll tell you why.

The internet is both the pinnacle and downfall of our industry because we have evidence that shows us all that more and more people are receiving treatment for addiction in the United States. (Ref.: NIDA Research Monograph 72, 2003) But the numbers of recidivism cases are also rising. In fact, data collected earlier this year in California suggests that returns to for-profit agencies increased nearly 20% in 2006. Interestingly enough the same data compiled for non-profit state-funded facilities did not increase in the same period of time.

This suggest that the traditional Minnesota Model employed by most state-funded programs is maintaining its steam…it also suggests that the false non-empirically based treatments sprouting up all over the internet are failing in their delivery of the promise of success and a cure.

How this affects the ethical few is that we are now not just fighting the disease of addiction but we are having to restore faith in treatment for families and loved ones. They have been scammed, the have been violated and they are not happy about it.

If were not careful, treatment will get a bad name. It fact is already developing one. We all know what types of treatment work. We know that individuated clinical care is important but not completely integral. We have to start telling people the truth…that the Minnesota Model works. If we want to clinically work on the underlying issues that prevent people from integrating into aftercare in the 12 Step programs that’s well and good, but we have to go back to doing the heavy lifting and not give in to the temptation of competing on the internet playing field which is to expansive to be completely ethical. We shouldn’t pretend that we have a cure or reliable success rates…we all know that we do follow-up with the clients via telephonic interview and that this data is untrustworthy.

We have to stand for what’s right and build our referrals network from the health care professionals…they and our sober alumni are our only demonstrations of program success. Play on the internet if you like…but be sure to play appropriately because at the end of the day, “lives are at stake!”