Numerous findings, especially among people who recognize their alcohol or drug problem, show that treated individuals achieve higher remission rates than untreated individuals[i]. Okay, that makes sense, but why?
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What Do You Get from IOP Therapy?
Relapse into active addiction is associated, even among treated individuals, with a lack of self-efficacy and poor coping skills[ii] (skills like building self-esteem, acquiring and holding a job, learning healthy communication, and doing “the next right thing”).
These coping skills let people build self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is defined as the confidence to resist a drug or drink. In a study done by Rudolf and Bernice Moos, 62.4% of people in the helped group (those who sought treatment and aftercare) were remitted after three years. Compare that to the 43.4% of remitted people in the no-help group (those who tried to didn’t seek therapy or twelve-step support).
You’re Not Alone in IOP Therapy
People with alcohol and drug addictions usually feel alienated and isolated from the world. In either IOP or inpatient treatment, individuals learn they’re not alone. They learn there are others with alcohol and drug problems. More importantly, they learn that recovery is possible. They learn that being an addict isn’t a death sentence.
Treatment is also beneficial because it physically separates individuals from drugs. Most treatment centers also offer aftercare, whether it takes the form of IOP or twelve-step involvement. Twelve-step fellowships exist all over the world and GREATLY increase chances at long-term recovery.
Treatment gives people the tools to increase self-efficacy. In a Florida IOP, or any other type of IOP, these basic skills are put into practice. As an individual’s skills build, so does their confidence to resist drinking and drugs.
We All Need Support
On the other hand, those who don’t seek treatment don’t receive much-needed support. This support could be from an IOP therapy counselor, from twelve-step sober-supports, or simply from those also going through the program.
Say the person who didn’t go through treatment has a bad day. It’s much easier to justify and rationalize picking up a drug or drink.
In the same study by Rudolf & Bernice Moos, 60.5% of three-year remitted individuals from the no-help group had relapsed by the sixteen-year followup. Compare this to the 42.9% of individuals from the helped group.
What does this statistic tell us? Getting help, be it inpatient or IOP therapy, and continuing on with twelve-step support, gives you a 17.6% higher shot at long-term recovery.
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