It is always advisable to follow doctor’s instructions, no matter the treatment. This stands true for addiction treatment. There are cases where a patient leaves rehab against medical advice or AMA. This hinders recovery and should be avoided as much as possible.
Leaving Rehab
One can leave rehab whenever they wish to but that’s not advised by the centers. No one can force someone to stay at a rehab but if one wishes to leave before complete recovery, the officials will try and convince them to finish the entire treatment. Leaving rehab AMA results in incomplete treatment posing higher risks of relapse.
The treatment programs are about 30 to 90 days but the recovery rate varies from patient to patient and the experts recommend staying longer to avoid relapse.
People Likely To Leave Rehab
According to the studies, people who are likely to leave rehab are:
- Younger generation
- Missing insurance coverage
- Males
- History of substance abuse
Leaving rehab early has consequences. One should think wisely before taking such a decision because there are chances that a patient leaving AMA might return to treatment within 30 days.
Reasons For Leaving
It is usually difficult for someone to accept their addiction and it’s even more difficult to convince them for a treatment. There could be various reasons of leaving rehab AMA like:
- Forceful admission
- Withdrawal symptoms
- Denial
- Homesickness
- Work loss
- Overconfidence
- Overpowering negative emotions
Dangers Of Leaving Rehab
Leaving rehab clearly means leaving the treatment incomplete. Such an action could lead to several consequences like:
- Increased chances of relapse and overdose
- Possibility of readmission
- No access to post treatment benefits
- Unlearned skills to remain sober
- Employment issues
- Bitter relationships with loved ones
- Death due to relapse or overdose
Prevention Against Leaving Rehab
It is always difficult to keep your loved ones in rehab when they never wanted to be admitted. But it is important to convince them to stay and complete their treatment. There are several ways to prevent them from leaving rehab such as:
- Reminding them of their life before addiction
- Make them feel loved and encourage to stay even if it’s for one more day
- Tell them about their future post treatment
- Talk about positive learnings while in the rehab
- Seeking treatment team to allow them to talk to loved ones who can convince them to stay
Rehabs can also provide personalized treatments catering to particular needs of their patients. They can give therapies like yoga, music, art or even animal assisted to incentivize patients to continue treatment.
When A Loved One Leave Rehab Anyway
Despite all these suggestions and efforts, if a loved one decides on leaving rehab anyway, one should support their decision. It is not possible to hold someone in rehab against their will and loved ones are bound to feel bad about it. But keeping your mind stable helps the most in such moments.