Rehab or Treatment which Comes First
Let me just say at the start that this is not about whether or not people should attend treatment, but about what we call it and why that is important to all addicts, alcoholics and their family members.At least monthly if not weekly or even every couple of days a story hits the media of some actor or actress, athlete, talk show host personality, or Ms. America going to “alcohol or drug rehab.”
But why do we call it rehab. Lets think for a second about the term rehab. It’s derived from the term rehabilitate, which means what? Well, according to what is no doubt the most authoritative source on the English language Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, it means “1 a : to restore to a former capacity : REINSTATE b : to restore to good repute : reestablish the good name of.”
Is that really what it is all about. Restoring someone’s reputation, or reestablishing their good name? I am not even sure that it is about restoring someone to a former capacity, because let’s face it. In that former capacity are many of the factors that lead to the spiral of addiction.
Now I am not saying that there is a cure for alcoholism and drug addiction. Clearly at this time, there’s not. But, it is a disease and it may be the only disease that one goes off to rehab for. We don’t rehab cancer, diabetes, or coronary diseases. Why not, well because they are diseases. And we don’t rehab disease we “treat” them.
Imagine a news anchor saying “Today, actor (insert famous actors name here) was admitted to rehab for lung cancer.” You would never hear it.
When someone goes to alcohol and drug treatment the primary goal is to get treatment for a disease. A disease that is chronic and persistent and often deadly, in the way that many other disease are.
In the wake of addiction and alcoholism one often ends up trashing their good name and positive reputation, which need rehablitating, but before that process can start one needs treatment. Rehabilitation is another process alltogether.
