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We all know that what works for some doesn’t work for all. Human beings are all wired differently and therefore every single person is unique. Drugs or alcohol affect each person differently and the same goes for drug rehab.

John, for example, might have gone to a luxury treatment center on the sunny southern coast of California and decided to live a sober life afterward. Meanwhile, Sally may have attended the same luxurious rehab, but began using again when she left. If there was a known cure for addiction, this wouldn’t be an issue, but unfortunately there isn’t, so we rely on programs that are 12-step based (like Alcoholic Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous), age-specific, or other substance abuse recovery programs. Luxury rehabs often offer programs available to them, but for some, these programs don’t work. Why? Some reasons are below:

Reason #1: Rehab isn’t a vacation

You look at the websites for the beautiful rehabs and you are sold. They offer beachfront properties, 5-star amenities, amazing chefs and food, and comfortable living for thirty days. They look pretty good, right?

Luxury rehab is not all peaches and cream, however. Most programs – or most effective programs – require actual WORK. While the rehabs are often extremely elite, luxurious, and extravagantly designed, the reason for rehab isn’t to get a tan and relax. A luxury drug rehab’s number one goal is to TREAT substance abuse. Therapy sessions, 12-step meetings, physical exercise, and healthy living tools should be the main takeaways from rehab, not memories about how fun and amazing the beach was.

Reason #2: You can’t recover by running from your problems

If every drug addict or alcoholic fled to Florida or California and all of a sudden their addictions and other problems disappeared, there would be a hell of a lot more sober people. People who are serious about their recoveries are not going to go to luxury rehabs to run from their problems.

In fact, there’s a good chance they’ll do the opposite. Rehab is a place for people to confront their biggest issues and start working on solutions for them. If you’re going to a luxury rehab center strictly because you’re running from your problems, just remind yourself that your problems will trail right behind you.

#3: Attend rehab for the right reasons

As wild as this sounds, people actually go to rehab to find romance. Some even go to luxury rehab centers strictly to try to meet celebrities. If these are your motives for rehab, don’t bother even calling a center. Rehab is a place for healing and working on yourself, not for dating and meeting famous people.

Speaking of relationships, rehab centers definitely love it if you have family and friends who are concerned for your health. But if you enter rehab for anyone but yourself and think it’s going to work, you’re very wrong. Just because relatives want you to attend rehab doesn’t necessarily mean that you are ready to go. One major reason some rehabs fail is because people sometimes go just to get people off their backs and stop bothering them. You have to want to recover for yourself or it will never work.

These are some reasons why rehab might not work for everybody, whether a person goes to a 12-step rehab, a non 12-step rehab, or a specialized facility such as a holistic center that treats the mind, body, and spirit. The more people know about addictions and facilities, the more likely they will find and complete effective rehab treatment. Attending rehab is one of the greatest actions one can take. If people become informed and go for the right reasons, they have a better chance at having successful recovery journeys. There are websites such as Addiction Network that will assist every step of the way.

About the author: Ben Emerling enjoys writing, helping people with their recoveries, and playing and watching many types of sports, especially basketball.