Why You Should Follow Inpatient Care with Outpatient Care

When a person first seeks care for an addiction, he or she often attends inpatient care and temporarily moves into a rehab center. However, while this treatment is good and effective, it is often a good idea to follow up inpatient drug rehab with outpatient care to stay clean. The doesn’t mean that your time as an inpatient has gone to waste; rather, it is a smart decision that reflects self-awareness and forethought.

When you first entered drug rehab there were strict rules you had to follow, and you soon learned that complete commitment was required for success. By fully committing to your recovery, you were slowly able to regain the control of the life that was taken from you by your addiction. However, similar to quitting drugs, quitting rehab should not be done cold turkey. As you no doubt learned in drug rehab, the more planning and organization you put into your life, the better chance you have of succeeding.

Now it is true that outpatient treatment is a treatment method in and of itself, but it can also be utilized in order to prevent a relapse of your addiction. Outpatient treatment allows you to be treated while still living your daily life. Following up your inpatient treatment with more treatment does not negate the treatment you’ve already received; rather it is a smart decision that will allow you to combat cravings and triggers long after you check out of full-time drug rehab.

One way to help see the importance of continuing your recovery after drug rehab is to think of it like a skill. Once you are past the withdrawal phase of your addiction, you are essentially building and developing lots of skills to help you stay clean for the rest of your life. However, if you neglect these skills or fail to develop them further, you might find that they slowly slip away from you, and defeating your triggers becomes more difficult.

By choosing outpatient treatment after your initial time in drug rehab, you will increase your learning and understanding. This means that if you take your continued understanding to heart you will become more self-aware and find your cravings and triggers easier to manage. Recovery is a constant battle — and the only way to win is to be vigilant in your efforts to be better.

Eventually, you will reach a point when you won’t need to be quite so intense about your drug rehab efforts. However, it is still important to maintain a strong command over your life. That being said, you might consider lifting others who are in the situation you once were. By helping other addicts, you will not only stay on top of your addiction, but you will also help others who are unable to help themselves.

Ryan Muir is a health writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Odyssey House. Follow on Twitter.