Drug Rehab for Brother

[studbucket]

An update for all of you. My brother finished up the semester, went on a cruise with the family, got back, called me and at one point asked "So, are we gonna do the rehab thing?"

I told him yep, turned around and called Hazelden 20 minutes later. They've started the process are talking to my mom and possibly to him as well. They will be helping him with the drug rehab, getting his life organized, and trying to do something to help him with his Asperger's and other mental "issues" he may have. (I want to be careful because Asperger's isn't necessarily bad, it just needs to be handled correctly. However, he may have some other problems)

Thanks for the help and the recommendation, I hope this goes well!

 

[Nords]

An update for all of you. My brother finished up the semester, went on a cruise with the family, got back, called me and at one point asked "So, are we gonna do the rehab thing?"
Thanks for the help and the recommendation, I hope this goes well!

What's his motivation? Has he been leaning toward this for the last few months, or did something recently change his mind/life?

I'd think that it would have to be an internal drive. It seems hard to make external family morale-building last through the entire rehab.

 

[studbucket]

What's his motivation? Has he been leaning toward this for the last few months, or did something recently change his mind/life?

Not completely sure. Maybe he's been hearing it enough from family and been away from it for a little bit.

Maybe the time we hung out when I went back for Thanksgiving made a difference. I spent 4-6 hours alone with each brother, doing something fun, and then took them all to a movie as well. Maybe the talk helped, or telling him ahead of time I wanted him to do rehab after they got back from the cruise.

So, probably some internal motivation, but it may not be enough as there were several external factors.

 

[chris2008]

Good news. All the best for brother and all your family.

 

[psweath]

studbucket - you have received much excellent advice here and I am struck by your beautiful love for your brother. Your latest update is encouraging and I pray that this rehab will be the one that launches a new life for him.

My own life story was much like your brother's, and my hard-core addictions lasted until my near-death at 42 years old. I think many of my loved ones tried many of the things that have been suggested here, and I don't want to characterize them as wastes of time, but as has also been mentioned here, none of what they tried worked because I wasn't ready to quit. Once I became ready, truly ready, I faced the hard work and I have succeeded with almost 15 years of sobriety now. For me, the thing that made me say, "this is it - I'm done" was one night when I almost killed my wife, my sister, my niece, and myself in a drunk/drugged driving incident. I thank God that there were no lasting injuries.

My family has forgiven me for everything I put them through and their love for me is as if none of this ever happened. I sense that this is how you will be when your brother is finally free from the bondage of addiction. I can tell you just want your brother back.

Today I walk as a free man, so totally grateful for my family and my life. I "pay it forward" by helping run a recovery ministry at my church called "Celebrate Recovery". It's not the program for everyone, but I have seen many set free there, and I'm honored to be able to help with it in any way.

But....this was not meant to be about me - this is about your brother - I just wanted to encourage you that it sounds to me like he will find his way with the outstanding support of professionals, friends, and family members like you. God Bless and never give up!

 

[studbucket]

OK, I need some more help & advice. My mom sent me a long email, which I'm not done digesting. However, the gist of it is that she and my brother are considering sending him to Narconon.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with Narconon?

All over the internet there are references to Narconon being run by Scientology (and it's based on L Ron Hubbard's principals). It scares me...but what are your thoughts?
Narconon Exposed
Narconon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Association for Better Living and Education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Narconon | Drug Rehabilitation | Drug Education
Narconon Research - The Science behind the Narconon drug rehab program.

Thanks!

 

[Lsbcal]

OK, I need some more help & advice. My mom sent me a long email, which I'm not done digesting. However, the gist of it is that she and my brother are considering sending him to Narconon.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with Narconon?

All over the internet there are references to Narconon being run by Scientology (and it's based on L Ron Hubbard's principals). It scares me...but what are your thoughts?
...

It is very difficult identifying the quality or suitability of any of these types of treatment centers. The first criteria I would think is that the patient be volunteering to do this. The next thing is that the patient should ideally have the financial responsibility on their shoulders. What is tough is knowing whether the care givers (1) are doing a good and lasting job, (2) motivated to provide the care in as short a time span as is practical, (3) not motivated by only money, and (4) are not trying to push some unpleasant world view on the patient.

I guess what I'm saying is obvious. Patients and family are sometimes desparately trying to cope and will sometimes be taken advantage of. This can be a lonely quest indeed. Sometimes talking with a counselor trained in such matters as a third party source would be a good idea.

I suggest talking to a counselor that you can identify in your home town so that he/she can provide a non-biased sounding board for your thoughts and fears. There may be others with more direct experience who can answer here, but I still think that a one on one dialog with an experienced counselor trained in substance abuse whoud be a good idea. The modest hourly fee for this would probably be a good investment. Perhaps your doctor could provide a referral.

 

[studbucket]

Thanks! I'll see if there's someone I can talk to who will help me through this.

An update: I left work early and spent 3 hours researching Narconon...it's not a great place. Nothing they do is rooted in science, they have no published, peer-reviewed work, and their treatment consists of being in the sauna and taking a lot of niacin. I sent some emails to my mom, talked to her, and it's done, she's dropped it.

She definitely has some selfish issues driving this and lied in email saying it was my brother that wanted some of the things she was describing. My wife and I called her out on all of them, and she should be continuing with Hazelden tomorrow to get the rest of the insurance and medical history information to them.

I suppose I'll just need to continue to check in.