Drug addiction is a serious condition that affects millions of people per year. Left untreated, it can have a severe impact on the person’s quality of life. And in a large percentage of cases, it will escalate to the point where it will leave the person either so physically, emotionally, and mentally damaged that they can’t function normally, or to death.
There are many effective treatments for drug addiction, including residential rehab centers that can guide the addict through drug withdrawal followed by counseling and psychotherapy they need to avoid regressing into their previous destructive behavior. The success rate of many of these drug rehab centers is very high, often in the 90th percentile.
Unfortunately, these highly effective treatments usually come at a high cost. And if the person suffering from drug addiction doesn’t have health insurance or can’t afford to pay for their treatment, it’s sad to say that they will often be denied the treatment they need to turn their life around.
But all is not lost. There are a number of affordable and even free treatment options drug addicted people can turn to in order to overcome their addiction. If the person has the genuine desire to kick their addiction and regain normalcy in their life, they can find the peace they need even if they don’t have a lot – or any – money by following one or more of these five cheap and affordable options for drug addiction.
Option 1 – Quitting Cold Turkey
Quitting cold turkey means suddenly stopping the use of whatever drug to which the person is addicted. For example, if a person is addicted to heroin, crack, or methamphetamine, they would simply stop buying and using these drugs and wait out the withdrawal period somewhere safe, such as in their home or the home of a loved one.
The biggest benefit of going cold turkey is that it is free. That’s also what makes it the most common way for addicts to try to overcome their addiction. In fact, many people who are addicted to drugs – or even such things as alcohol, gambling, sex, shopping or even cigarettes – will try to go cold turkey many times, or even dozens of times, in order to overcome their addiction and straighten out their lives.
The biggest drawback of going cold turkey is that it almost never works. People with an addiction generally have a very real physical and psychological dependency on whatever they are addicted to. So while suddenly stopping the use of that substance or action may sound possible in theory, in practice it is practically impossible.
The regression rate for people who quit cold turkey approaches 100%.
Option 2 – Volunteering for a Research Project
Every day, new treatments are being developed for drug addiction. These treatments need to be tested on human subjects and proven to be safe before they can be introduced to and used by the general public. Research centers run by pharmaceutical companies, universities, and medical schools will ask for drug addicts to volunteer to participate in these research projects.
Generally, participation in these studies is voluntary, which means that the addicted person doesn’t have to pay for their treatment. In some instances, they may even be paid for their participation.
The benefit of this option is that the drug addict may receive an effective addiction treatment – even if it’s not fully tested and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies – at no charge, or even get paid to participate.
But the downside is that there’s no guarantee that the treatment will work, or even that the person will receive treatment at all. With any research study, there’s usually a control group that receives no treatment so that it can be compared to the group that receives the experimental drug or other unproven treatment. If the addicted person falls into that group – and assignment are usually random – then they would leave the treatment just as addicted, if not more addicted, than they were going in.
Option 3 – Ask for Charity
There are some churches, private agencies, public hospitals and other agencies that will provide drug addiction treatment for free, or on a “sliding fee scale”, which means that the person receiving treatment pays only what they can afford.
The problem with this option is two-fold: One, these programs can be difficult to find, especially when the person is currently in the throes of drug addiction. The second is that they often run out of funding in the middle of treatment, which means the addicted person may have to abandon their treatment without finishing.
Option 4 – Public Aid, Medicare and Medicaid
There are government-funded programs that provide health care for people without health insurance or who can’t afford it. But the waiting list for these programs can often be long and the treatment the person receives may not be as comprehensive as traditional treatments for drug addiction. Still, it’s better than no treatment at all.
Option 5 – Affordable, Low-Cost Drug Treatment
The best option is to find a drug treatment program that is low-cost and affordable. There are many agencies that offer subsidized medical treatment for people addicted to drugs. Finding these programs is often as simple as running an Internet search for organizations within your area.
While these programs typically will cost something, it’s usually a fraction of what you would pay at an exclusive, high-priced rehab facility. And the services received are generally just as good, if not better.
Author Bio – This guest post is written by Jacob Smith on behalf of The Cabin Singapore. If you’re on the lookout for a low-cost and affordable drug rehab treatment in Singapore, don’t forget to visit The Cabin Singapore today.