We keep hearing people ask if a relapse is expected after treatment for alcohol or drug addiction. We even see so-called rehabilitation “experts" quoted in the media saying relapse is all part of the rehab process. Well, contrary to popular belief, relapse is not part of a properly and thoroughly done drug rehab.

When someone experiences a relapse after alcohol or drug addiction treatment, it’s a red flag that either the person left the drug rehab program before it was completed, or the program was just poorly designed or delivered.

Of course, it could mean both of those things. In other words, one or more vital elements of rehabilitation was omitted.

The expense of drug rehab is not an indicator of how good, or not so good, a program is, either. Witness the number of movie stars, rock stars and pro athletes who, according to media reports, pay top dollar for luxury-style drug rehab and later suffer relapses.

Of course relapse is “normal and expected" if a rehab center doesn’t do the job right, and lets people go before they’re fully rehabilitated. In fact, if the people who run a drug rehab center you’re considering using tell you that relapse is normal and expected, you need to find a different option.

In one recent case, the threat of relapse was announced by the addict himself before he went to rehab. After he was given a suspended sentence last summer for a drugs charge, British rocker Pete Doherty was reported as saying there was no way he could stay out of legal trouble. During six weeks at the Clouds clinic in Wiltshire, U.K., and for a reported two or more weeks after that, Pete remained clean and sober. Now this week, a video has surfaced on the Internet showing Pete shooting up heroin again.

Diary entries allegedly from Pete’s time in rehab have been “leaked" to the media. In one entry, Pete says: “If I had not been chemically dependent my life would have been extremely manageable. No jail, no rehab, normal functioning friendships and relationships and a lucrative, respectable career. I would probably own a house, a driving license and a better reputation. If I don’t pack in drugs, particularly crack and heroin, I am likely to either die, go bankrupt, go mad or end up permanently institutionalized. I’m on a direct course for all four." Pete says he is returning to drug rehab soon.

No one says that addictions are easy to defeat, but Doherty assessment of continuing an alcohol or drug addiction is right on the money.

When drug rehab is done thoroughly and done right, it leaves no reason for a relapse. If you or someone you care about is suffering from alcohol or drug addiction or has relapsed after treatment, do what Pete Doherty says he’s going to do: end the threat of relapse by finding a drug rehab program that really works.