Anyone toying with addictive drugs is playing Russian roulette - you never know if there’s a bullet in the chamber until you pull the trigger, and you never know whether you’ll become addicted or not when you take that first hit. Because of this uncertainty, anyone foolish enough to experiment with alcohol or addictive drugs is risking addiction, illness and an early death. At the very least, they’ll never have the life they wanted without drug rehab.

Why do some people become addicted to alcohol or drugs, while others who indulge in substance abuse do not? Researchers have struggled with this question for decades, and there’s still no definitive answer. The science surrounding the causes of addiction is extremely limited, with many conflicting theories. There is no commonly accepted “addiction factor" - some gene, personality quirk, or odd biochemical imbalance - that explains addiction for everyone. The result is hit-and-miss drug rehab theories that work for some, but not for others.

Such things as childhood abuse, peer pressure, losses, stress, poverty, poor education, bad parental examples and similar factors are popular “causes of addiction" because addicts in drug rehab often reveal such situations in their lives. But why does one person, and not another, “cave in" to peer pressure and, against their better judgment, try addictive drugs? Why does someone going through a stressful crisis turn to alcohol or drugs and wind up in drug rehab while another finds the strength to get through it sober? How does a person raised in an environment where crime, substance abuse, poverty and neglect are common, manage to rise above it all and achieve a successful, alcohol- and drug-free life?

The fact is: most popular so-called “causes" don’t actually cause addiction. If they did, anyone who experienced them would become addicted - and, of course, this isn’t true.

On What Does Successful Alcohol and Drug Rehab Depend?

Obviously, the key to drug addiction and to the ultimate success or failure of drug rehab is tied into how a person responds or reacts to the problems of life, not in the problems themselves. Changing that can be complex, and it takes an excellent drug rehab program with highly skilled drug rehab counselors to do it. But here are a few of the vital basics.

The first step is a good drug detox that helps the person through withdrawal. Not only does the prospect of withdrawal symptoms keep many people from even attempting to get the help they need, a high percentage of people going into treatment give up really early in the game if withdrawal is unbearable.

Removing or teaching the person to handle the elements of their lives that are driving them to drugs or alcohol. If a person is being abused by another, obviously that’s not a healthy environment - whether it’s driven them to drugs or alcohol or not. Sometimes it’s necessary for the person to actually leave that environment. Or, they must be able to somehow end the abuse.

If a person is taking drugs or alcohol to compensate for some shortcoming of their own, they must be helped to overcome that shortcoming. Obviously, that can cover a really wide range of the type of help needed.

Of course, there is always going to be temptation of one sort or another. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to not run into someone who is going to offer you a drink or a drug. Once out of alcohol or drug rehab, the former addict is going to have to have the resolve and the skills to say no.

When you look at the complexity of the changes needed - and the ones mentioned above are just a sampling of the type of thing that needs to be addressed - you can see why long term residential alcohol and drug rehab have the highest success rates. Alcohol and drug addiction don’t happen overnight: These issues have usually been going on for many years. And it can take a long time to address them. Fortunately, it’s only a matter of months, not the years it took to develop the addiction.

If someone you care about is addicted to drugs or alcohol, don’t set yourself, and them, up for failure by getting them treatment that won’t work. Speak to a drug rehab program counselor who can help you find the right treatment for their situation.