My Son Has Gone Into Treatment For His Alcohol and Marijuana Addiction, But He Tells Me Its Not a Good Place. What Do I Do??

My 25 year old son is an addict,(alcohol/weed). Apparently its gone on for years, but I just found out over the last 6 months the depth of his addiction. He lives at home, goes to school all day and works in the evenings. He has had three DUI's over the last 6 months, a couple of drug charges as well.

2 days ago he wrecked his car ... again, and was charged with public drunkenness. He was also picked up on a bench warrant and spent a night in jail. When he came out, we told him its inpatient treatment or out of the home. He admitted to many things that day, was very upset, and agreed to treatment.

Today is his 2nd day. He called and said its so disorganized at the facility. He has been thrown in, with no guidance ... he said he will give it a week to improve, or he will leave and find another place. I am so scared and do not know what to do!!

I don't know if our insurance company will approve another place. Is this the addict trying to manipulate his way out? Is the place really bad, and I should get him out while he is ready for treatment? I have no idea what a treatment facility should be like, so how do I know if this is good or bad? Please help me out!!

Alcoholism-and-Drug-Addiction-Help.com Answer

Why don't you pay a visit to your son's treatment facility - and try and see for yourself if his concerns are justified, or whether it's just the addict inside of him making excuses to try and get out of it?

And even if this addiction treatment facility isn't as well run as it could be - the fact that your son is receiving treatment is still better than him being out on the streets smoking weed and drinking.

There's also no harm in phoning your insurance company to voice your concerns and find out if there is any way they would reconsider if he moves facilities. But whatever the outcome of that conversation, there is no way your son should be leaving treatment, no matter what he says, and you must do everything you can to ensure he doesn't.

Try get your son to be specific about what he thinks is wrong with the place he's at - and then make an appointment to go and see them and speak to them, to try and establish whether there is any truth in what he's saying.

But ultimately you need to make it clear to your son that he needs to take responsibility for his recovery, and even if the treatment facility he's attending is far from perfect, it's up to him to make the most of it and take on board everything he can.

Because no matter how good a rehab facility is, it's still only a stepping stone to a life of recovery, since they can only equip you as best possible with the tools required to stay sober. At the end of the day it's still up to the individual as to how well they apply those lessons - and whether they're really committed to turning their life around.

So unless the rehab your son is attending is absolutely terrible and not at all doing what it's supposed to be doing, it shouldn't be a deal breaker in determining the success of his long-term recovery prospects.

All the Best

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