Questions to Ask a Rehabilitation Psychiatrist before Getting Treatment

As per the proverb "A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step", the road of recovery for addicts begins by choosing the right rehabilitation centre and the right therapist.

You need to check whether the rehab centre is authorized and contains advanced treatment equipment. Secondly, for choosing the rehab psychiatrist – you can have one-on-one session. Ask the below questions to the psychiatrist before getting into the treatment program.

Ø What is patient-to-psychiatrist ratio in Your Rehab Centre?

The rehabilitation centre can effectively provide de-addiction treatment only when it maintains proper patient-to-psychiatrist ratio.

The rehabilitation psychiatrist can properly address the specific needs of alcohol/drug addicts if the patient-to-psychiatrist ratio is low. Moreover the health care centre must have range of psychiatrist who are well-experienced and capable of handling each addict’s requirement as unique.

Ø Is alcohol/drug de-addiction counseling program gender specific?

Research says that gender specific de-addiction counseling brings more positive results. Men can get benefited by communicating about the treatment process with other men within the hospital premises. Similarly women can speak about their family, lifestyle and health with other women, while in stay.

In general, positive motivation & communication can bring down the worse effects of drug addiction. Mostly, de-addiction centre encourages “Group Therapy” where patients of similar kind are allowed to mingle with each other. When a patient tell about his/her addiction story and problems they faced due to the unhealthy habit, other people who hear the story will think about it. This creates positive motivation for patients to overcome addiction.

Ø If in case of emergency, will there be any staff help available?

Not everyone will react as same for medicines. For some people, accepting the de-addiction treatment will be hard. They feel uncomfortable during first few days of joining.

 A rehab centre must have medical staffs around the clock to help in emergency situations.

Ø How is the treatment outcome measured?

Usually for diabetes, BP and other chronic diseases - The recovery is measured through blood test readings & lipid profile levels etc. But it's not the same case for de-addiction treatment.

The psychiatrist can measure the treatment results through the patient's lifestyle after counselling, physical & mental health, quality of relationship that he/she persist after getting treatment, interest shown in career development etc. And so, choose the psychiatrist who could measure the treatment outcome properly. Without this, attending the rehab counseling is mere waste of time and money.

Ø Can patients go outing while in treatment?

The roll of love and affection is vast, when it comes to de-addiction treatment. Moreover patients might feel sick and bored residing within the hospital premises.

And so the rehab therapist must encourage patients to go for outing with their family members. You must also remember that this will NOT be the frequent process as it affects the treatment.

Ø Does psychiatrist encourage family therapy?

Some rehabilitation centre allows for family therapy where addict’s family members will also involve in the counseling program. But few treatment centre will not allow the family members inside the loop. So choose the treatment centre and therapist based on your preference.

Ø How long will it take to get cured completely?

Generally, psychiatric counselling program is not one day process. Sometimes, the alcohol addicts may require more time to get complete ailment from addiction.

Hence, after explaining your medical history, clarify the duration of psychiatric program from therapist. This will help you to plan further activities accordingly.

Ø Is there any after-treatment support?

Many people are unaware about after treatment support and its benefits.

Advantages of aftercare de-addiction therapy:

·        Alcohol de-addiction is not similar to any other treatment process. Here, addicts’ sole and body must come out of alcohol completely. So there are chances for people to revert to their previous stage and risks are high when it relapse. In such cases, aftercare de-addiction therapy plays a vital role.

·        Alcoholics who attended aftercare program are less likely to get affected again.

·        It is estimated that, after attending the aftercare program, people are living strongly and with healthy lifestyle.

Due to the above discussed benefits, one must check whether or not the de-addiction centre supports for the aftercare treatment. Secondly therapist will decide whether the patient requires after support while leaving the rehab centre.

The therapist will decide based on following factors whether after care is required for the patient:

1.     Severity of the disease. If a person have stronger bond with alcohol addiction, curing him may take time. So psychiatrist will check his/her physical health and mental stability to withdraw alcohol.

2.     People who are consuming alcohol for long time might get affected badly. Treating them is also time consuming process. Long term effects of alcohol consumption are cured gradually. Sometimes, after care support will be applicable.

3.     For some people, when they reach the outside world after getting alcohol de-addiction treatment, the alcohol drinkers community or alcohol seller might contact him again. This might trigger the person to take alcohol drinking habit again. In such cases, therapist will ask the patient to attend the aftercare program within 60 days of discharge.

Ø Does the de-addiction program support for skills development?

The life would be tougher for people leaving rehabilitationcentre as they might have lost the job, change in family life, behavioral changes of their neighbors etc. And so, de-addiction counselling program must encourage for skills development that are necessary to run the life successfully. While leaving the rehab centre, People must be prepared to handle the stress effectively and must follow the tips given during counselling program. Ask the psychiatrist, whether the rehab counselling helps to learn necessary skills for life.

Ø Does the psychiatric counselling program support for insurance process?

The medical insurance is required as it supports the addicts and his/her family to get rid of financial constraints.

Hence ask all or some the questions to de-addiction therapist that suits you. If you find that the answers are convincing then go and join in that rehab centre for treatment.