When it’s time to choose mental health and/or substance abuse treatment, there are many factors to consider, including whether to travel for treatment or stay close to home. Often, traveling is the best option because not all treatment centers are created equal. It’s wise to find one that offers evidence-based treatments from highly trained and experienced staff, no matter its location. Other reasons to consider traveling for rehab include the following:
- There’s a growing awareness of the importance of the environment in mental health conditions and how environmental factors may interact with personal genetic makeup. An article in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives notes that interventions that modify the environment during the early stages of mental illness can sometimes be enough to reverse a disorder. Traveling to a Florida rehab center can remove you from the environmental conditions that may be keeping you stuck in the illness.
Addiction is a disorder that may be especially linked to environmental factors. Research shows that substance use is affected by things like how easy and cheap it is to buy alcohol, population density, and community norms. Drug and alcohol cravings may also be environmentally-mediated.
They often arise from sensory cues such as driving by a location where drugs have been purchased. Other triggers, such as subtle sounds and smells, may be harder to identify and avoid. Choosing a Florida rehab facility for treatment can separate you from the environment your brain associates with substance use. This can be very helpful while you’re learning new patterns and skills.
- Traveling for treatment can help you focus more completely on recovery by putting distance between you and your everyday life. Ideally, treatment will be a time when you’re free from the distractions of work and/or family responsibilities, and a physical separation can help you reach that goal.
It may also provide a complete break between you and substance-using friends or problematic and unhealthy relationships. It can help you reclaim your identity as a person in your own right, separate from the people who surround you, with your own strengths and goals.
- Laws regulate treatment confidentiality, but if you’re concerned about privacy issues, you may feel more comfortable attending rehab in a setting that’s located father from people you know. Traveling for treatment can remove any lingering questions or doubts you may have about your privacy and provide a more complete feeling of freedom.
- If you travel to a relaxing and pleasant setting, the treatment experience is likely to be more enjoyable and emotionally healing than it might be otherwise. Rehab isn’t a vacation. There’s work associated with recovery. But when you engage in the process in an environement with warm, sunny weather, group outings to the beach, and plenty of South Florida wildlife, it can accelerate healing by reducing stress. Stress is strongly associated with many negative mental health and addiction outcomes, including relapse risk, so lowering it is wise.
If you’re ready for your life to change, we’re ready to help. Our treatment facility offers quality care in a safe, relaxing, comfortable Florida environment. Let us help you find the hope and healing you’re seeking. Call our experienced admissions team today at 1.844.675.1022 and take the first step toward a new life.
