I work in rehab in Pakistan and I’ve been thinking about…
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I work in rehab in Pakistan and I’ve been thinking about forced admissions
I work in addiction rehabilitation in Pakistan and I’ve been thinking about something that I can’t really ignore anymore.
In many cases here, people are admitted into rehab against their will. Usually families are desperate. They’ve tried everything and addiction has already caused serious harm. So I understand where it comes from.
But I keep wondering something uncomfortable.
We say recovery is about choice. About the person deciding to change. About responsibility.
But at the same time, many rehab systems remove that choice at the very beginning.
So I keep asking myself:
Can we really build responsibility through coercion?
Can someone learn autonomy in an environment where autonomy doesn’t exist?
Another thing I notice in practice is relapse. It is extremely common. And I sometimes wonder (this is not a conclusion, just a question I keep coming back to) whether part of the reason is that many people never truly internalize recovery for themselves. They comply because they are confined. But compliance is not the same as commitment.
When they leave, the external structure is gone, and the internal motivation may not be strong enough yet.
What I *do* consistently see is that people respond better to:
* respect instead of humiliation
* understanding instead of punishment
* compassion instead of control
Over time this has led me to a personal thought.
I want to try building a rehabilitation approach that is based more on human dignity and autonomy. A place where people are treated as humans first, not just “addicts,” and where the goal is genuine engagement in recovery rather than forced compliance.
I don’t know if this model would be economically or practically easy. It might fail. I’m not even claiming I have the answers.
But I think the question itself matters.
What actually works better long term in addiction recovery: control, or autonomy?
Would be interested to hear thoughts from people in this field.
#current_events #local
I work in addiction rehabilitation in Pakistan and I’ve been thinking about something that I can’t really ignore anymore.
In many cases here, people are admitted into rehab against their will. Usually families are desperate. They’ve tried everything and addiction has already caused serious harm. So I understand where it comes from.
But I keep wondering something uncomfortable.
We say recovery is about choice. About the person deciding to change. About responsibility.
But at the same time, many rehab systems remove that choice at the very beginning.
So I keep asking myself:
Can we really build responsibility through coercion?
Can someone learn autonomy in an environment where autonomy doesn’t exist?
Another thing I notice in practice is relapse. It is extremely common. And I sometimes wonder (this is not a conclusion, just a question I keep coming back to) whether part of the reason is that many people never truly internalize recovery for themselves. They comply because they are confined. But compliance is not the same as commitment.
When they leave, the external structure is gone, and the internal motivation may not be strong enough yet.
What I *do* consistently see is that people respond better to:
* respect instead of humiliation
* understanding instead of punishment
* compassion instead of control
Over time this has led me to a personal thought.
I want to try building a rehabilitation approach that is based more on human dignity and autonomy. A place where people are treated as humans first, not just “addicts,” and where the goal is genuine engagement in recovery rather than forced compliance.
I don’t know if this model would be economically or practically easy. It might fail. I’m not even claiming I have the answers.
But I think the question itself matters.
What actually works better long term in addiction recovery: control, or autonomy?
Would be interested to hear thoughts from people in this field.
#current_events #local
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