Drug addiction centers are places where a struggling addict or alcoholic can go in order to get some help for their substance abuse problem.  There are basically 2 parts to most addiction treatment centers, detox and residential.  In the majority of cases, both of these are going to be necessary in order for the addict to get what they need out of treatment and get back on the right track with their life.

Detox is the medical portion where you check in and stay under medical supervision as the drugs or alcohol leaves your body.  This is important because in some cases there is some danger of seizures or even death due to some withdrawal symptoms.  This of course will depend on what drugs you are coming off of and how much you have been taking and for how long.  Then there are other drugs that require detox due to the fact that people get very sick when going through withdrawal, such as opiates.  These would include painkillers and heroin.  While not so dangerous to detox from, these drugs produce an absolutely miserable withdrawal experience, and therefore is usually treated with medication in a medical setting.  Getting through this detox portion will generally take about 3 to 5 days, depending on all of these factors.

Due to the medical staff requirement, detox generally costs much more than residential, per day.

Residential treatment generally lasts from about 10 to 28 days.  This is where you will attend various groups, lectures, meetings, and group activities.  They will attempt to teach you more about addiction, recovery, relapse prevention, and what you can do on the outside in order to increase your chances of staying clean and sober.  After you near the end of your stay in residential, a therapist will likely come up with an aftercare plan for when you leave.

Most people fail when leaving a drug addiction center because they do not follow through with their aftercare plan, and they do not dedicate their life to recovery from addiction.  This is really a necessary attitude to have when leaving rehab, because the amount of energy and dedication it takes to turn your life around is really tremendous.  Most people underestimate what it takes to stay clean and sober and so they end up doing the bare minimum.

Success in recovery demands that you go far beyond the bare minimum in order to avoid relapse.  Sometimes an addict will have to experience failure and relapse a few times before they realize just how dedicated they have to be in pursuing their recovery.