Sly Stone has been in the media lately due to his ongoing issues with alcohol and drug addiction. The once famous musician founded Sly and The Family Stone – now, however, he has little left in the way of financial rewards related to his successful career or the musical presence and renown he once enjoyed.  Living with mental health issues in addition to the problem of addiction, it was clear to almost everyone that he needed treatment at a drug rehab center – and now, he finally agrees. Stone has taken steps to enter an addiction treatment center and get the help necessary to get his life back on track.

Help That Extends Beyond Medical, Psychological Treatment

A few months ago, Stone was in the news not for anything remotely related to music but for his revelation that he now lived out of a van in Crenshaw, a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles. Perhaps his hope is that the three-month treatment program he has chosen will help him gather the tools he needs to fight addiction and to take care of some of the logistics of creating a new life for recovery.

Addiction can take everything before the patient gets involved in a rehabilitation program that helps. By then, though mental health disorders and addiction are clearly the main problems, other issues can be hindering progress toward recovery. Basics like having a picture ID, finding something decent to wear to apply for jobs, accessing a computer to create a resume, dealing with legal issues and then gaining employment, finding a place to live or enrolling in school – all these things are just as important to the patient as getting the medical and psychological support they need to heal.

Support of Others

In addition to help with the details, medical detox and psychiatric care, patients like Stone also need ongoing support to stay focused on their goals and not get deterred when inevitable obstacles arise. According to Perezhilton.com, Stone has that support in the form of friends and family. One of them commented that:  “Sly wants to get clean, and stay sober. Sly has fallen on very hard times in the past few years. Sly will be in rehab for at least the next 90 days, and he is committed to getting sober.”

Friends and family who stay actively involved and supportive of the progress that their addicted loved one makes in recovery can increase the level of accountability for the patient and thus increase the likelihood that they will stay clean and sober. In the long run, it is up to the addicted patient to make the choice to avoid relapse every day, but getting help along the way will make that more feasible.

If you would like to support your loved one in enrolling in a drug rehab program, contact us at Axis today. We can tell you how to proceed and discuss the options available for care. Call now.