Frequently Asked Questions - and their answers

Admission to a treatment centre in South Africa such as Oasis, located in Plettenberg Bay, is usually accompanied with many questions and fears of the unknown. Recovering addicts and addiction experts in South Africa have put together this collection of the most frequently asked questions and answers by family, friends and addicts.

1. What is addiction, and am I or is my family member an addict?
If a person continues to use drugs, alcohol, food (or whatever their addiction may be) despite negative consequences to themselves and others, then this person is addicted.
If they want to stop but find they cannot do it alone, they need help.

2. What are the main signs of addiction?
If you are still using when you are causing harm to yourself and/or others then this is a sign of addiction. If you are looking at this website, there is almost certainly a problem.

3. What do I do now?
If you think that you need help, the first thing to do is find the right treatment centre. Look online and telephone help lines such as AA and NA for advice. (N.B Make sure the facility is a fully registered treatment centre in South Africa and that the counsellors are qualified).

Once you are in contact with a centre, ask to speak to a qualified counsellor. Tell them as much as you can about your situation and they will give you advice on what to do until your admission.

As a family member or friend of an addict, it is important to find the right treatment centre as quickly as possible. This is important as the time-frame in which the addict is willing to be admitted may be very short. Again information is the key; tell the treatment centre all you know of the problem and make sure they are appropriately qualified.

4. What do I do if someone refuses to go to treatment?
Seek professional help. Interventions from both family and a knowledgeable outsider can work wonders.

5. What if they are not serious about recovery?
Sometimes addicts will go into treatment just to appease the people around them and are in denial that they have a problem. This does not mean that treatment will not work, but the journey may take longer.
In fact, few people will want to enter a treatment centre as this means giving up their crutch and leaving their own comfort zone in order to answer some difficult personal questions.

6. Do I/they need to detox?
This depends on the addiction.

Opiate (such as heroin) users will need to go through some form of detoxification. This can be a very painful and difficult experience to the user and those around them to witness. Being alone without follow up treatment and rehabilitation will almost certainly fail.

Methamphetamine users (Speed, Cocaine, LSD, Ecstasy, Marijuana) generally do not need a Detox process. This is not to say they will not have any form of withdrawal, the addiction is still very serious, but the physical addiction withdrawals are less than with opiates.

Alcohol, Barbiturates and tranquiliser users will need medical detoxification. It can be life threatening to just stop “cold turkey”, and again, without follow up, rehabilitation will almost certainly fail.

Oasis does undertake the detoxification process and our psychiatrist in George oversees this.
We do not allow any form of ‘using’ here and that includes continuing food disorders, sex addictions and gambling.

7. Are you cured when you leave?
There is no cure for addiction but there is a programme that if followed, can lead to a fun, healthy and productive life.

8. How long does it take?
Recovery is taken ‘One day at a time’. We recommend a stay of three months. If both the counsellors and the resident feel it is needed, there is the option to extend the stay.

9. Who do we take?
Any addicted person who is mentally stable without the use of addictive drugs will benefit from the programme.

10. Why is Oasis different?
At Oasis we deal with people in a caring way and feel that a person has already suffered enough through their addiction. More punishment will achieve nothing but caring and love heals.

Oasis is a rehab located in Plettenberg Bay. A leading treatment centre in South Africa where addiction experts provide loving treatment for clients to nurture themselves back to physical and mental health. Take a look at our image gallery to see Oasis Counselling centre or have a glance at our recovery programme.