The bad news is that no, you can’t force someone to go to rehab unless they are under the age of 18. If your loved one is a minor, you can make them get treatment providing you’re their parent or guardian. However, in every other case, your loved one will have to choose help for themselves. That’s hard, but it also means they are going to be ready for treatment when they go to look for it.
In this article, we’ll expand on that and some of the steps you can take to make sure your loved one gets into treatment. In addition, we’ll go over the legalities of forcing an adult into treatment by taking them to court.
What is Involuntary Commitment?
Today, an estimated 48.6 million Americans struggle with a substance use disorder. This means that almost one in five Americans has a substance use disorder and needs some form of rehab or treatment. In extreme cases, where the individual in question is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, you can get the law to step in and force that person into care. In addition, that will be easiest if your loved one breaks the law. For example, if your loved one has a history of driving under the influence, especially if they’ve been arrested in the past.
Civil Commitment or involuntary commitment is not available in every state. Otherwise, you can take your loved one to court with proof of their addiction, proof that they are posing a danger to themselves or others (neglect of themselves, driving under the influence, suicidal ideation, violent ideation) and then hand the decision over to a court. This will involve:
- A mental assessment where a medical professional will determine if your loved one is able to make informed decisions about their mental health
- The family or family doctor (depending on state) has to make a petition to the court requesting involuntary/civil commitment
- The court will evaluate the decision
- A hearing will be held where the court will decide if it is valid to force the individual to go to rehab or not.
This type of involuntary commitment is legal in about 30% of states. In many, you’ll need a petition filed by at least two people and the family doctor. Here, Colorado is the easiest place to file for involuntary rehab, as the state makes allowances for up to 180 days of involuntary commitment into rehab.
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What Happens if Involuntary Commitment Works?
If you successfully take your loved one to court and have them involuntarily committed to rehab, what next? In most cases, your loved one will be mandated to 30-180 days of mandatory inpatient or outpatient treatment. Here, most forced rehab is “inpatient” meaning that your loved one stays at a facility chosen by the court for that period. In other cases, your loved one may be asked to attend an outpatient program with a probation officer to ensure they keep going. If they don’t, they could end up in jail.
Motivation is a Crucial Part of Treatment
It’s important that people go to treatment when they are ready. For millions of Americans, getting treatment means acknowledging that they have a problem, that they can’t stop on their own, and that they are out of control. That can require a significant mental shift and is a step that can be extremely painful for many people. We’re all used to people who deny that they have a problem. “I don’t drink that much”, “at least I’m not as bad as X”, “I’m not THAT bad”, “I can quit tomorrow if I want,”. All of these phrases come from people who aren’t yet ready to face that they need help. And, that means they won’t benefit from help without significant motivational therapy upfront.
This is known as “resistance to treatment” and results in non-compliance, non-engagement, and high rates of relapse after treatment ends.
Once you understand that, you can take the approach of building motivation to get help. Helping people realize that their substance use disorder is crippling them, getting in the way of their ability to live and enjoy life, and their ability to reach goals. Many people will painfully feel those impacts, especially if they are still at a point where they are living a normal life, working a job, and taking care of family.
Alternatives to Forcing Treatment
“If only I could just make them get help”, is a tempting thought. At the same time, it can be extremely harmful to your loved one and may not have the results you want. Most states will not allow forced rehab unless the situation is truly dire. For example, if your loved one has lost their house, are homeless, and are not taking care of themselves. If your loved one is still functioning normally, you’re generally better off taking other steps first. For example:
- Offering Support – Offering support over the long-term, reinforcing that you’re worried about your loved one, and trying to get your loved one into treatment may have an effect over time. However, progress will be slow.
- Interventions – Interventions can be a powerful way to force someone to acknowledge that they are struggling and that they need help. If you’re not sure how to hold an intervention, there are generally professional counselors who can help you plan and hold the intervention to maximum effect.
- Harm Reduction – Harm reduction strategies work to reduce the harm of substance abuse without forcing your loved one into treatment. That can mean working to ensure clean needles and safe drugs, ensuring naloxone or other anti-overdose medication is available, and ensuring that your loved one drinks or uses under supervision such as a medication-assisted treatment site. The idea is that they are using anyway, you want them to do so in as safe of a manner as possible before they come to the conclusion that they need help.
- Going to Therapy – If you can’t get your loved one into rehab, you might still be able to get them into counseling or therapy. That will, in turn, push them into rehab. Here, you generally want to push getting help with things that they are struggling with like mental health, feeling good, side-effects of substance abuse, work, etc., because you are worried about them.
People who aren’t ready to go to rehab are often facing significant stigma and shame. Therefore, one of the most important things you can do for your loved one is to offer support, to destigmatize addiction, and to treat their problem just like you would depression or a broken leg. It’s a problem that needs treatment and then you can recover and be healthy again.
Getting your loved one into treatment can be extremely difficult. If they’re not ready to go, many states don’t even offer a legal alternative. Instead, you’ll be forced into working to motivate your loved one to get help, staging an intervention, and working to reduce harm until they get into treatment. Good luck getting your loved one into rehab.
