For Addicts, There May Be Another Road To Wellness

[Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images]

For decades, inpatient rehab has been one of the go-to treatments for substance addiction. Nearly two million Americans seek treatment for addiction each year, but there's a movement in the medical community to change how we perceive the condition — and how to treat it.

Alltyr patients don't pack a bag and check into a residential facility. They don't go to group therapy and they don't expect to get sober in 30 days. Instead, patients schedule regular appointments with a doctor who is more likely to give them a prescription instead of motivational advice.

CEO and founder Mark Willenbring says Alltyr does not do rehab, and that the company is "the alternative to rehab."

...At Alltyr, that can mean a whole variety of medications that treat addiction to alcohol and opioids as well as anxiety and depression. Some of them are approved by the FDA, some of them aren't. Willenbring says traditional rehab centers shy away from medications and rely too heavily on talk therapy, which he says isn't a proven way to kick an addiction.

Dr. Marvin Seppala, the chief medical officer of the newly merged Hazelden-Betty Ford Center, disagrees. While he admits there are not a lot of studies that prove the effectiveness of group therapy, he says it still has a place.

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/08/319527437/for-addiction-the-road-to-wellness-has-more-than-one-path