Drug and alcohol addiction is a serious illness that manifests three ways: mentally, physically and spiritually. For treatment, all three components must be adequately addressed.

Drug rehabs are popping up all over the United States, and deciding which one to send a loved one to can be a daunting task. There are gender specific treatment programs, dual-diagnosis treatment programs, religious oriented treatment programs, 12-step treatment programs, adolescent treatment programs, and many more. Gender specific rehabs believe that addiction alone is enough to manage without the distractions of the opposite sex. They feel that by eliminating romantic complications from recovery, they allow the addict to focus on his or her addiction, thus improving chances of recovery.

Dual-diagnosis treatment programs recognize the mental component of addiction, and try to treat mental illness and addiction at the same time through therapy, psychiatry and psychiatric medications. 12-step treatment centers believe that programs like AA and NA have proven success rates and the twelve steps alone are enough to get people clean and sober. Adolescent treatment programs are designed to treat addicts who are under 18 years of age.

The top five treatment centers in the United States are Silver Hills in Connecticut, Hazelden in Minnesota, Betty Ford in California, Sierra Tucson in California and Caron in Pennsylvania. Silver Hills is located in the town of New Canaan, and is a psychiatric hospital that treats both addiction and mental illness. They focus on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, preparing the addicts to handle their emotions in a better way in an effort to improve their ability to cope.

Hazelden is a 12-step oriented treatment center, as are Betty Ford and Caron. All three treatment centers place strong emphasis on the spiritual principles taught through the 12-steps, and they believe that recovery is found in the rooms of AA and NA.

Sierra Tucson is a retreat like rehab in Tucson, Arizona. They have several different tracks for addicts including the mood disorder track, the eating disorder track, the chemical dependency track, the pain management track and the sex addiction track. They have a holistic approach, incorporating acupuncture, meditation and massage therapy into their program.

Chemical dependency should be addressed as soon as someone notices that there is a problem. Left untreated, drug and alcohol addiction can be fatal and wreak havoc on the lives of the addict.