If someone in your family is in addiction, you have probably been told something like: "It is their problem. They have to want help." This is partly true and significantly incomplete. Addiction is the person's condition. It is also, in almost every case, a condition […]
Polysubstance Use: When More Than One Substance Is the Problem
Most rehab marketing talks about addiction as if each person has one substance. In reality, most people in treatment have used more than one. Sometimes the use of multiple substances is sequential (alcohol in the morning, cocaine in the evening). Sometimes simultaneous (mixing benzodiazepines with […]
How to Choose Between Public and Private Rehab in South Africa
Call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) suicide crisis line on 0800 567 567, or emergency services on 10111 / 112 from a mobile. Most families researching rehab in South Africa run into the same question: what is the difference between government-funded, NGO-supported, […]
Sober Living and Halfway Houses in South Africa: What Comes After Rehab
Residential rehab does the intensive work of breaking the cycle. Real life, with all its complexity, then has to be re-entered. For some people, that re-entry happens directly: they go home, return to work, lean on their aftercare programme, and find that the structure they […]
Rehab for Professionals: Confidential Treatment for Executives and High-Achievers
There is a particular kind of patient who walks into Cherrywood House and is shocked, sometimes embarrassed, to be there. The senior executive whose drinking has gradually escalated since promotion. The doctor whose use of prescription medication started for a legitimate injury. The advocate whose […]
Returning to Work After Rehab: A Practical Reintegration Guide
For most people leaving residential treatment, returning to work is not optional. It is part of life resuming. It is also, clinically, one of the highest-risk transitions in early recovery. The work environment that contributed to the addiction is often largely unchanged. The relationships, the […]
The Cost of Rehab at Cherrywood House: What’s Included and Why It’s Worth It
When a family starts seriously considering rehab, one of the first questions is almost always: what does it cost? It is a fair question, and an unhelpful answer ("we will discuss it on a call") is one of the reasons families end up making decisions […]
Crack Cocaine vs Powder Cocaine: Differences in Use, Risk and Treatment
Call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) suicide crisis line on 0800 567 567, or emergency services on 10111 / 112 from a mobile. Cocaine arrives in two distinct forms. Powder cocaine, snorted or sometimes dissolved and injected, is the form more commonly […]
Methamphetamine vs Tik: Are They the Same? Risks and Recovery
Call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) suicide crisis line on 0800 567 567, or emergency services on 10111 / 112 from a mobile. Tik is methamphetamine. The names can cause confusion, but they refer to the same active drug. The form, route […]
Dagga (Cannabis) Addiction in South Africa: Signs, Risks and Treatment
For decades the cultural conversation about cannabis in South Africa has swung between criminalisation and casual acceptance. The 2018 Constitutional Court ruling that decriminalised the private use of cannabis by adults changed the legal picture. It did not change the medical one. Cannabis can be […]
