why number 28?
i wonder, why they picked exactly 28 days?
28 day - cycle of moon, menstruation cycle.
any ideas?
i was wondering that also maybe since 28 days is equal to four weeks
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MovieChat Forums > 28 Days (2000) Discussion > why number 28?
28 days is apparently how long it takes to break a habit. I think that's it anyway. That's my guess :)
shareGenerally a short term rehab program is about a month long, give or take. Of course, you can be there for several months or several years, but the average rehab seems to be a month.
sharewait..
between infection and day when main char is awaken - 28 days.
and between scene when they crash on the vehicle and when zombie begin to die without food - another 28 days.
28 days is the number of days most rehab programs offer it's patients for a stay. It is 4 weeks.. just enough time to get over the worst of the physical symptoms and some of the psychological.
shareThe worst of the detox withdrawal is up to a week. Then meetings, groups, lectures, therapy (perhaps equine, like in the movie) and groups are concentrated on.
shareI think it was based on the typical rehab stay of 28 days. The film seems to base it on the Serenity Lane chain of rehabs which put the patient into a medical withdrawl/detox for 7 days and therapy for 21 days. The rehab center I went to was 21 days, but you had to be detoxed first...
Personally, I think for most addicts it is not enough. VOA and some other places suggest as long as 6 months, especially for the real tough ones like meth.
As to why 28 days. I can relay something a psychiatrist who specialized in addiction medicine once told me - that after a month the urge to drink in alcoholics greatly subsides and the potential for sustained success is enhanced if an alcoholic can get to that point. That was his explanation of why most inpatient programs are 28 days. We didn't discuss addictions to other drugs.
"Maybe this world is another planet's Hell." - Aldous Huxley
Why do 28 day programs exist? Simple, it is what insurance will pay for
shareSo true, and now many insurance companies will not even pay for that.
My insurance had a cap of $7500 (I think per year but it may have been two years). Serenity Lane (the rehab chain the film was based on) costs like $20,000. Of course, in their defense, they take people in on credit with $1,500 down.
My rehab was "Sundown Ranch" in eastern Washington and they were $4000 for 21 days. They are non-profit and I give them a plug right here. Google them if you are interested. Note that they are not a medical facility and you should get detoxed in a hospital before you go (very very dangerous to detox off of some drugs esp. Alcohol and Valium, talk to your doctor).
Personally I think rehabs should be at least 21 days and up to six months, depending on the addiction and how long the person has been addicted. Some programs for hard core Meth addiction are at least 6 months long.
Yes, but the insurance companies didn't pull that number out of their arse. They most likely arrived at paying for 28 days because they have seen the same research quoted by the above mentioned psychiatrist.
I was lucky when I decided to quit. Had already lost my job and insurance, but Texas has a program where the state will pay for the costs for those who can't afford it provided treatment is received at an approved facility.
"Maybe this world is another planet's Hell." - Aldous Huxley
"Why do 28 day programs exist? Simple, it is what insurance will pay for "
Bingo. It sounds ridiculous that insurance companies won't cover 30 days but they'll usually only cover 28 days.
her sentence was 28 days rehab OR jail.. thats why 28 days.. ;)
shareYes, it was 28 days of rehab or jail. But that 28 days did come from somewhere, whether it was what insurance usually dictates or what mental health workers say is the minimum.
Perhaps it has something to do with how long it takes to break a habit. I've heard some number associate with that. Like after [let's just say] 28 times of skipping [insert habit], you've broken the cycle. But to me, a habit is quite different than an addiction. But most people put it in the same category. A habit is something like biting your nails. An addiciton is something that your body (at some point) is needing, and can't function properly without.
The chemical addiction phase of recovery for most drugs and alcohol is about a week, give or take, depending on the drug and how long it was used. After that the body no longer *needs* it (you may *want* it, but the body doesn't require it). I understand Valium type drugs can take longer...
In Serenity Lane (the chain of rehabs the movie bases their fictional center on), they typically put the addict in medical detox for a week and therapy/recovery for 21 days thereafter, thus 28 days.
FWIW, I was addicted to vicodin and although I was detoxed off it in a week, I didn't recover a full night's sleep and a fully functioning brain for about six months after quitting.
Sorry for being a little computer illiterate, but what's FWIW stand for?
I appreciate your honesty. It takes a lot to admit an addiction, much less what your addiction was. Of course, from what I know, the first step is to admit that you are addicted, and are powerless over a substance. Most people stay in denial. So, good for you for your honesty.
I find that a lot of rehab centers include "Serenity" in the name. I'm not so sure it's always part of a chain, is it?
FWIW == For what it is worth
Thanks. I am not particularly embarrassed about being a recovering addict anymore... I am more embarrassed about what I did while being high, lol (laugh out loud).
Perhaps you are correct about Serenity being a popular part of a recovery center's name - but the look and feel of the rehab matched what I know about the "Serenity Lane" chain of rehabs. But, most are pretty similar in their methodology, most are twelve step oriented.
FWIW, I was addicted to vicodin and although I was detoxed off it in a week, I didn't recover a full night's sleep and a fully functioning brain for about six months after quitting.
It was at least three months coming off meperidine before I really felt right again. I take something many many times stronger now for headaches and would hate to think how long it would take to withdrawal from it.
It was at least three months coming off meperidine before I really felt right again. I take something many many times stronger now for headaches and would hate to think how long it would take to withdrawal from it.
Meperidine, that's demerol isn't it? Not much stronger than that, except for maybe fentynyl (sp?). What are they giving you now?
Yeah, narcotics addictions really mess up the brain chemistry. In fact, I wonder whether I did some permanent damage... but if I did, nothing can be done about it, so whatever. I hear of so many kids playing around with Oxycontin and Vicodin...scary. share
Meperidine, that's demerol isn't it? Not much stronger than that, except for maybe fentynyl (sp?). What are they giving you now?
I take hydromorphone which is diluad 8mg five times a day. I have been on fentanyl and that is absolutely horrible to withdrawal from. I do worry about what long term usage will do.
I stayed in a rehab program for 30 days in 1999. I voluntarily checked myself in, because of alcohol abuse. I was consuming about a quart of bourbon everyday. Most of the people I was in residence with were volutarily there. There were a few court ordered patients, and all of them had been given 28 day minimum stays. I don't know why they do this. Almost everyone in there was without insurance and had their program paid for by government grants. There are actually government programs that will pay for a stay in rehab. Family paid for my stay. One of the guys in the room next to mine was a police detective, his stay was paid for by the department he worked for. They insisted he go or get fired. He got drunk off duty one night and had his badge and gun stolen from him by a stripper he had been cheating on his wife with. He and I were the only two that listed alcohol as our drug of choice during my stay there. The overwhelming majority of people that stayed there were meth users.
The rehab I stayed at did not allow fraternization with the opposite sex, and we could only watch television on Saturdays. We never did outings like they did in the film. Of course the rehab I stayed at was a bare bones facility. Our actvities centered around group, study, and individual couseling. We had smoke breaks, telephone times and exercise periods. But other than that, we didn't have much in the way of recreation. Unlike in the film, we were allowed to have coffee. I never drank more coffee in my life than when I was in rehab. We also had really good food, I ended up gaining 20 pounds while I was there. I gained a lot of from the experience. I think 30 days was plenty of time to stop and reexamine my life and what I was doing to myself.
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