{"id":186,"date":"2014-05-07T20:09:42","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T20:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nashvillerecovers.org\/?p=80"},"modified":"2014-05-07T20:09:42","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T20:09:42","slug":"rehab-to-add-controversial-electronic-umbilical-cord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nashvilleprevention.org\/nashville_recovers\/2014\/05\/07\/rehab-to-add-controversial-electronic-umbilical-cord\/","title":{"rendered":"Rehab to add controversial \u201celectronic umbilical cord\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I think of my time as a patient at Cumberland Heights, I think of peace and serenity.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there was that one day in group when everything blew up.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the male patients were in the main meeting room, about 75 or 80 of us. And the clinical associate \u2014 kind of a camp counselor at rehab \u2014 put a big number 5 on the board and a big 95 below that.<\/span><\/p>\n

He stared at us, somewhat menacingly, before turning to the board and pointing at the 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnly five percent of you will stay clean and sober when you get out of here. Five percent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He jabbed a finger at the 95.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat means most of you will be drinking or using drugs within a few weeks of you gettin\u2019 outta here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the room exploded.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was, pardon the pun, a sobering stat \u2013 and one that some of the guys just didn\u2019t want to hear.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s bullshit!\u201d one patient said. \u201cYou\u2019re just trying to scare us!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cF*&$ you!\u201d another shouted. \u201cSo you tell us all this recovery crap and then tell us we\u2019re gonna fail anyway?! Eat shit!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"texting\"<\/span><\/a>Two other patients actually jumped out of their seats and bolted while the clinical associates waved their arms, trying to get control of the room again.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written in this blog about that relapse rate being so high, about the insidiousness of addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Cumberland Heights is launching a new tech-based program to chip away at that 95% \u2014 and it has detractors before it even launches.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program is called Recovery Connection, and it gives an iTouch-like device to patients to carry for a year after they leave Cumberland Heights, an \u201celectronic umbilical cord\u201d between patient and treatment center, program director Sean Harrell says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patients would get these devices early on when they get to treatment. Each day, patients will:<\/span><\/p>\n