I Need Advice About Helping a 17 Year Old Who Is Addicted to Oxycontin?

Question by LM: I need advice about helping a 17 year old who is addicted to Oxycontin?
I am trying to find advice about my 17 year old brother who is addicted to Oxycontin. He agreed to enter a rehab facility but once they realized his “level of use” they sent us to the emergency room where he was admitted for detox. The plan was to have him detox and then get him entered into the rehab facility. He has been at the hospital for 5 days now and is completely freaking out saying he needs to leave. There seems to be no place to send a kid to receive detox and rehab help. He seems to think the only way he will be able to come off the drug is to take methadone for a 3-6 month period, slowly tapering off, because that’s what he’s been reading online… I guess about methadone clinics. But, there is nothing like this for a 17 year old. And, the rehab places won’t accept him now because he doesn’t want to go and says he will leave. I know he wants help but apparently the withdrawal from Oxycontin is horrendous and he’s ready to give up. What I’d like to see happen is to tell him he has no choice but the enter rehab and if he leaves he’ll be picked up as a runaway. But, he has my mom wrapped around his finger and I’m scared to death she’s going to give in. I think once he gets out of the lonely hospital room and starts getting help with the mental part of the addiction and talking with other kids going through the same sort of thing he’ll start feeling better.

I guess I’m just looking for advice about people’s experience with this coming off Oxycontin. What would you recommend doing with a 17 year old? I have no idea what he’s actually going through and am not sure how to help him or what the best thing is for him at this point.

Best answer:

Answer by lc
I’m going to be honest go to a mental illness center where he will be admitted, you can issue a health warrant which means that he will be court order have to do anything the doctors say in order to get released from the hospital, this doesn’t show on his record or anything like that. It’s for his best trust me.