Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres in Gothenburg, Sweden

Where does public addiction care start in Göteborg?

Public addiction care in Göteborg starts either at a regional addiction clinic or with the city’s social services. The Västra Götaland region runs the clinics as part of ordinary health care, each covering its own part of the city, and the clinic for north-east Göteborg lets adults make the first contact themselves, without a referral.

Both doors belong to the public system, and either one can lead on to the other. Health care in the regions and social services in the municipalities are the two halves of Swedish addiction care, and Göteborg follows that national pattern. A person who is unsure where to begin can phone the clinic for their area and ask.

Can I refer myself to an addiction clinic in Göteborg?

Yes. The regional addiction clinic serving north-east Göteborg accepts self-referral through an online form, known in Swedish as egenremiss, from adults aged 18 and over. The clinic answers on 031-343 37 70, and other parts of the city are covered by their own regional clinics, so the right one depends on the home address.

That north-east clinic is for adults who have both a dependence and a psychiatric diagnosis. Someone without a psychiatric diagnosis is directed to the clinic that serves their area instead.

What does the regional clinic in Göteborg offer?

The regional addiction clinic in north-east Göteborg offers an assessment, relapse prevention, talk therapy, medical and psychiatric treatment and supervised tapering from medicines. It also supports relatives, which means a partner or parent of someone in treatment can get help of their own from the same public clinic.

Family education is listed at a few of the rehabs in Göteborg as well.

What part do social services play in Göteborg?

Göteborg’s social services are the municipal side of Swedish addiction care, offering help for alcohol and drug problems under the national Social Services Act. Residential care homes, known as HVB homes, and outpatient services run under that act need a permit from IVO, Sweden’s Health and Social Care Inspectorate, the national supervisor.

In certain cases social services can apply for compulsory care under the Act on Care of Persons with Substance Misuse in Certain Cases, known as LVM. Court referrals are accepted at a few of the rehabs in Göteborg.

Are treatment records confidential in Göteborg?

Yes. Records from a regional clinic in Göteborg are covered by chapter 25 of Sweden’s Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, which deals with health care, and records held by the city’s social services by chapter 26. Both chapters set secrecy rules that limit who can see what a person has shared.

The same protection applies whether someone was referred by social services, booked through the online form or arrived by another route, because it follows the type of record rather than the door a person came through.

Paying for rehab in Göteborg

Rehab paid through the public system in Göteborg falls under Sweden’s national fee ceilings, so outpatient visits stop costing anything more once a person has paid 1,450 kronor in a 12-month period. Private care is separate, and private residential rehab in Göteborg has an estimated typical range of €8,900 to €23,700 a month.

Publicly funded treatment is listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Göteborg, public health cover at most and self-pay at some.

How much do detox and residential rehab cost in Göteborg?

In Göteborg, private medical detox has an estimated typical range of €5,300 to €16,600 a month, and residential rehab €8,900 to €23,700. Intensive outpatient care and standard outpatient care sit lower, with standard outpatient care starting at about €1,100 a month. The table lists the four levels found among the city’s rehabs.

Within each range, the length of stay, the type of room and what is included decide the final amount.

What do public fees add up to in Göteborg?

Public fees in Göteborg stop at the same national ceilings as everywhere in Sweden: 1,450 kronor for outpatient care over 12 months, 3,800 kronor for prescription medicines, and no more than 130 kronor for each day of a public inpatient stay. These limits apply to care at the regional clinics, not to private providers.

Someone choosing a private program in Göteborg pays on that provider’s own terms instead, so a written outline of what the monthly figure includes, such as medical checks, therapy hours and accommodation, makes it easier to set one option against another.

Which levels of care are most common in Göteborg?

Outpatient care is the most common level in Göteborg, listed at nearly all of its rehabs, and medical detox comes next, at most. Evening treatment appears at about half, inpatient care at some, and residential rehab and intensive outpatient care at only a few.

Walk-in access and aftercare are each listed at some of the rehabs in Göteborg, and long-term stays, abstinence-based programs and sober living at a few.

Does Göteborg have rehab for addiction and mental health together?

Yes. Mental health treatment is listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Göteborg, psychiatric medication management at about half, and treatment for a mental health condition alongside addiction at some. The regional clinic in the north-east of the city is itself set up for adults with both a dependence and a psychiatric diagnosis.

Women’s programs are listed at nearly all of the city’s rehabs and men’s at most, while services for young adults and teens appear at a few.

Getting to Göteborg and staying there

Most people reaching Göteborg from abroad arrive through Göteborg Landvetter Airport, which has international flights and lies 12.0 miles from central Göteborg. Every distance on this page is measured in a straight line from the city center, so road journeys will be a little longer than the figures suggest.

Rehab is also listed in other European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom.

What is near central Göteborg?

Central Göteborg has green space and water close by: Ramberget, a hill, rises 1.4 miles from the center, and the lake Stora Delsjön lies 3.3 miles away, with Lilla Delsjön at 4.0 miles. At least 25 hospitals are within 10 miles of the center, which keeps medical care close to any program in the city.

Rådasjön, another lake, is 5.1 miles out. Rehab near lakes, hills and mountains and major airports has its own pages on the site. Sweden is in the Schengen area, so visitors from outside the EU can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, with a short-stay visa if their nationality requires one, and longer stays follow Swedish national procedures.

Who can I phone about alcohol or drugs in Göteborg?

In an emergency in Göteborg, call 112. For advice about alcohol, Alkoholhjälpen, Sweden’s free and anonymous national helpline, answers on 020-84 44 48 from Monday to Thursday, 11:00 to 19:00, and on Friday, 11:00 to 16:00. For treatment itself, the regional clinic in north-east Göteborg is on 031-343 37 70.

Listings for the rest of the continent are on the Europe page.