Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres in Stockholm, Sweden

How does someone start addiction treatment in Stockholm?

Starting addiction treatment in Stockholm usually means contacting the region’s public addiction service, which is part of ordinary public health care and accepts self-referral, called egenanmälan. A person can phone a clinic directly or apply through 1177, Sweden’s national health care information and e-service, and the switchboard answers on 08-123 400 00.

Municipal social services form the second public route. Socialstyrelsen, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the government agency for health and social care, explains that social services offer help for alcohol and drug problems under the Social Services Act, a national law. Social services are municipal and the addiction service regional, so each has its own contact points.

Do I need a referral for an addiction clinic in Stockholm?

No. The region’s addiction clinics in Stockholm accept self-referral, so nobody needs a doctor’s referral to ask for help with alcohol, drugs, medicines or gambling. A call to a clinic or an application through the 1177 e-services is enough to start, although a referral from another provider is accepted as well.

Clinics across the county cover different needs, from local outpatient care to round-the-clock and highly specialized care, so the first call is also a way to find which one fits.

Where does acute addiction care happen in Stockholm?

Acute addiction care in Stockholm is provided by the region’s addiction emergency unit, which answers on 08-123 459 00 for urgent situations involving alcohol or drugs. Anyone in Stockholm who is in immediate danger should call 112, Sweden’s emergency number, rather than waiting for a clinic to open.

One of the region’s emergency units serves young people up to the age of 20, while another serves adults.

Is there addiction treatment for young people in Stockholm?

Yes. Stockholm’s regional addiction service has a separate public service for people up to 25 years old, which gives young people their own entry point rather than an adult clinic. Local clinics for younger people are run together with the municipalities in the county, and young adult programs are listed at some of the city’s rehabs.

Teen rehab and programs for pregnant women are each listed at a few of the rehabs in Stockholm. Compulsory care for young people falls under a separate law, LVU, while adults can be ordered into care in certain cases under the LVM act.

Can I get an interpreter for treatment in Stockholm?

Yes. People in Stockholm who do not speak Swedish can have an interpreter at no charge, according to the English pages of 1177 for Stockholm. The guidance is to say, when booking, that an interpreter who speaks both Swedish and your own language is needed, and to ask the clinic how interpretation will be arranged.

That guidance covers health care in general rather than addiction services alone, and it does not list particular languages. Public information on addiction care in Stockholm is published mainly in Swedish, so the language of therapy is a question to raise with each program.

What does addiction treatment in Stockholm cost?

Public addiction care in Stockholm costs no more than Sweden’s national fee ceilings allow, with outpatient fees capped at 1,450 kronor in any 12-month period. Publicly funded treatment is listed at nearly all of the city’s rehabs, and private outpatient care has an estimated typical range of €1,100 to €3,600 a month.

Public health cover is accepted at nearly all of the rehabs in Stockholm, and self-pay at some.

Estimated costs for private outpatient care in Stockholm

Private outpatient treatment in Stockholm has an estimated typical range of €1,100 to €3,600 a month, and intensive outpatient care €2,600 to €6,500 a month. These are the two levels of care with listed costs among the city’s rehabs, and the table shows them side by side for a quick comparison.

The number of sessions each week and the length of the course decide where a program falls within its range.

How does the high-cost ceiling work in Stockholm?

Stockholm follows Sweden’s national high-cost protection, högkostnadsskydd, which caps public outpatient fees at 1,450 kronor in a 12-month period and prescription medicines at 3,800 kronor. If someone is admitted to a public ward, the inpatient fee may be no more than 130 kronor a day under the same rules.

Private care is outside the ceiling, so a written breakdown of what a program includes is worth asking for before starting.

What kinds of programs does Stockholm list?

Stockholm’s listings center on outpatient care, at nearly all of its rehabs, with continuing care at about half and walk-in access at some. Evening sessions, intensive outpatient care, inpatient care and online treatment are each listed at only a few.

Mental health treatment appears at most of the city’s rehabs, and crisis care and psychiatric medication management at some. Women’s outpatient programs are listed at nearly all of them and men’s at most.

Is medication-assisted treatment available in Stockholm?

Yes. Stockholm’s regional addiction service includes medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence, known in Sweden as LARO and regulated nationally by Socialstyrelsen. Medication-assisted treatment and opioid tapering are each listed at a few of the rehabs in Stockholm, where opioids are among the substances treated at a few.

Naloxone nasal spray, used to reverse an opioid overdose, is sold at pharmacies in Stockholm without a prescription.

Traveling to Stockholm for rehab

People flying to Stockholm for rehab usually arrive at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, which has international flights and lies 22.6 miles from central Stockholm. Each distance on this page is measured in a straight line from the city center, not along a road or rail route, so travel times will run longer.

Rehab is also listed in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and England.

What is the setting like around central Stockholm?

Water lies close to central Stockholm: the lake Klara Sjö is 0.5 miles from the center and Barnhusviken 0.7 miles, with Årstaviken at 1.8 miles. Lappis beach is 3.0 miles away and the hill Lindarängsknösen 2.3 miles, and at least 25 hospitals lie within 10 miles of the center.

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 needs one; a longer stay follows Swedish national procedures. Rehab near lakes and major airports has its own listings too.

Which free helplines answer in Stockholm?

Two free phone lines are run from Stockholm. Alkoholhjälpen, Sweden’s national alcohol helpline, is free and anonymous on 020-84 44 48, Monday to Thursday from 11:00 to 19:00 and Friday until 16:00, with support from Folkhälsomyndigheten, the Public Health Agency of Sweden. A free drug line for the Stockholm region answers on 020-91 91 91.

The drug line is open on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 16:00. Outside those hours, the regional addiction emergency unit on 08-123 459 00 handles acute situations, and 112 is the number for immediate danger.

More rehab listings are on the Sweden page and the Europe page.