Some people believe that drug rehabilitation is an on-going process. In other words, a person will have to continue some sort or some phase of the rehab process for the rest of his or her life, even if he or she is not actively participating in an “organized” program.
Other people believe that it’s a one-time thing: that once the person has “kicked the habit” and returned to normal life, the rehab is over, at least until the next time, if there is a next time.
That is probably as individual a thing as the choice of a program itself. More than likely, no two people are going to feel the same.
This person may feel that he or she will have to continue to “touch base”, through meetings or regular counseling sessions, or continual self-examination or something. And, he or she may make no bones about the fact that they were/are “in rehab”.
Another person may walk out of the clinic, and never look back, and never give it a second thought, unless for some reason it is necessary for them to disclose the treatment. Then, he or she might have the attitude of “That’s in my past. It no longer applies. And, I don’t want to talk about it, or don’t feel the need to let anyone know that this ever happened.”
And, that’s fine. But, it’s for sure that drug rehabilitation is going to have long-term effects (isn’t that the idea?) and the person who went through it is going to be different in some way. How that person chooses to see it, however, is going to be up to that person.