Alcohol Abuse Rehab

Alcohol abuse rehab involves a long term process of extensive detoxification and treatment. Detoxification is the lengthy period of time during which an individual who is heavily addicted to drugs and/or alcohol is in treatment and possibly receiving medications while their body is cleansing itself of the previous drugs of abuse. These drugs have caused temporary and sometimes lasting changes in the addict ’s brain and body chemistry which must be addressed and controlled in order to prevent the addict’s relapse into continued drug use and destructive patterns.

When most drugs are abused by an addict, the substance builds up in the user’s body organs and fatty tissues and must be cleared out by the user’s body over a long period of time. The fact that there are still small traces of the drug in the body of the person attending alcohol abuse rehab during this time can make it much harder for an addict to permanently stay away from drugs and change their behavior. Detoxification is a crucial period of a drug addict’s life where intensive care and guidance is necessary to overcome drug and alcohol addictions. While some consider detoxification to be a separate process from rehab and treat it as such, this is in truth an improper concept which needs to be changed. Both drug and alcohol rehabilitation and detoxification should be regarded as one and the same as part of this essential process.

There are several processes that occur as part of rehab for drug and alcohol use as well as detoxification, which will be explained in the following paragraphs.

The Importance of Detoxification in Alcohol Abuse Rehab

Detoxification is a defining period in rehab during which the signs of drug withdrawal and symptoms of it will begin to occur. If a drug or alcohol abuser who is currently in treatment is being provided with medication during detoxification, it will be much more difficult to notice how long these symptoms are lasting for. However, it is important and necessary that these signs and symptoms be noticed by the alcohol abuse rehab as medication is likely to block these symptoms to a fairly large degree.

Detoxification is a tell-tale sign that treatment has begun to take its course. During this time patients will begin to readjust psychologically and changes will appear in their thinking patterns and behaviors. The service of allowing detoxification alone is not enough for an alcohol abuse rehab to offer to a drug addict. Without adequate care and support throughout treatment in the areas of addiction, social skills and coping, the addict will be highly likely to have continued problems in life and eventually relapse again.

The Goals and Process of Detoxification in Alcohol Abuse Rehab

The main goal of an alcohol abuse rehab is to provide a place for a drug addict to safely and permanently withdraw from drugs and alcohol and live a normal life. It is necessary for the rehab to have caring and friendly staff that are experienced, provide a supportive environment for the patient, and maintain confidentiality.

Since withdrawal from drug and alcohol abuse is a very difficult and often painful term for a drug addict depending on what drugs they were addicted to, care must be taken in order to ensure a safe process of withdrawal for the patient. For example, for someone who is extremely addicted to alcohol, quitting drinking abruptly can lead to severely intense and sometimes life threatening symptoms. Such a patient who is in rehab and quits abruptly may experience delirium tremens, seizures, or even death due to cardiovascular arrest.

Delirium Tremens is commonly known as “the shakes” because violent shaking tremors begin to occur in the individual after 18 to 24 hours of abstinence from heavy drinking.

Symptoms of delirium tremens may include profound confusion, feeling disoriented, extreme hallucinations, and formication. Formication is a symptom that involves hallucinations of bugs or rodents on the person or in their environment that aren’t actually there. Because of the dangers present, 5-15% of people in alcohol abuse rehab die during this stage of withdrawal. If left untreated, death rates are as high as 35%. The reason for this is that someone who is severely dependant on alcohol for day to day functioning has experienced a series of changes in brain chemistry. Similar withdrawals can occur for those who are detoxifying from barbiturates and benzodiazepines.

Withdrawal symptoms that are experienced will vary depending on which drugs are being withdrawn from. A patient who is withdrawing from opiates such as heroin or morphine will experience symptoms that involve severe discomfort. However, these symptoms are not life threatening like those of alcohol and sedative-hypnotics. Although physical symptoms of withdrawal can be very severe and must be contained, they are not the only symptoms that need to be addressed. Patients attending an alcohol abuse rehab will also experience withdrawal symptoms that are psychological in nature, and may have other pre-existing mental illnesses.

Issues Regarding Detoxification in Alcohol Abuse Rehab

While alcohol abuse rehab can be very effective in treating addiction to alcohol and drugs, there is always a chance of chronic relapse occurring after detoxification has been completed. Many drug addicts will enter treatment and complete detoxification, only to return to abusing drugs and alcohol shortly after being released. Eventually they return to rehab and detoxify again and again, continuing to return to drug abuse each time they have finished. Although this does occur frequently, it does not happen with all patients.

It is often believed that this cycle of going back and forth between drug abuse and detoxification is an indication that recovery is not happening and no progress is being made. However, this is untrue as each time that relapse occurs and an individual returns to rehab, they become more familiar with what triggers them to relapse and how to overcome it. Individuals sometimes have unrealistic and overoptimistic expectations for recovery. However, with repeated effort and detoxification, permanent recovery becomes more and more of a reality.