Alcohol & Drug Addiction Treatment

A drug and alcohol detox is an important step during the rehabilitation process. Though not every case requires a medical detox many of them do. Alcohol and drug treatment does not always provide a detox, in these cases they usually work with a local hospital where the detox can take place. A person who is addicted to opiates like heroin, Oxycontin, and other prescription painkillers generally need a detox. Also many acute alcoholics need a detox as well. Some people coming off of opiates don’t want a detox but this should be left up to the patient and the doctor.

A medical detox always is the first form of treatment during rehab. When a person who requires detox enters the inpatient drug rehab they first meet with a doctor and nurse for a physical and mental evaluation. Then they are taken to the detox area where they are given certain medications to keep the safe medically to withdraw of the drugs or alcohol. The detox takes about 3-10 days. Once complete the patient will then start the rehabilitation process.

It is always better to be safe than sorry. In the case of a medical detox a person may be kept an extra day to ensure that they are ready to start the drug rehab program. Most drug rehab centers which are private pay include detox in the price of the program so an extra day does not mean an extra expense to the financier.

Recovering from alcoholism is one of the hardest tasks for an individual with this addiction problem. Unlike heroin, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription drugs, crack, and ecstasy, alcohol is offered in most every social situation. An individual who has just completed an alcohol rehab program may feel confident in his or her own sobriety and have all the intentions in the world not to drink but unfortunately will find that it is the first thing offered to them at a restaurant. People addicted to street drugs have to search to purchase them and won’t be given a list of substances to abuse when walking into a restaurant, but an alcoholic must struggle with glancing at a beer and wine list and must maintain the strength to continually turn down the offer and any urge to consume alcohol or even view a beer and wine list. Although this is not impossible, it certainly isn’t easy.

It is because of all these things that the only real form of effective treatment for alcoholism is a long term residential facility. Months and years of living a certain way and depending on alcohol to get one through the day or through life’s often tough times is just simply not cured in 21, 28 or 30 days. The physical withdrawal from alcohol alone can take several days or weeks to get through. To ensure the process of withdrawal is as safe as possible, look for programs that provide a medical detox. An acute alcoholic will require a medical detox to avoid life-threatening withdrawal symptoms such as delirium tremens and seizures.

When seeking an effective alcohol treatment center, keep all of the above factors in mind. An alcohol abuser needs a long term residential facility to enable one to reprogram their way of life and establish new patterns of conduct as well as life and situation skills.

Heroin addiction is one of the hardest to overcome. It is a derivative of morphine and belongs to a class of drugs know as opiates. Many people who try heroin once become addicted. Some can’t understand how something can be that addicting. There are several reasons why a person becomes addicted to heroin. First, the interaction it has with the neuro-balance, also known as the chemicals in the brain, gives a person an extreme feeling of euphoria. This is from the release of neurotransmitters in the brain like serotonin, dope amine, and endorphins. In any drug rehab program that offers heroin treatment make sure they provide vitamin and mineral therapy to help restore the chemicals in the brain naturally.

The physical addiction to heroin is the biggest reason why a person never quits. Withdrawal symptoms are very intense and the best way to perform heroin detox is in a drug rehabilitation center that specializes in heroin addiction treatment. To ask an addict just to quit heroin is one way to never get him to enter into a drug rehab center. A medical detox will use some type of medication to ease the pain when coming off of heroin so that a person will not relapse. This is the first step to any effective drug rehabilitation program that offers heroin treatment.

With any type of heroin addiction treatment center make sure that once they detox a person they then provide counseling and life skills therapy to address the underlying issues. Heroin addiction is not only physical and it’s not like a person wakes up one morning and decides to use heroin. Usually a person has abused other drugs and alcohol before taking the plunge and using heroin. In order for counseling to be effective it must trace back to when a person first started using drugs or alcohol. Whether a person was suffering from depression, social anxiety, peer pressure, bad friends, relationship problems, struggled in school, or maybe a combination of all these, this is what needs to be addressed in the treatment of heroin.

Why is it so important to enter into an inpatient drug rehab rather than an outpatient? For one, the alcoholic or drug addict will be committed to staying for the duration of the rehab program and not be able to use drugs or alcohol. Also there is no outside environmental condition like drug dealers, drug friends, or relationship problems that will enter into the person who is receiving treatment. These issues are generally why outpatient is not effective. Not to mention during detox a person is most likely to relapse because the cravings are so intense.

Now that the addict or alcoholic has been removed from temptations, there is another benefit for inpatient drug rehab. Often elements of codependency and the inability to handle conflicts in relationships contribute to the drug abuse problem and while these issues need to be addressed at some point, the addict needs to be clean first. In an outpatient treatment center the person will have daily interaction with family members who enable and are codependent. This is vital for any person wanting effective drug treatment that codependency and enabling are eliminated.

While a person is in an inpatient facility they will be monitored and also receiving 24 hour medical services from doctors and nurses. Though the first week of detox is the hardest and is essential that the medical care is constant the mental and the emotional addiction is just as hard to overcome. Addiction counselors need to be counseling and allowing for a person to address the underlying issues of the addiction problem whether it being from depression, lack of confidence, poor life skills, or relationship issues. All these are addressed through effective inpatient treatment.

Drug and alcohol addiction is a very serious problem not only with the individual but as a society. The programs that have the highest success rate are always an inpatient drug rehab center that also provides a medical detox, cognitive counseling and life skills therapy. Once an inpatient program is complete than aftercare treatment is put into action. The aftercare is essential for a person to fully overcome his or her addiction. The first step is always finding an effective inpatient drug rehab.