Alcohol addiction is not a matter to take lightly since it can damage your life and family beyond your imagination. The menace that is so widespread across the world may leave you with deadly issues such as mental or chronic sicknesses that will leave you regretting about the many times that you chose alcohol over both your life and family.
The only way to make your life better and ease it in such occurrences is accepting your deadly mistakes and getting rid of your regrets through the multiple alcohol rehab programs. They are multiple because the issues that accompany alcohol addiction need special attention for you, as an addict to recover completely without relapse issues.
Getting addicted to psychoactive substances such as alcohol puts you in a different lane from other similar addicts. Just because you share the same addiction does not mean much similarity except the fact that you are likely to share the same withdrawal symptoms. How is this fact even possible?
We, the human species, were created in the same way, but are also different in other ways. For instance, you can never share things like finger prints or exact DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) with anybody else. However, you can share other things like hobbies, handwriting or even likes.
Other body system differences make you so unique to the point that your absorption of substances is also different from other persons. Additionally, reaction to substances is also different. Therefore, body reactions such as addiction or building tolerance to alcohol are also different.
Hence, if you begin abusing alcohol at the same time as another person it is quite unlikely that you both will get addicted or alcohol dependent at the same time. You may end up in the rehabilitation center at the same time but it does not necessarily mean that your addiction is the same. Despite sharing alcohol withdrawal syndrome symptoms, severity will be very different.
Rehabilitation
Every time you abuse alcohol, it is impossible for you to predict the kind of problem, which is addiction and other health issues that will develop and haunt you later through rehabilitation. As a result, you will consume alcohol just for the sake of it or probably to get through the multiple issues that you could be facing.
However, your reasons hardly matter because your way of letting out your problems will keep getting you in more problems. What’s more, denying that you have an alcohol addiction problem will lead you deeper into alcohol consumption as well as abuse.
Deciding to go into rehabilitation will assist you to quit the alcohol abuse problems. However, it is quite tricky to know when and why you need alcohol rehabilitation. The following points are quite helpful in understanding the need to take this step.
- The current environment that you live in makes it harder for you to quit alcohol abuse. As a result you feel the need for a new environment where you can stay sober as you work on your personal growth.
- Your alcohol addiction has affected your mental health and thus derails you from achieving your personal growth.
- You tend to have an extremely high alcohol tolerance and thus focus more on alcohol consumption rather than living up to the potential that you believe in.
- You probably suffer from several body effects due to excess alcohol abuse, and thus miss having good health accompanied by a good night sleep.
- Since you have made alcohol consumption a priority, you want change by having more control over your actions.
- Your alcohol addiction has affected multiple of your personal and professional relationships, which makes you guilty and want to make a manse.
These facts are very helpful in making you realize that seeking professional help to overcome your addiction to alcohol is a wise decision. Furthermore, alcohol addicts who have recovered and already in their sobriety journey can attest that rehabilitation is important while seeking to change your life.
Alcohol Rehab Programs
Alcohol abuse disorder causes several complexities in your body, which could be different from other people’s issues, despite sharing the same disorder. As a result, it is highly likely that starting rehab treatment will also begin and proceed in different timings.
Additionally, depending on the body reactions that you suffer from, such as health complications due to your addiction, your addiction specialist may subject you to multiple rehab programs that will differ. However, what exactly are alcohol rehab programs?
Alcohol addiction programs are individualized and holistic techniques that focus on alcoholism or alcohol addiction treatment. They focus on assisting you in quitting the consumption of alcohol and maintaining a sober lifestyle through multiple life coping, communication and relapse avoidance skills.
An example of such programs is the alcohol detoxification program that focuses on cleansing your body due to the toxins that alcohol has caused in your body organs. If your alcohol dependency is quite severe, this program may be accompanied by the medication assisted treatment program to help ease the agony that the alcohol withdrawal syndrome symptoms may cause.
What’s more, if you further suffer from psychological issues, these two programs may be accompanied by multiple therapy programs to ensure that no issues are left unattended to. Therefore, the combination of multiple alcohol rehab programs is beneficial and necessary since it guarantees your full recovery from alcohol dependency.
Advantages
The alcohol rehab programs are all advantageous if you adhere to your doctor’s instructions and avoid relapsing. First, they enable the proper and professional detoxification of your body, leaving you stronger and healthier.
Second, these treatment techniques assist you in dealing with your alcohol addiction causes. In most times, the reasons or causes of addiction are the lead triggers that drive you into more alcohol abuse.
Third, they are effective in addressing and repairing your personal and professional relationships that got affected by your alcohol addiction. The majority of these relationships are related to family members and work. Family therapies are the best in repairing the broken bonds between you and your family members.
Last, the alcohol rehab programs focus on equipping with whatever you need to avoid relapsing. You begin by learning your triggers and then acquire skills to avoid them or rather handle them appropriately, where they are unavoidable.
From all the above advantages, it is clear that the alcohol rehab programs focus on helping you gain back sobriety and making you the best person that you can be in your society. At the end, you are able regain control over all you can, including the direction of your life. They are very empowering as well as they continually promote positivity.
Types Of Alcohol Rehab Programs
As mentioned above, the alcohol rehab programs are quite several and tend to work together. The following programs are the multiple ones at your disposal:
1. Detoxification
In the recovery journey of alcohol addiction, detoxification is the very first step that you take. As mentioned earlier, detoxification is a program that targets to clean your body so that you can excrete all the toxins consumed through alcohol consumption.
This program is considered as the very first step in recovery because it is compulsory. Additionally, you cannot benefit from all the other programs in alcohol rehabilitation, if you are still under the influence of alcohol. You must be detoxified first and then proceed to the rest.
In the detoxification program process, you may go through the unpleasant alcohol withdrawal syndrome. This part entails multiple withdrawal symptoms since your body must react to the absence of alcohol. Their severity is dependent on multiple factors.
You should expect withdrawal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, insomnia, anxiety, increased heartbeat, confusion, fever, seizures, irritability, tremors, hallucinations, agitation and high blood pressure. It is important to note that some of these withdrawal symptoms should not be taken for granted since they could claim your life.
2. Medical Assisted Treatment
As mentioned earlier, medication assisted program may accompany the detoxification program depending on the severity of the withdrawal symptoms that are mentioned above. Therefore, if you are an alcohol addict, you are likely to use this program since it saves from succumbing to the severe symptoms, treats your mental problems and lowers your alcohol cravings as it prevents relapsing.
The lack of utilizing this program puts you at risk of relapsing, death or development of complications. Therefore, the medication assisted treatment is a program that saves multiple lives of alcohol addicts. Among the drugs, as approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, used in the management of alcohol withdrawal symptoms include naltrexone, disulfiram and acamprosate.
3. Inpatient Treatment Program
The inpatient treatment program is similar to hospitalization or the residential addiction treatment program. It is the best program for you if you are an alcoholic, since you require a high level of care due to the life threatening withdrawal symptoms that you are prone to experience.
Additionally, it can also suit you if you have a moderate alcohol dependency, since the hospital environment shields you from a relapse triggering environment. It is quite encouraging as you focus on regaining sobriety as well.
The inpatient treatment programs entails living in an enclosed facility, mostly in a private room, whereby you receive the appropriate treatment according to your alcohol caused problems. Despite that it is known to be a bit costly, it is effective and thus worth the struggle since you have higher chances of fully recovering from alcohol addiction. The relapse chances are very minimal.
The program has two categories; the short and long-term residential treatment. Your addiction specialist chooses the best for you, depending on various factors including the level of your alcohol addiction.
The short-term may last for weeks to three months and thus suitable if you suffer from mild or moderate alcoholism. On the other hand, the long-term goes for a longer period of about three to six months and thus suitable for severe alcoholism since you require longer time to heal.
The need for inpatient program
Alcohol abuse and addiction have stages and therefore, abusing the substance hardly means that you must be admitted into a facility. There are those kinds of alcohol abusers that must land in such a facility while others can receive help even from home.
If all those abusing alcohol were to be admitted into an inpatient treatment facility, it is highly likely that the available addiction hospitals would be full to capacity and further cause shortages of treatment provision. Therefore, you must analyze yourself using various factors to where your level of alcohol addiction stands.
The following are some of the signs that could be useful in analyzing the need for inpatient treatment program.
- You spend a majority of your time drunk
- You can hardly say no to alcohol offers, even on a daily basis
- You are unrecognizable since alcohol have caused changes in you behaviors
- You are constantly developing mental or psychological issues that seem to propel that rate of your alcohol abuse
- You have tried quitting alcohol abuse but have failed. If you tried quitting through the short-term residential treatment period approach but failed, it is better to pursue your recovery through the long-term residential treatment period.
- You lack support that can drive your efforts to quit alcohol abuse
- You suffer from a long-term alcohol addiction, which puts you at risk of complications or death due to severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome
- You tend to mix alcohol with other drugs to increase the euphoric effects.
- Outpatient Addiction Treatment
The outpatient addiction treatment is nothing like the inpatient treatment program, though both may incorporate similar other programs along the way. This technique does not require you to be hospitalized. Instead, you make an agreement with your addiction specialist regarding your treatment.
Therefore, outpatient alcohol addiction program entails reporting to your doctor’s office or clinical setting on a regular or daily basis, depending on the schedule that is agreed upon. The meetings that you attend may entail some tests to verify that your blood is alcohol free and also benefit from the multiple other programs that cater for your psychological and mental health.
The outpatient alcohol addiction program is suitable for you, if you have mild or slightly moderate alcohol dependency. It allows you to manage your recovery process, as you proceed engaging in your work and family responsibilities.
Unfortunately, it may not be a beneficial as required, especially if your environment has multiple triggers that could lead to a relapse. Additionally, if you have unsupportive persons around you, the likelihood of relapsing is extremely high.
What’s more, it is the worst approach for person with severe addiction. If you suffer from severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome, you could end up with so many complications or cause problems since your body is undergoing changes that are quit rough.
Need for outpatient alcohol addiction treatment
Like the inpatient program, outpatient program as well needs proper analysis. You may blindly choose it as you suffer from severe addiction, but hardly survive due to the challenges that may come long, such as relapsing, which is extremely discouraging.
Therefore, you can utilize the following signs to know the advantages of using the outpatient program.
- You seem to be enjoying too much of the alcohol abuse and thus, wish to change.
- Your addiction specialist has diagnosed you with mild alcoholism, which could develop to be worse if not treated.
- You feel desperate for therapy, despite not suffering from any health issues
- You believe that your support system is good enough to help you through recovery
- You have noticed an increase in your drinking patterns and wish to do better before alcohol addiction kicks in.
Outpatient program categories
- Day treatment- in this category, you are scheduled to attend the treatment during the day time hours. Later in the evening, you cater for the responsibilities. The schedule can last for the whole day or half of the day.
- Intensive outpatient programs- this class is only beneficial if your support system as home is very strong. It is advisable for it comprise of the people closest to you such as family, spouse, parent and friends. The system is meant to keep you from relapsing and ensure you attend the treatments as expected.
- Continuing care groups- care groups encourage you to stick to the sobriety path, since it entails being in midst of people that have the same alcohol problems.
- Individual Therapy
Alcohol addiction is triggered by multiple issues that you may not be away of. Therefore, the individual therapy is very helpful since it focuses on bringing those issues to light so that you can accept, and learn how to deal with them.
As a result, a therapist is involved in this program, whereby you talk to him or her about your struggles. Therapists are known to ask several questions to learn your issues. They then guide you on how to avoid being control by these issues. Despite that it is expensive; it is very effective because some issues are too personal. Hence, individual therapy also values confidentiality.
- Group Therapy
Aside from individualized therapy, group therapy is also helpful. Group therapy entails sharing your struggles with other alcohol addicts as you also listen to their problems. This approach is very effective since you will understand that all people go through problems that cause their addictions and hence accepting you weaknesses is a step towards a better you.
Most people that share their stories in this platform have gone through worse problems. Hence, listening to their stories will encourage you especially seeing their strength and will to better.
- Family Therapy
Alcohol addiction does not go easy on families. It causes a lot of mistrust and hurt, since you will tend to do so many things that will hurt family members, while under the influence. Therefore, the family therapy is a program that focuses on healing your family member, as it brings back the broken bonds.
It entails attending therapy as a family whereby everyone gets to open up about the problems that they have experienced due to your alcohol dependency. As they talk, the therapist tries to help your family to understand your problems and thus promotes understanding and reduces blame.
The family therapy enables you and your family members to emerge as strong people that can understand each other’s struggles. Consequently, this also propels your recovery.
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Your behaviors are greatly influenced by your thoughts. As a result, having control of your thoughts is quite important for you to have the desired behaviors. During the cognitive behavior therapy, the program focuses on how you feel and how these feelings control your behavior.
The therapist analyses your emotions and determines those that drive you into alcohol addiction. With the relevant skills, he or she helps you find a solution for these bad feelings or an alternative that can push them away. This program is hence necessary in alcohol rehabilitation, since it reprograms your mind.
3. Motivational Interviewing
At times, your alcohol addiction may have been due to peer influence or pressure or just the love of a lifestyle of fun. If this is the case, you really need this program since it is about motivating you to change your ways.
The professionals involved in the motivational interviewing program enlighten you on the need to make better decisions for yourself, which obviously begins with change. They also encourage you to embrace a non-confrontational style so that you may fully engage in treatment.
They style entails utilizing strategies like rolling with reflection, resistance and assisting you in understanding the merits and demerits of alcohol addiction and treatment.
In conclusion, recovery from alcohol addiction or abuse requires the incorporation of multiple rehab programs. Some are compulsory such as detoxification, while others like motivational interviewing may be optional.
However, your recovery from alcohol use disorder or alcoholism needs dedication and focus, meaning that it is advisable to incorporate all the above. They guarantee full recovery that is hardly stained by relapse periods.