Most people who enter alcohol and drug rehab need alcohol or drug detox. It’s normal for people to continue drinking or taking drugs up to the day they enter drug or alcohol treatment. This is not only because they enjoy the effect, but also because by the time someone goes into alcohol or drug rehab the withdrawal symptoms are likely to be bad enough to encourage them to keep using.

Alcohol and Drug Detox Options

Some alcohol and drug detox centers offer more options than others. Some will have their own state-licensed facilities while others may contract with private companies or hospitals to provide medical detox.

Medical detox generally uses a mild form of medication to safely ease a person off of alcohol or drugs with as little discomfort as possible. Going through detox from alcohol or benzodiazepines can result in severe withdrawal symptoms, such as hallucinations or life-threatening seizures. It is always advised that someone coming into alcohol and drug rehab with these addictions receive a medical detox. Some alcohol and drug detox centers also offer holistic therapies during this process, such as acupuncture and massage, to stimulate the body to help release toxins and minimize withdrawal symptoms.

It is never recommended that individuals go “cold-turkey” off alcohol or drugs. As mentioned, this could result in life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Some likely symptoms for withdrawal from alcohol, benzodiazepines and opiate-based drugs (codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycontin, heroin) include headaches, nausea, body-aches, night sweats, night terrors, restlessness, insomnia, hallucinations and in extreme cases, convulsions. Withdrawal from stimulants such as cocaine, crack and methamphetamines generally results in heavy fatigue, depression and in severe cases, suicidal thoughts. A lot of rest is required in the initial days of detox. Medical detox serves as the safest form of withdrawal from drugs and alcohol for most drugs.

Alcohol and Drug Detox for You

Inquire about the best alcohol and drug detox for you prior to deciding on a treatment center. Some facilities may require that you arrive at check-in already detoxed. Others may offer a state-licensed facility on site. Find out what kind of detox options they have and make sure you’re comfortable with it. Remember, alcohol and drug detox is the first step toward a healthy new life in sobriety. Don’t short-change yourself and suffer through the withdrawal process if you don’t have to. It could make all the difference between staying sober and falling back into alcoholism or drug addiction.

Most people have a preconceived idea or a set of expectations for drug rehab. Some of these may be unrealistic, such as expecting that drug rehab is a cure-all and once you leave, you’re cured. Others have low expectations, believing that a drug rehab center is just a step up from a homeless shelter. Whatever your drug rehab expectations, the best way to address them is to call a variety of drug rehabs and talk to intake coordinators.

What Can You Expect from Drug Rehab?

You can expect that a drug rehab can help you. After all, that’s what a drug rehab is for! This is accomplished through providing a few things that you’re not likely to get if you don’t enter drug rehab.

You can expect that drug rehab offers a safe, supportive and sober environment with 24 hour supervision to keep you drug and alcohol-free. In spite of your best intentions, when you are just getting sober and going through the sometimes uncomfortable withdrawal process it can take everything in your power not to reach for drugs or alcohol on your own. A drug rehab environment ensures that you are sober long enough to go through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms and cravings in a safe environment with support around you to help you through it.

You can expect that a drug rehab is staffed with professionals who have training, experience and credentials in treating people who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction. Many people who work in a drug rehab center have successfully recovered from addiction and earned credentials in counseling, psychology or marriage & family therapy in order to help others do the same. Doctors such as clinical therapists, psychiatrists and medical personnel are often on staff at drug rehab centers, along with holistic practitioners in therapies such as acupuncture, massage, meditation and yoga.

You can expect that a drug rehab center will educate you on the disease of addiction. Educational modules on the effects of drugs and alcohol on the mind and the body are usually presented along with relapse prevention and how triggers, old patterns and behaviors can trip up your recovery.

You can expect that a drug rehab center will introduce you to a support group, whether it’s 12-step based or faith-based. This is a traditional means of support once you leave drug rehab.

What You Cannot Expect from Drug Rehab

You cannot expect a drug rehab to cure you. It’s not like taking a pill for 30 days that makes you immune to drugs and alcohol forever. Some people are ready to get sober and some aren’t. If you are, drug rehab can be an extremely rewarding time for you. If you’re not, drug rehab expectations may fail you. This doesn’t mean that it won’t be successful at some level. Talking to an intake coordinator at a drug rehab center can help answer your questions on whether your drug rehab expectations are realistic and find the one that will be most rewarding for you.

What are alcohol and drugs doing to you? You had a big test but were too hungover to think clearly. You were supposed to meet a friend for dinner but had a few too many cocktails and were too drunk to drive. You find that you can’t function the morning after you tied one on unless you take something – another drink, a pill, a line. You’re canceling plans more and more with friends or business associates with excuses when the truth is you want to drink, use or you’re too sick from drinking or using.

How Important is Your Alcohol or Drug Use?

When alcohol and drugs become more important than family, friends or work it can be said you are in the grips of alcoholism or drug addiction. There are people who use alcohol and drugs periodically but still manage the day to day events of their lives without allowing alcohol or drug use to interfere. Then there are people who cannot live life without their alcohol or drug use – it becomes consuming. Their lives revolve around when they can get it, when they can consume it and when they can get more. A person whose alcohol or drug use has escalated to this level is in the grips of alcoholism or drug addiction.

What Is Your Alcohol or Drug Use Costing You?

The cost of alcohol and drugs is immeasurable, not only financially but in terms of relationships, work and opportunities. Your girlfriend or spouse leaves you, your children are taken away, you lose your job, you get passed over for the promotion, you miss out on high school graduation, you flunk the class you needed to qualify for graduate school, you end up in jail with a DUI and now you can’t pursue your dream of becoming a pilot. Any one of these scenarios and thousands more are lived out on a daily basis by people in the grips of alcoholism and drug addiction.

If you or a friend thinks you need help before your use of alcohol and drugs gets worse, call a drug rehab center today. Most centers have professionals on staff who can help you determine if you need help for alcoholism or drug addiction and the steps you have to take next. They’ll walk you through the whole process. Don’t let alcohol and drugs waste one more minute of your life.

It’s not always easy to recognize alcoholism and drug addiction. For some people the slide toward bottom happens very quickly and it’s easily detected. Someone in the grip of addiction is typically so consumed with alcohol or drugs that little else matters. Personal appearance, responsibilities, normal activities, relationships, sleep and eating patterns all deteriorate. Others are high-functioning and can hide their alcoholism and drug addiction for long periods of time before it begins to interfere with their life.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: Patterns

Someone who is struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction will typically have certain patterns of usage. For example, the must-have nightly cocktails, always having alcohol available in the house or at social functions, mood swings that could indicate someone is high or coming down off of a high, unusual sleeping patterns, isolating, leaving the house at odd hours, frequent visits to the doctor complaining of symptoms that require pain medication – these are patterns to watch.

If alcohol or drug usage is not interfering with an individual’s ability to manage life or relationships, then it’s not yet at a problem level. Some people can use alcohol and drugs for recreational purposes while others get hooked immediately. The best indication is the manageability of a person’s life.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: Appearance

Generally a person’s appearance and their surroundings are indicative of what’s going on inside of them. If someone is consumed in their alcoholism and drug addiction, it can’t help but affect what’s going on around them. Their personal relationships, extracurricular activities, school or work attendance and performance will all suffer. Usually family members will be the first to recognize the signs of alcoholism and drug addiction.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: What to Do

If you recognize these behaviors in yourself or a loved one, seek professional advice. Drug rehab centers typically have professionals answering the phones who are former addicts and alcoholics – they can detect the severity of alcoholism and drug addiction through the patterns you describe and advise you on the best level of care. There are inpatient and outpatient programs depending upon how much alcohol and drug usage is interfering with your life or that of a loved one. It doesn’t cost anything to make a few phone calls and find out how to arrest alcoholism and drug addiction before it’s too late.

Alcohol and Drug Rehab centers offer a safe, supportive environment for people who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction. They are usually the last resort for individuals who have been drinking or taking drugs to the point where it’s interfering with their life and in some instances, has ruined it completely.

Alcohol and Drug Rehab Inpatient

Alcohol and Drug Rehab offers something you probably haven’t felt in a long time – Hope. It’s a safe place to step off the world for a while and heal under the care of professionals in the medical, clinical and holistic realm. Alcoholism and drug addiction works on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. All of these areas need to be addressed in order for you to begin to heal all the damage created by alcohol and drugs. This is a tall order for what is typically only 30 days of alcohol and drug rehab inpatient treatment.

For this reason, most alcohol and drug rehab inpatient programs have 24 hour supervision and limited connection with the outside world. This is so you can concentrate on the alcohol and drug rehab program instead of being distracted by the happenings of friends and loved ones in the outside world. Then too, many of the friends you have when you come into alcohol and drug rehab may be the ones who encouraged drinking and using drugs. There could also be family members who “trigger” you to drink or use. This is why phone, e-mail usage and personal interactions with friends and family members are limited and may even be monitored.

Alcohol and Drug Rehab Recovery

The time you spend in alcohol and drug rehab is the beginning of recovery. Recovery is defined as a process of time spent healing after an extended illness or injury.

Alcoholism and drug addiction is a serious and life-threatening disease that requires learning how to live life differently in order to stay sober. Generally, alcohol and drug rehab recovery programs provide education on the disease of addiction, offer clinical therapy or drug and alcohol counseling to help address emotional issues, and may offer holistic processes such as acupuncture or massage to help the body and spirit mend.

Recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction is considered a lifelong process and for this reason, the 12-step model is generally introduced in alcohol and drug rehab. The benefit of 12-step meetings is they can be found all over the world and offer a sober support network once you leave rehab.  Ultimately, alcohol and drug rehab is designed to give you a solid foundation with enough life management tools for you to build a happy, fulfilling life in sobriety.