Alcohol Rehabilitation Addiction Treatment Abuse Recovery Centers Program

Alcohol

One in every 12 adults suffers from alcohol addiction in the United States of America. More than half of the people around the world who consume alcoholic drinks experience the risky or binge drinking patterns that could lead to acute alcohol problems. In order to battle this social havoc, one needs to have an appropriate understanding of the alcohol addiction aid. This article attempts to provide details in relation to alcohol addiction help.

The right time for alcohol treatment

Napoleon Hill has said it correctly, “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” These words suit an alcohol addict’s situation as well. The alcohol addiction can be confirmed by noticing the regular symptoms it shows. As soon as you start experiencing these symptoms, you should begin considering where to go for help with alcohol addiction. These symptoms can vary from nervousness to headaches and from increased heart rate to nausea.

Will alcohol rehab treatment be helpful?

No matter how severe your alcohol problem is, at least one of the many kinds of treatments available for alcohol addiction will definitely work for you. As per a research, one-third of the people who get treated for alcohol addiction don’t experience any further symptoms for at least one year. A number of other alcohol addicts have successfully reduced their drinking and reported fewer alcohol-related problems.

Signs of alcohol addiction

If you doubt to have developed alcohol addiction and answer “yes” to two or more of the following questions, be sure that you are under the impact of addiction and need to find the answer to where to go for help with alcohol addiction.

  • Have there been instances when you ended up drinking more or longer than you intended?
  • Have you tried to get rid of your drinking habit more than once?
  • Do you experience a regular craving for alcohol?
  • Has your drinking habit affected your personal or professional life?
  • Have you given up on activities that were once significant to you because of your drinking habit?
  • Have you ever hurt yourself as a result of excessive drinking?
  • Do you suffer health problems due to drinking?
  • Has your usual number of drinks increased in comparison to the past?
  • Do you experience any of the withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking? (The withdrawal symptoms can be insomnia, restlessness, anxiety, shaking, irritability, depression, sweating or nausea).

Alcohol Treatment options

If you are looking for where to go for help with alcohol addiction, the most common answer you will get to hear will be the 12-step or 28-days program. But there a number of other options that too can be considered.

As no two individuals go through the same level of severity, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when you are looking for where to go for help with alcohol addiction. Understanding the different options of treatment is a significant step.

Behavioral treatments

These treatments strive to change the drinking behavior of the addict through counseling.

Medications

Three primary medicines are used to treat the alcohol addiction, namely – Naltrexone, Acamprosate, and Disulfiram. Prescribed by a health professional, these can be used alone or along with counseling.

Mutual support groups

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-step programs cater peer support to reduce or eliminate the dependence on drinking. In combination with proper treatment, mutual support groups can yield successful recovery results.

The beginning of the rehab treatment

When you are starting your search for where to go for help with alcohol addiction, considering a primary doctor can be a smart decision to take. The doctor can be a good source of treatment referrals or medications. He or she can:

  • analyze whether a person’s drinking pattern poses any risk and if yes, what kind of risk
  • help in developing a treatment plan
  • check the overall health

If you are looking for a doctor to provide you with the medication knowledge, consider a primary care provider with a minimum qualification of M.D. If you are looking to get behavioral treatment, consider going to a psychiatrist, psychologist or an alcohol counselor.

Behavioral treatments

Also referred to as alcohol counseling, these kinds of treatments identify and help in changing those behaviors that lead to heavy drinking. So if you are trying to find an answer to where to go for help with alcohol addiction, you first need to understand the common features of varied kind of behavioral treatments. These features might include:

  • Developing the skills required to reduce or stop the addict’s drinking habit
  • Helping to build a strong social support system
  • Setting and working to attain reachable goals
  • Coping with the triggers that might result in relapse

Types of behavioral treatments

When you are looking for options of where to go for help with alcohol addiction, a brief idea of the types of behavioral treatments provided would help you to make an informed decision.

  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy

The goal of this therapy is to change the thinking patterns that result in heavy drinking.

  • Motivational enhancement therapy

This therapy develops the skills and builds confidence in the patient to reduce or stop drinking.

  • Marital and family counseling

This therapy strives to build family support for the patient which might result in a faster recovery of the patient.

  • Brief interventions

These are short, one-on-one or group counseling sessions that function based on the time limit. The counselor analyses the drinking pattern of the addict and sets a goal to reduce or eliminate this habit.

Tips for selecting addiction treatments

The best method to select the kind of treatment you want is to gather as much information as you can about the treatment program. It would be a cherry on the cake if you know someone who has a first-hand experience of a particular alcohol addiction treatment program. This would reduce your burden of finding the answer to where to go for help with alcohol addiction.

If you don’t know someone with such experience, considering the following questions might help:

  • What kind of treatment is offered under the program?

Learn about the method the facility employs to treat the patient. Does the rehab center or a healthcare institute bring into use all the available methods of treatment or solely rely on one approach. Is psychological health also given due importance besides physical health?

  • Is the treatment tailored as per the condition of the patient?

As no single treatment can benefit all the patients, it is important to inquire whether the right treatment is matched as per the patient’s condition.

  • What is the patient’s role in the treatment?

It is vital to understand what is expected from the patient.

  • Is the success of the treatment measured?

If you are looking for where to go for help with alcohol addiction, assessing the manner in which the rehab center or healthcare institute measures the treatment success can help you to compare your options in a better way.

  • How is the situation of relapse handled by the program?

A part of the aftermath of most of the alcohol addiction treatment programs, relapse is seen in the maximum cases. Here, it is important to understand how the treatment program addresses this situation.

Additional considerations

When you are weighing your options of where to go for help with alcohol addiction, considering whether the treatment program is inpatient or outpatient is also very important. Before beginning a treatment, do not forget to look into the cost aspect of the kind of treatment you have chosen.