Finding Alcohol Rehab for a Loved One

Helping your loved one into alcohol rehab will greatly improve their life, and yours, too.

Once a loved one decides to get help for a drinking problem, having an alcohol rehab program ready to accept him or her can help ensure he or she follows through on the decision. Equally important is finding an alcohol rehab program that can best meet your loved one’s treatment needs.

Alcoholism has been around since time immemorial. Alcohol rehab programs have come a long way in developing various approaches for helping individuals maintain sobriety. In the process, a wide range of program specialties and methods of treatment have been made available.

Matching any one program’s offerings to your loved one’s specific treatment needs is the best way to go about finding the alcohol rehab program that best addresses a loved one’s needs. A program’s track record and credentials should also be considered during the selection process.

Alcoholism

As one of the few substances capable of producing both stimulant and depressant effects, alcohol can easily lull drinkers into consuming more than initially intended. Much like drug addiction, alcohol’s effects send the brain and body in a downward spiral for as long as a person continues to drink.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, alcoholism starts off as a physical dependency before all-out addiction takes hold. Someone who’s physically dependent on alcohol experiences physical withdrawal effects once bodily functions come to depend on alcohol’s effects. Addiction becomes an issue when drinkers can no longer control the amount alcohol they consume. At this point, both psychological and physical withdrawal effects occur.

While some alcohol rehab programs focus on the detox stage, others may take a more long-term approach to treatment. A loved one who’s physically dependent may benefit from a detox-oriented program, whereas someone who’s addicted requires a more long-term care approach.

Alcohol Rehab

As long as a person keeps drinking, alcohol’s effects will make it all but impossible for him or her to take an active role in the recovery process. For this reason, alcohol rehab starts with the detoxification stage. From there, psychological treatment methods help a person work through the underlying issues driving his or her addiction.

For people suffering from severe addiction, alcohol rehab programs offer medication therapies designed to wean a person off the effects of alcohol. Medications, such as Antabuse and methadone may be administered on a short- or long-term basis depending on a person’s treatment needs. In many cases, medication therapies make it possible for recovering drinkers to resume employment while at the same time following through on psychotherapy treatment and support group work.

Choosing an Alcohol Rehab Program

Treatment for alcoholism has a favorable success rate with anywhere from 50 to 60 percent of alcoholics maintaining sobriety on a long-term basis, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. With such a long-standing history of research and application, certain standards have been established as effective treatment models.

When deciding on an alcohol rehab program, ensure the facility meets the state’s licensing and credential requirements to ensure your loved one receives proper treatment care. As different programs often specialize in certain types of treatment, it’s always good to research each program’s record of accomplishment in working with different levels or stages of alcohol addiction.