Attending support groups is a great way to maintain sobriety after leaving alcohol addiction treatment.
Rehab is only the first step to sobriety, after a person leaves rehab they will have to continue to remain sober. This can be difficult, but there are programs and support options a person should utilize to help them in their life after rehab.
About Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol addiction is a chronic brain disease that will cause a person to compulsively seek out and abuse alcohol. Since alcohol is legal, it is easy for people to abuse and many people may not even realize that they are forming an addiction to the drug.
Every time a person abuses alcohol, they are causing harm to the brain and to their body. Alcohol abuse can lead to a person making very poor health decisions and poor behavioral decisions.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol will impair a person’s brain every time they abuse the drug. Alcohol effects the brain by interfering with the brain’s communication pathways. Because alcohol affects the communication pathways, alcohol will impair the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions alter a drinker’s mood and behavior, and it will make it difficult for them to think clearly.
Most people begin drinking alcohol in social situations and some people enjoy the effects that alcohol has on their body and they continue to drink on a frequent basis. Many of these people then begin to turn to alcohol when they are feeling stressed and depressed. Over time if a person continues to abuse alcohol they may develop an addiction to the drug, which also commonly leads to dependency.
When a person develops a dependency to alcohol they will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms every time they do not have alcohol in their body, or even when they do not have enough alcohol in their body. Once a person decides to stop drinking they will go through both physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. Since the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol can be painful and extremely difficult for a person to go through, many people need the help of alcohol rehab to go through a detox and to learn to live a life free from alcohol.
Resources a Person Should Use in Their Life after Alcohol Rehab
Once a person leaves a rehab program it will be up to them to continue to remain living a sober life. Since alcohol is everywhere, one change they may need to make is to avoid going to bars or to places that serve alcohol. In order to stay strong a person should involve themselves in support groups. There are several different support groups that people can use for free, and that have been proven effective to help people remain living a sober life. One of the most famous support groups is known as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA is a twelve step program that will provide a person with an abundance of support to help them stay away from relapsing.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the best self-help groups are the 12 step programs such as, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Most rehabs will encourage patients to participate in a 12 step program during and after their treatment at the rehab. 12 step programs can be tremendously helpful during recovery because they provide a person with more community-level social support to help them achieve and maintain sobriety.
Other resources and support groups a person can join include, SMART Recovery, Rational Recovery and Women for Sobriety, which is designed specifically for women.
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