Individuals suffering from addiction often go through withdrawal when they are removed from their drug or alcohol supply. Withdrawal is physically painful, which is one of the reasons why addiction is so noxious.
Detox is a vital part of any therapy involving addiction to a substance. However, while detox will help addicts recover with far less pain, it doesn’t address any of the behaviors or mindset involved with addiction. It’s important to combine a humane detox with mental therapy for effective addiction treatment.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there are three steps in the detox process:
- Evaluation. In order to make detox as safe as possible, a patient needs to be monitored by a medical specialist to see what exactly is in the patient’s bloodstream, as well as pinpoint any mental or behavioral issues which may exist.
- Stabilization. After evaluation, the doctors explain to the patient what they’ve found, and explain the process the patient is about to undergo for detox. At some detox centers, family or friends may be present at this point to show support, if appropriate.
- Guiding patient into treatment. This is where the patient leaves detox and enters the recovery process. Usually this involves a drug rehabilitation program, either inpatient or outpatient.
The process for detox is different for alcoholics as compared to drug addicts. Drug addicts can undergo “rapid detoxification,” which involves putting the patient to sleep, giving anesthetics, and it only takes a couple of hours. This allows the patient to bypass the pain of withdrawal. However, rapid detoxification does have health risks, as some patients react negatively to the anesthetic. There have also been studies that show patients who undergo rapid detoxification are able to get off of drugs in the short term, but often have a higher rate of relapse in the long term.
Drug addicts who do not undergo rapid detoxification often take methadone or other opiates to help manage withdrawal and cravings. This is a far slower process, but statistics suggest it may be more effective in the long term. Alcohol addiction is approached in the same fashion, with benzodiazepines as the most common drug, barbiturates as the second.
With Drug Treatment Center Finder, you can look at a variety of different detox programs. Many of them work hand-in-hand with recovery centers, particularly with inpatient clinics. We can help find the right detox program for you.
