ALCOHOL: THE MOST PREVALENT MOOD-ALTERING SUBSTANCE
For some, alcohol can be as common as potatoes on a plate. Many of us have grown up with alcohol. It could have been a staple in our family lives even though we never have imbibed in it.
Then again, maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe we had little to no exposure to alcohol from the time we were young through to our adulthood.
Maybe we had no interest in alcohol until now…
Regardless of how or where you were raised, booze remains the most prevalent mood-altering substance in our culture. This speaks to alcohol’s prolific ability to be easily and legally accessed.
Our exposure to alcohol could also have occurred when we venture away to college, booze is still the leading substance of addiction on our university campuses.
As far as our adult lives are concerned, booze can have a presence in our workday, our marriages, even our efforts toward raising and caring for a family.
This is what makes alcohol so tough to kick: it’s the everywhere all-legal drug whose popularity can disarm you before even know so. Therefore, if you think yourself or a loved one has a problem with alcohol, you should contact a rehab center as soon as possible.
HOW CAN ALCOHOL REHAB HELP?
A reputable rehabilitation center as well as a strong support group can be of great benefit during your recovery from alcohol.
Not only is the rehab experience available to help end your drinking, it will make you aware of trigger scenarios that can relapse you back to your prior drinking.
To help prevent this, you will be encouraged to participate in a strong support group to shore up your new found sobriety, and keep you on the path to a clean and sober life.
Yes, drinking is a tough habit to give up. But with a good amount of work, dedication and an overriding desire to quit abusing alcohol, a booze-free life is entirely possible. All you have to do is take that first step.
Most alcohol and drug treatment facilities fall under two categories: inpatient and outpatient.
INPATIENT ALCOHOL REHAB
Inpatient treatment for alcohol is needed when a patient’s addiction is too severe for them to detox and rehab by themselves. This type of care is reserved for long-term sufferers of acute addiction who need around-the-clock monitoring and support by qualified healthcare professionals.
INPATIENT VISITATIONS
Inpatient visitations are very important for people who are recovering from substance abuse. Visiting loved ones and friends who are in rehab reassures the patient that there are people out in the world who still care about them.
Of course, the rehabilitation center will have restrictions as to when loved ones and friends can visit. More likely than not, visitations will not be allowed in the very initial stages of one’s recovery, such as during alcohol detox because this is a critical step toward a person’s rehabilitation.
Make careful note of how your loved one is doing in rehabilitation. If they are positive and upbeat, now might be a good time to stop by. Conversely, if your loved one is having a rough time during their rehab, you might want to postpone your visit until things get better for them.
As always, check first with your loved one’s assigned counselor to make certain a visit will help, not hinder their progression to sobriety from alcohol.
OUTPATIENT ALCOHOL REHAB
Some people may not require the intensity of inpatient rehab for their addiction. Though not as favorably looked on in the rehabilitation industry as inpatient care, some patients still opt for outpatient alcohol rehab.
As to the care outpatient facilities give, it is intense, but less expensive than inpatient care, and does not provide the level of urgency should something go wrong with the patient during alcohol detox or recovery.
DO I NEED ALCOHOL TREATMENT?
How many times have you said you’re going to have only one or two drinks? Then, before you know it, one or two drinks have turned into five or six, maybe even more?
You also understand that on occasion, you can’t remember what you did while you were drinking, and sometimes with whom. You “blacked out” once again.
Or in other cases, you’ve had another day in which you just couldn’t battle a lousy work week unless you poured yourself something stiff over the rocks to take the sting away.
If you find yourself answering “yes” to these questions, you may want to consider residential treatment.
THE PROCESS FOR ALCOHOL REHAB
Because alcohol addiction is so common, having a program and process custom made for your particular addiction is a fairly straightforward process.
First, we analyze how much and for how long you have been drinking, then through a combination of therapy, one-on-one and group counseling sessions, we drill down to find the root of your dependency.
Our counseling sessions also examine what can be a potential trigger or triggers that can endanger your sobriety.
With alcohol, we investigate the circumstances that can cause a person to fall from the wagon. This can include holiday and birthday celebrations as well as a variety of other events, addiction treatment requires you to find the very root of the cause before any treatment program can be recommended. We look into what these events can mean to you, and how you might deal with them to protect yourself and your sobriety’s progress.
In addition to counseling, our rehabilitation process also focuses on your physical wellbeing.
We offer exercise programs, which in most cases involves stretching, yoga, and other low impact activities.
Remember, alcohol rehabilitation is not just about getting a person off their substance of choice, but also about getting them back into physical shape. Sometimes there is drug use involved that might require inpatient drug rehab as well to get the person back on their feet.
For the fact is, any addiction can ravish much more than your mental and emotional state. Addiction can also physically damage you through weight gain (or loss) and injuries, as well as a host of other ailments.
THE LENGTH OF ALCOHOL TREATMENT
Because each addiction is different, each timeline as to the length of treatment is also different.
With alcohol treatment can last from a matter of a few days to a month or more, depending upon the severity of the abuse.
Also keep in mind that alcohol treatment doesn’t just involve detox and a week or two of recovery. Extended counseling is needed to fortify one’s sobriety as well as continual maintenance.
It isn’t just about not drinking, it’s also about building up your physical, mental and emotional tolerance to the point that when you leave, having a relapse is less likely to occur.
PATIENT PRIVACY
Our alcohol rehabilitation process holds a very high standard when it comes to Patient Health Information (PHI). Essentially, you have enough to concern yourself with during rehab than get sidetracked by who might know you have an alcohol or drug issue.
Take confidence in knowing that as you seek out your new pathway to sobriety, your PHI is safe with us.
HOW ARE PAYMENTS HANDLED
Our alcohol rehabilitation centers protect payment information with the same intensity as we do our Patient Health Information. We keep no credit cards on file, nor insurance records. We bill by the month.
If your stay with us is longer than a month, we discreetly bill on a bi-weekly basis.
GOING AWAY FOR TREATMENT
In some cases, it can benefit a person to leave their immediate surroundings to seek rehab. Shedding yourself of what’s familiar to you can make it more likely that you’ll have a successful recovery from alcohol. This is true because the surroundings you are most familiar with are also the most likely to trigger a relapse.
Going away for alcohol treatment rids you of distractions, and allows you to fully focus on your rehab. It can also introduce you to new interests, philosophies, sights, thoughts and most importantly, people.
With our rehabilitation facilities located throughout the country, you are bound to find a recovery center that will appeal to you as well as your efforts toward sobriety.
POST-REHABILITATION SUPPORT
All the alcohol detox and rehabilitation in the world won’t help unless you have a substantial network of people to whom you can turn for consultation and/or help.
These relationships are usually made while one is in rehab. Many recovery centers, in fact, encourage former patients to stay in touch with each other in addition to joining a network in which ideas and experiences can be shared.
Post-rehabilitation support is also advantageous when a rehabilitation center is inaccessible to someone in need.
In short, as sobriety from alcohol remains a state of living for which many of us strive, it is reassuring despite the ups and down, that we are not alone in our efforts.
If you or a loved one have an addiction to alcohol, contact BLVD Treatment Centers. At BLVD Treatment Centers we custom tailor our recovery programs within the safe and nurturing confines of our rehab treatment centers. Located throughout California, in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and in Portland, OR, our mission is to assess the severity of your addiction to help you achieve true recovery within 30 days.