Alcohol Rehab

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 23 percent of the people in rehab are addicted to alcohol and another 18 percent are there for alcohol along with another drug. Alcohol addiction is one of the leading addiction problems in the United States. The fact that alcohol is legal for those over 21 and that it is readily available for any age contributes to this growing problem.

Alcohol is a dangerous drug, many people do not realize this. Like with all addictions it starts as one drink and then another. There are a few types of alcohol addiction including daily drinking and binge drinking. Regardless of the type of drinking, when alcohol use has reached the point of addiction, it is extremely difficult to stop.

Types of Treatment

Holistic treatment can help you overcome and heal from an addiction to alcohol.

There are many individual types of treatment with new ones emerging all the time. The treatment you choose depends on your life and circumstances. Two categories can accommodate each type of treatment.

Inpatient treatment:

• conducted in a residential facility,
• counselor’s and medical staff are normally available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• patients are among their peers, addicts provide support for other addicts,
• all forms of therapy are offered including holistic and alternative therapies, and
• it removes the patient from the situations that they usually drink in.

Outpatient treatment:

• conducted through a series of appointments and visits,
• gives patients freedom, but addicts are exposed to more triggers,
• allows a patient to maintain employment and family life while in recovery,
• is necessary in some circumstances due to other obligations, and
• allows the patient to make more choices than inpatient rehab.

Each of these treatment options offer a full range of therapy options. The American Psychological Association states that a wide range of treatment options is better than a single treatment type. It is up to you to make sure that the treatment program you choose contains the right therapies for you. Some of these choices are:

• Medication management – patients are given medications to help manage the consequences of addiction and their side effects.
• Counseling – therapist utilize a variety of therapy techniques in order to help addicts cope with the psychological issues associated with addiction.
• Holistic therapies – a variety of treatments based on treating the whole person, their body, mind, and spirit, instead of just the addiction.

Each of these types of therapy may be combined in order to form a more comprehensive overall program. It is important to remember that treating just the addiction often leads to relapse, so it falls to therapists, doctors, and practitioners to treat the cause as well as the addiction.

Benefits of Holistic Treatment

One of the newly accepted treatments for alcohol addiction takes a holistic treatment approach. Holistic medicine treats the whole person, fixing things like their work – play balance, exercise level, relaxation techniques, and teaching them life skills. The benefits of holistic treatment are:

• Improved diet and improved health,
• Reduced anxiety and depression,
• Improved exercise and overall body fitness,
• Addresses mental issues along with overall health,
• Uses herbal medicine to replace those with heavy side effects, and
• Generally costs less than other forms of therapy and medical treatment.

There are many other benefits to holistic treatment. The benefits all depend on the participation and willingness to change of the addict. If an addict is unwilling to make positive changes, none of the traditional or holistic therapies will work.

Should I Choose Holistic Treatment?

When deciding whether to choose holistic treatment or not, it is important to remember that you what you get out of the treatment is proportional to what you put into it. Someone who does not want to change under holistic practices typically will not change.

In most cases, it is not a choice between holistic treatments and traditional rehab. The choice is whether to add holistic treatment, to improve the chances of success. Holistic treatments are often combined with the more traditional alcohol rehab practices.

How Long Will Alcohol Rehab Take?

How long rehab takes depends on the treatment program. Many court ordered programs are 28 days long. Although this is enough time to treat the physical withdrawal, it is not enough time to treat the mental and social changes that should occur to avoid relapse. Ultimately, the length of the rehab depends on your willingness to change. Each person is different. They have different needs and different expectations. The length of rehab should be the length of time it takes to meet these needs and expectations.

Many experts agree that in order to recover from alcohol addiction lifelong changes need to take place. Unfortunately, it takes more time to make these changes, than the typical 28 day, 30 day, and 90 day rehab programs allow.

If you are entering rehab, think of the amount of time it takes to reform a bad habit into a new good one. Then think about the amount of effort it takes to change for the positive, the amount of time rehab will take is the amount of time it takes to make these changes. This is why most people opt for a holistic therapy. It focuses on changing all of the aspects that created the addiction in order to avoid relapse.

What to Expect from Alcohol Rehab Treatment

Most people who have never been to alcohol rehab treatment have no idea what to expect. Some of aspects of rehab are pleasant, while others not so pleasant. What you get out of rehab depends on what you put into it. If you expect an unpleasant experience that is most likely what you will get. What you should expect depends largely on the type of rehab and the stage you are in when you enter rehab.

The first phase of rehab is withdrawal or detox. Sometimes this is done at an inpatient facility or hospital, they usually provide medications that help the symptoms of withdrawal. Alcohol detox is dangerous and carries the risk of seizures and other medical complications. These medications reduce the risks associated with detoxing from alcohol. Under some circumstances, the actual detox is done without medication. In which case you can expect:

• nausea,
• vomiting,
• shaking,
• tremors,
• severe anxiety, and
• cravings.

These are the less severe withdrawal symptoms. Most people do not experience the more severe aspects of alcohol detox. The danger from these symptoms usually passes within two weeks after the last drink you took.

After detox, counselors, therapists, and holistic practitioners help, you deal with the more psychological aspects of withdrawal and alcohol addiction. Many addicts are obsessed by alcohol and crave it more now that the alcohol has left their body. The second phase of detox is where you learn to deal with emotional and mental consequences of addiction as well as decide on a long term solution to the addiction.

The long term phase of alcohol recovery deals with living away from the issues of alcohol addiction. There are surprising amounts of changes that need to be made in order to reintegrate with the rest of society. This is where long term solutions and life changes are made. It is often at this point that many people seek holistic solutions because it focuses on solving the problems that created the addiction as well as the problems caused by it.

What Does Alcohol Rehab Cost? Is Insurance Accepted?

The answer to what does treatment cost is that it depends on a variety of factors. Inpatient rehabs are usually more expensive than their outpatient counterparts are. Those that offer upscale amenities and personal services like massage therapists and personal trainers cost more than ones that only provide necessary medical treatment. Alcohol rehab centers can be divided into three categories based on their average expense.

• Upscale rehabs – These privately operated facilities offer high-end accommodations in luxurious settings, and have features like personal assistants, personal trainers, and nannies for parents with children. They offer the broadest range of services, including holistic and alternative therapies, and are usually inpatient only. They are the most expensive rehabs, averaging more than $30,000 per month.
• Standard private rehabs – These alcohol treatment centers offer more modest accommodations, while still providing all of the treatments and services necessary to recover from alcohol dependence, including holistic treatments. They are both inpatient and outpatient facilities. Their cost averages $100 to $1,000 per outpatient visit, and $10,000 to $20,000 per month at an inpatient facility.
• Publicly funded rehabs – These alcohol rehabs are typically run by state or local governments, or charitable organizations. They generally offer only necessary services and treatment options, though some also offer alternative and holistic options. Funding for these rehabs is subsidized, allowing them to provide free care, or charge on an income based scale.

Many alcohol rehab facilities accept health insurance, but not all. Also, not all insurance plans cover addiction treatment. There are also a variety of financial assistance options available from state and local health agencies.

Where Should I Go for Help?

No one can decide where to go for help for you. This is a decision that you have to make on your own. There are plenty of treatment options available for you, and being informed about them is the best way to make a decision that is right for you. There are people who can help make the decision a bit easier. These people are:

• Your friends and family,
• Your family doctor,
• The counselors at a local community center,
• Many rehab facility workers, and
• Other recovering alcoholics.

Although these people can help, they cannot make the decision for you. It is best to listen to their advice and then base the program off your needs and what you want to get out of the treatment.

Alcohol Rehab Recovery, What Happens Next?

What happens next in alcohol rehab recovery depends on you. The hard part is over, by recognizing there is a problem, you are already on the road to recovery. Although the factors of addiction treatment are different for every situation, the work involved remains the same. Despite the long road, recovery is possible.

After addiction treatment, you have many options. You can go on using the resources provided by the treatment and fully recover. You seek out and find the balance that you need in life to remain sober and a recovering alcoholic.

Get Your Life Back

You already did the hard part of alcohol addiction recovery; you realized that your alcohol use is a problem. According to the American Psychological Association, many successful competent individuals suffer from alcohol addiction. Once you have decided that you are among these individuals all you need to do is take your life back. Use the resources that are available to you to take back what alcohol stole from you. Although it is not an easy road, it is possible to regain what you lost to the addiction.