What is Alcohol Detox?

Alcohol detox is a treatment program to help you overcome your alcohol addiction.

Alcohol detox is a type of treatment offered to individuals who have a physical dependence on alcohol. Alcohol detoxification is the process of abruptly stopping the use of alcohol to rid the body of the toxic chemicals found in this substance in order to begin the addiction recovery process. Often times, alcohol detox is paired with a number of medications that actually work to alleviate the painful or uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that are associated with alcohol detox.

Depending on the age of the individual, how long they have been addicted to alcohol, the level of their addiction and also their medical status, alcohol detox could take a mere few hours or days or it could take months. Alcohol detox is a vital first step to the alcohol addiction treatment process and because of the imminent risks associated with alcohol detox addicts should never attempt to detox alone. Supervision is necessary to assure that proper medical intervention is taken in the event that an alcohol detox should become dangerous.

What is Alcohol Detox Like?

The entire alcohol detoxification process is different from person to person but in most cases includes some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. It’s these symptoms that most often cause individuals to stop trying to quit and go ahead and have a drink. The physical dependence on alcohol is very strong and after long term use of alcohol, the brain is physically altered which makes it even more difficult for an individual to abruptly stop drinking.

Alcohol detox typically takes a few days to overcome and is just the beginning of the alcohol addiction treatment process. While alcohol detox does provide a means to an end of the physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms associated with alcoholism, detox does not provide any type of psychological support or counseling that can help with the psychological matters that may have caused alcoholism and therefore, it is highly recommended that anyone who seeks treatment for alcoholism followup with long term alcohol treatment after completing alcohol detox.