Alcohol detoxification is a bit different from any other attempt to break free of addiction. Alcoholism is considered a disease, and can affect every part of the body. It is often said that detox for alcohol can be even more challenging and uncomfortable than a detox from heroin or cocaine. Detox symptoms can include sweating, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, and tremors just to name a few. For this reason, it is never recommended to detox alone. Attempting to detox alone can end up with deadly consequences.
Alcohol detoxification requires several steps for a successful outcome. First there is detox, which removes harmful toxins from the body. Then follows rehab where patients are introduced to therapies and counseling that can help them make mind and behavior connections. These programs are administered as inpatient or outpatient. Effective detox for alcohol should also include a robust aftercare program that helps patients to re-enter life and return to an existence of normalcy. Once a patient’s program is completed, there are things they can do to remain free from alcohol addiction.
- Connect with aftercare in a meaningful way. Maintaining an intense connection with aftercare helps ensure that patients are connected to counseling, people, and continuing experiences that can help them stay focused on sobriety. Overconfidence and assuming that aftercare is for other people is one of the most accurate predictors of relapse. Attending aftercare faithfully can increase one’s chances of long-term sobriety.
- Find a purpose in life and keep busy. Hanging around people without purpose creates an idleness. Many people without a purpose turn to substance abuse to pass the time and fill in the gaps of loneliness. Keep busy with a career, find a hobby, or volunteer for a worthy cause.
- Take good care of yourself, eat healthy, and create an exercise routine. Exercising can release “feel good” chemicals within the body. These chemicals and good feeling can replace the alcohol that was previously relied on. Get enough sleep. Seven or eight hours of daily sleep should work just fine. Alcohol detoxification teaches one to be aware of how easily the body can be drained of needed vitamins and nutrients.
- Detox for alcohol addictions covers prevention training for relapse. Patients work hard to navigate both detox and rehab, and it is a terrible thing to experience a relapse. A recovering alcoholic’s self-esteem can suffer as a result. Rehab imparts a number of excellent tools and techniques that patients can leverage for life.
- When slipping back into old habits, patients should pick themselves up and get back in the saddle. Sobriety is an uphill battle and a lifelong commitment. Regretful feelings can be powerful, but a person must learn to keep forging ahead. Success is always just over the horizon.
- Keep communicating with family members and close friends. This creates a strong support group to fall back on when the need arises. Detox for alcohol stresses this as well. Families can play an important role in their loved one’s healing. Communicating can help repair torn relationships that otherwise might worsen over time.
- Create a safety net and create an association with alcoholics anonymous (AA). This group can help individuals fight temptation and provide support from people who have walked in your shoes. Such groups understand the temptations and know how to identify and avoid triggers that can lead to relapse. Triggers are people, circumstances, and events that induces a person to abuse alcohol.
- Create new relationships to replace the old ones. One of the best things a recovering alcoholic can do is hang out with positive people. Their positive attitude will rub off just the same as negative attitudes will rub off.
- Remember that alcohol detoxification is a lifelong pursuit. One that will have its ups and down. In the end, overcoming and living a life of sobriety will be well worth the struggle.
When struggling with alcohol, detox for alcohol addictions works. The underlying mission of detox is to help patients realize that life is a terrible thing to waste.