Alcohol Rehab

"Drunkenness is simply voluntary insanity" - Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

A widely accepted fact being insanity, individual or mass, to be discarded at any cost, paved the ways first for the alcohol rehabs to come up. Alcohol rehab, the shortened form for an alcohol rehabilitation center, is a term that’s assigned to any institution that specializes in a multitude of medical and/or psychotherapeutic treatment processes for bringing people out of alcohol or dependency. Often these alcohol rehabs provide treatments for psychoactive substance addiction; hence, a rehab or rehabilitation center is a more appropriate term instead of making it substance specific. And just like any other rehabilitation centers, the obvious intent of an alcohol rehab is to enable a patient to put an end to the previous level of abuses, and restructure his psychological, legal, social and physical existence. But on the contrary, though a number of programs guarantee a permanent recovery from legal drugs such as alcohol, often the outcome is moderation and whether moderation is achievable by serious alcohol abusers still remains a controversy.

An alcohol rehab usually keeps a number of programs devised, which are applicable for different levels of alcohol dependency. Through these programs, an alcohol rehab attempts to teach the addicts certain new methods of interaction free from the influences of alcohol. The programs may or may not comprise of the use of medication; a medication-free program is often intended for light abusers while for people gone deep down the hellhole, strong medications are an absolute necessity and often act as a life support system. But the best is perhaps the twelve-step or the Minnesota Model program that encourage addicts not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but also to examine and change certain habits that they have developed through addiction. Other programs that an alcohol rehab may offer are:

• Residential treatment (in-patients).
• Treatments in the rehab premises (out-patients).
• Supports made available through local groups.
• Extended care centers.
• Sober houses.

An alcohol rehab is also sometimes a part of the law enforcement systems, introduced for fighting mild crimes initiated by alcoholism. Offenders are sentenced to these rehabilitation centers instead of a prison.

Treatment procedures in an alcohol rehab center can be divided into a few broad categories, depending upon the symptoms. For example, symptoms for alcohol generated diseases like Macrocytosis (enlargement of red blood cells with near-constant hemoglobin concentration) or cirrhosis of liver (found by testing the levels of the liver enzyme Gamma Glutamyl Transferase in blood) calls for the classical use of medications to fight the disease and to encourage abstinence as well. The most common medication provided by any given alcohol rehab under such circumstances are Antabuse or Disulfiram and Naltrexone, the second one being meant for people allergic to Sulphur-based medications. But the worst part about these medicines is, they cause a rebound effect when stopped. Perhaps this is a marketing strategy used by the alcohol rehabs; though effective for fighting psychological addictions, the neurochemical part usually stays untreated.

Detoxification is another measure an average alcohol rehab would take-up; the process usually involves staying confined for a definite period in a rehab. Medications are seldom used unless a case is severe and the addicts are usually monitored and helped to fight withdrawal symptoms.

Following a de-tox comes Therapy for inducing abstinence; the process deals with identifying the rudimentary psychological issues and teaching the relapse prevention skills. Certain medications like Naltrexone or Acamprosate are used. A good alcohol rehab shall also put equal emphasis on nutritional therapy as well, specially meant for alcoholics with insulin resistance syndrome. A hypoglycemic diet being the key factor, the therapy is capable of getting rid of behavioral and emotional disorders.

But fact remains that, though the goal of an alcohol rehab program is to educate the alcohol abusers the dark sides of chemical dependency, what measures have they taken to make the abusers realize the need for an alcohol-free lifestyle? That’s another story.

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