For patients that are addicted to drugs or alcohol, often an inpatient detox is needed because the addict can’t stop on their own. Other times a detox is medically necessary as in the case with alcoholics.
The detox portion of the program is not the same as rehab. In rehab, you’re learning to live daily without dependency. With a detox, the body is uncomfortable as it craves the drug or alcohol for several days.
When you are admitted into inpatient detox, you will be medically monitored daily so that the staff can evaluate the level of discomfort. With severe addiction, medication to ease the withdrawals is often given.
Therapy is also part of detox with many individuals since addiction is not only physical, it is also psychological. The mind is powerful and when the person has been addicted for a long time, even when the physical detox is over, they still crave the drug.
After the detox is completed, then the addict can enter rehab. This helps to build bonds with other people that truly understand addiction. There is a common bond that develops. Often lifelong friendships are formed during rehab.
The focus of the program is to help the addict keep their main priority their sobriety. For this reason, during detox and rehab visits from family members is limited in the beginning. This allows the addict to focus on staying clean. Through group therapy the patients learn to deal with stress or triggers that can cause them to relapse.
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