Alcoholism and Treatment in Cleveland, OH
Alcoholism is also referred to as an alcohol addiction. An addiction to alcohol is more than just a person who drinks a lot. Alcoholism is actually a chronic disease. It affects the structure of the brain and even changes the way the brain operates and functions on a basic chemical level. Alcoholism involves compulsive alcohol consumption and associated behaviors. This chronic disease also causes a person to be unable to stop their alcohol consumption even when severe negative consequences occur in their life and health.
Because alcoholism is a diagnose-able disease (much like diabetes or other health conditions), overcoming it without treatment is virtually impossible. If you are suffering from an addiction to alcohol, you may logically want to quit drinking and may have even tried to but are unable to actually do so on your own. Drug Detox Centers Cleveland can help.
Why Treatment is Essential
Seeking out professional treatment for an alcohol addiction is a necessity for many different reasons. Firstly, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has performed numerous case studies on people who have tried to overcome alcoholism on their own versus those that go through a high-quality treatment program. By far and away, the people who go through a treatment program are more likely to have both short and long-term success in abstaining from alcohol abuse after the fact.
In order to break the vicious cycle of remission and relapse that can occur when a person keeps trying and failing to overcome their addiction on their own, they need to find a high-quality treatment program. These programs work by treating all sides of an addiction and providing the recovering alcoholic with the tools, skills, and resources that they need to fully recovery.
Taking a Holistic Approach to Alcoholism Treatment
As previously mentioned, alcoholism is a multifaceted disease that can cause a myriad of physical, mental, social, and spiritual problems in a person’s life. This means that alcoholism treatment needs to address all of these issues and all of the affected areas of life. As the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration emphasizes, recovery from alcohol addiction is extremely personal and requires the individual to feel supported and to ensure that all areas of their life are restored to health and wellness.
The first step in any quality treatment program is to go through a medical detox process. Detox (short for detoxification) is the process of getting alcohol out of a person’s system and getting the brain to return to functioning normally without it. Medical detox includes supervision by professional doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. This gives a person support and can help to make withdrawals less intense and last a shorter amount of time through the administration of prescription medications at key points in the detox process.
After a person has gotten the alcohol completely out of their system, treatment continues by addressing the other areas of alcoholism. This involves going through therapy in both individual and group settings to help identify problem behaviors, thoughts, feelings, and triggers that led to the development of an alcohol abuse problem. Identifying them will help a recovering alcoholic to develop ways to cope with those issues and replace them with positive habits. Treatment also includes alternative therapies like meditation, acupuncture, art and music therapy, and spiritual therapy and guidance among many other options.
When you are ready to commit to overcoming your addiction to alcohol, call Drug Detox Centers Cleveland at (216) 666-2727.
