An alcohol detox is effectively the process of managing the side-effects both physical and mental of withdrawal from alcoholism, or from a prolonged use of alcohol and possibly other drugs or mood altering substances as well. The nature of an alcohol detox should not be confused with a possible debate about the nature of alcoholism or alcohol addiction.
If an individual has been seriously misusing alcohol for a significant period of time, then the process of stopping drinking needs to be carefully assessed and managed, irrespective of whether the individual is an alcoholic or not or thinks they may be. Those are questions and issues that can be dealt with afterwards.
The important thing about a medical detox is that it is properly assessed and overseen by qualified medical staff. An alcohol detox is most commonly done in the context of a rehab or treatment center, although there are other facilities that can perform the detox on its own.
If an individual is entering a rehab for alcoholism or alcohol addiction, then it is important that they check that the rehab employs sufficiently qualified and experienced clinical staff that can assess the need for a medical detox, and can manage the process of a detox accordingly.
Some rehabs do not have these facilities themselves, but do have arrangements with local clinical settings such as a hospital that can manage the detox on their behalf. This should be satisfactory, but is worth further investigation prior to admission to the rehab.
Alcohol detox– drugs
It is quite likely for an individual who has been addicted to or misusing alcohol to have also been addicted to various other types of drugs, both legal and illegal, prescription and non-prescription.
A rehab will normally indicate that has experience of managing the withdrawal process of a broad range of drugs, which are likely to include the following – benzodiazepines, cocaine, crack, crystal meth, Demirel, ecstasy, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, methadone, morphine, OxyContin, Valium, Vicodin etc.
Anyone entering rehab or considering a medical detox of any description needs to fully brief the clinical staff who are assessing the detox as to the alcohol and drug use over a significant period of time.
Not everyone who enters rehab or stop drinking needs a managed alcohol detox. However it is important that anyone entering rehab is typically assessed to establish whether or not such a detox is needed.