The idea of a medical detox can be quite a scary one for anyone who is involved in active alcoholism and is afraid of stopping drinking at all, let alone having to manage the withdrawal effects of alcohol and/or any other drugs that they may be coming off.
Anyone stopping drinking who is an alcoholic is likely to have a significant level of fear about the reality of living a life without alcohol.
This may lead them to a deep form of denial about having a problem and a defence of their drinking and the need to protect their drinking from other people trying to stop them.
This is a large part of the denial of active alcoholism and one of the reasons many alcoholics will drink for significant periods of time before they begin to realise they may have a problem.
The majority of rehab is residential and offers addiction treatment programs for people who are alcoholics or addicted to very types of drugs will virtually always offer or advise some type of detox.
There are a number of rehabs who will insist that the individual has a detox before they come into rehab, but they are in the minority. The majority of rehabs will either offer a detox themselves, or have arrangements with a local clinical facility to oversee and manage the detox on their behalf.
What is important for anyone entering a rehab is that the rehab has a clear understanding of the individuals own situation, in terms of their active alcoholism and their use of drugs, both description and non-prescription and for how long.
Part of the job of a rehab is to be able to undertake a risk assessment of the individual to see whether a medical detox is needed, and in order to do this it needs to employ a number of qualified medical and clinical staff who have extensive experience of alcoholism and drug addiction who can oversee such an assessment.
If such a detox is needed, and is done in the rehab, then the rehab needs to make sure that it has on-site clinical staff to manage the detox in a safe and secure manner.
The effects of a detox can vary widely, depending upon the individual’s alcoholism and drug use. Irrespective of the actual symptoms of withdrawal, the individual may well have additional fears about what such a withdrawal may involve.
Having a detox take place in a secure and safe environment can help to allay such fears, especially if there are other people around who are sober and moving forward with their lives who have also been through something similar and can help give support to the individual based on that inexperience.