Treatment
Families ask the same question every two days when they call a de-addiction centre.
"He just needs to stop drinking for ten days and he'll be fine, right?"
Ten days of ceasing to consume a substance is called detox, and it is both a true treatment and the component without which a person won't survive (for some addictions). Detox is the act of getting substances out of the body and managing withdrawal symptoms.
What happens next, however, is what keeps people clean. Skip one or the other, and you already know what the odds are.
In this article you'll learn what these two stages truly entail, so you can ask the right questions of a drug rehabilitation centre before you admit your loved one.
Detoxification is the medically supervised purging process of a substance from the human body during which withdrawal symptoms are also managed. It usually lasts anywhere between three days and fourteen days and depends on the type of addictive substance, the duration of the addiction, dosage, and general health of the patient.
Withdrawing from alcohol after years of heavy daily use can cause seizures and delirium tremens, a serious and life threatening condition. Benzodiazepine withdrawal can present similar risks. Withdrawal from opioids is rarely life threatening but extremely uncomfortable - the immediate risk has passed with the substance leaving the body, but tolerance is gone, which means a relapse at the same dosage can be fatal.
That is why home detox, or "he will sleep it off at home" is a consistently bad idea. Under professional supervision the patient is monitored for vitals, appropriate medication such as tapering or substitution drugs are administered, dehydration, nutrition and other withdrawal complications are addressed. The patient is much more comfortable and safe.
What detox does not do, however, is in any way change a person's mindset, their coping strategies or evening habits. After detox, the body may be clean, but the person's triggers remain in place, their social circle, their anxiety about evenings, nothing has changed.
Rehabilitation is a longer period of healing that begins when the person is stable and free from the substance. Inpatient Indian addiction rehabilitation usually lasts 30, 60 or 90 days, with outpatient and aftercare continuing long after.
Individual counselling (often cognitive behavioural therapy), to talk through the thought patterns and triggers that led to use and establish new, healthier responses.
Group therapy, where the patient confronts the same thinking patterns in others, which is often an eye-opening experience.
Psychiatric evaluation for underlying conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD or trauma. Many addictions are secondary to these, and leaving them untreated will lead to relapse.
Family counselling, to help the patient reintegrate back into the household where the addiction might have blossomed in the first place.
Daily, nutritional, physical and psychological needs are met; sleep and appetite patterns broken by an addiction begin to return to normal.
Relapse prevention planning and aftercare, covering topics such as what to do at the wedding, the office party, the night a craving hits at 11 pm.
| DETOX | REHAB | |
|---|---|---|
| PURPOSE | Manage withdrawal safely | Change behaviour and treat root causes |
| FOCUS | Physical | Psychological, emotional, social |
| DURATION | Days | Weeks to months |
| LED BY | Doctors, nursing staff | Psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors |
| OUTCOME | Substance-free body | Skills to stay substance-free |
Detox without rehab is a much more common scenario and the reason why most rehab centres offer both. The person completes detox, begins to feel better, and quits. There hasn't been any teaching as to what to do in the first weeks, when cravings are still very present, so relapse is very likely. Substance abuse research is very clear that duration in treatment is a key factor in successful outcomes, and detox-only is a very short time.
Rehab without detox is less common but very dangerous. Withdrawal management is not something you attempt in a conversation. Someone with acute withdrawal symptoms is not going to be capable of focussing on psychotherapy, and with alcohol and sedatives, such an attempt at home may be potentially life-threatening.
Think of detox and rehab as two parts of a single continuous procedure, with the first part being detox.
Jeevan Dhara is a nasha the best mukti known for detox and rehab centre in North Delhi that offers both medically supervised detox and residential treatment in the same facility, so patients do not have to move between locations during the most vulnerable period of withdrawal.
The centre specialises in alcohol detox, opioid and heroin addiction, prescription drug abuse, cannabis and other substance addiction and provides services such as supervised detox, individual and group psychotherapy, psychiatric services for co-occurring mental health issues, family sessions and structured aftercare, including follow-up.
Detox and rehab address two different issues. Detox deals with "how do we get this out of them?" while rehab asks "how do we keep it out?" A centre that addresses only one of these is offering only half a treatment.
If someone in your family is drinking or using substances in a manner you can no longer ignore, the next best step is an assessment with a qualified team, rather than a promise to cut down. Our counsellors of jeevan dhara A rehabilitation centre can go over what a treatment plan would look like for your specific case. why after getting rehab treatment individual can’t recover from substance use? In 90% of drug addiction cases family get emotional get release the addict person from treatment and this is the biggest reason.
Sometimes, for very recent and light dependence. Often it is not. Substance use assessment by a psychiatrist or addiction physician should determine this, rather than the family or the patient.
Detox typically takes between three and fourteen days for most substances, and inpatient programmes are 30-90 days, with aftercare continuing for a year or more.
With alcohol and sedatives it can be potentially dangerous and should be managed by professionals. With other substances the environment, availability and access play a role in a relapse.
No, actually, the earlier a person begins treatment, the shorter it needs to be and the better the outcome.
Most patients come in unwilling. Family counselling and a professional intervention with the centre's counsellors can often convince someone to come on board. Forcing a patient into rehab is legally limited and only an option of last resort.
No, as relapse rates for addiction compare to other chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma. It doesn't mean recovery isn't possible, it means that the treatment needs to be modified for the patient's circumstances.
