subject: An Overview Of Drug And Alcohol Addiction Treatments [print this page] The obvious ones that we are all aware of are drinking and drug abusing and most members of society have by now heard of rehab or drug rehabilitation centers. Not everyone is aware of the consequences that other forms or abuse can create for the addict and these can be just as difficult to face up to as those for the drink or drug abuser.
Alcohol addiction can cause major physical problems for the drinker and destroy parts of the brain over years of abuse. Now to watch someone drinking at an alcoholic level and not understand why they wont try to stop is both physically and emotionally painful, how bad does it have to get before the alcoholic decides enough is enough. Not an easy question for anyone to answer as this is one of the few problems someone can have that convinces those addicted its everyone elses problem and that they the alcoholic are actually just fine.
Alcoholics come in all shapes and sizes, and although many people think of street people when they think of alcoholics, homeless alcoholics account for only a small percentage of the total. Although anyone can succumb to alcoholism, some people are at greater risk than others. Fortunately, anyone concerned about their predisposition to alcoholism can eliminate their risk entirely, simply by abstaining from alcohol. It is important to note that some people with no or few risk factors for alcoholism will develop the disease and some people with many risk factors will drink heavily for years and never have a problem. There is nothing straightforward about alcoholism.
The two major drugs of abuse in our society --Opioids (heroin) and cocaine --exert their addictive properties through two different neurotransmitter systems in the brain. Therefore, it has been assumed that pharmacologic treatments for cocaine or heroin abuse would have to be different, even though the concurrent abuse of both drugs is very common.
The body can take between one and three years to recover from alcohol and drug abuse, even then there can be some damage that cannot be repaired. The liver is the only organ in the body that can to some degree, repair itself. When treatment begins the state of the body and mind is such that very little mental coordination can be achieved until the fog has lifted. This can take two to three weeks after alcohol and any detoxification has left the body. During this time the mind is not fully receptive to any new teachings given. There are some physical/alternative treatments that can speed the healing process that will make the mind more readily receptive and accept information quickly. Treatments such as Reiki, Crystal and Color therapies can be affective and aid recovery. The faster the body heals the faster the mind becomes receptive to training.
Most addiction treatment centers provide good care for the recovering alcoholic and addict, but very few offers a structured programme, designed not only to recover from alcoholism, but to learn the ability to stay away from a drink or a drug one day at a time for the rest of their life.
