Costing society more than $185 billion dollars every year alcoholism doesn’t usually start out as a full blown addiction. Here is the sequence of phases that paint the picture of an individual falling into the trap of addiction:

1. Simple Experimentation – The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 47% of high school students use alcohol. The reasons usually center around the fact that alcohol use seems to be a solution to some type of a problem. No matter the problem alcohol use begins with simple experimentation.

2. Reliance On Alcohol – Once the individual has used alcohol several times, the substance can “seem” to provide a solution for whatever problem they are trying to solve by using it. Now it has value to the individual and the reliance begins.

3. The Need For Alcohol To Function – After an individual starts to use alcohol more and more frequently they begin to develop an alcohol addiction. This is where they experience mental and physical withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking. They start to alienate those around them, and create problems in their life in an effort to continue drinking.

4. Full Alcoholism – This is the final phase of alcohol addiction. It is where the individual mentally and physically needs alcohol to function. Other parts of life have been alienated to a great degree and the individual usually struggles with many personal and professional issues as a result. At this point the individual usually ends up in prison, or dead without some type of professional help for alcoholism.

When addiction to alcohol becomes a major problem in one’s life the individual often seeks treatment. Statistics indicate that a higher percentage of people get help for alcohol than illicit or prescription drugs however a major percentage of people are still struggling without help.

In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that alcohol abuse accounts for 23% of all treatment admissions in the country. This is an average of 5 million people getting treatment for abusing alcohol per year.

Unfortunately there are another 12 million people who need to get help for alcoholism and are not enrolling in treatment.

There are many reasons why getting treatment for alcoholism is absolutely necessary.

1. To Undo The Damage Alcohol Does To The Body – In some cases is it not enough that alcohol causes some cancers, birth defects and damage to the liver and other organs to deter people from abusing it. But the longer an individual abuses alcohol the more they leave themselves open to having major health problems and will shorten their life span. The Center for Disease Control Reports that there were over 23,000 alcohol related deaths in one year not including accidents and homicides.

2. To Repair Relationships – The top rehabilitation centers in the country will tell you how much damage alcohol abuse does to family member’s and loved one’s of the addict. Divorces, domestic abuse, child abuse and mistreatment can all step from alcohol addiction. Treatment can help to repair these relationships and start to make up the damage caused to loved ones.

3. To Avoiding Hurting Others – Mother’s Against Drunk Driving reports that one in three people will be in an alcohol related crash in their lifetime. In addition, the group states that over 10,000 people will die in an alcohol related crash during a one year period. Alcoholism can cause the user to hurt both himself and others while under the influence. In addition, nearly 60 to 70% of domestic abuse is a result of alcoholism.

4. To Handle Legal Difficulty – According to recent DUI statistics over 1 million people are arrested for driving under the influence every year. Many of these are under the influence of alcohol. Treatment will not only help to stop alcoholism but can help to handle legal difficulties associated with alcohol abuse.

5. Because It’s The Right Thing To Do – Admitting one has a problem with alcohol isn’t always easy but the only way to overcome alcoholism is to reach out for help. Many successful drug and alcohol treatment programs exist that can completely stop alcohol addiction.

One of the important aspects of treatment we like to focus on here at AlcoholTreatment.org is length of stay. We can’t stress enough how important length of rehabilitation is. The longer a person works on his or her recovery while in a rehab program the better chance of success there is. These short-term programs that last 1-2 weeks have a very low success rate and never really have good results. Our philosophy is if you are going to invest money in a good program make sure it is long term. Usually the cost of a long-term alcohol rehab program is $10,000-$40,000. These programs generally are around 4-12 months long, which includes an aftercare program as well.

This is a substantial investment for an alcohol treatment center, but there are many options on how to finance this cost. Some treatment centers offer financing interest free. Some facilities have scholarships, and can even take insurance. The bottom line is the cost of treatment can vary but the most important thing is to find the best type of program that offers that highest success rate. From there figure out how to pay for the rehab, because you are talking about saving a persons life!

3) The third reason why a person who is struggling with alcohol abuse never quits and is they are scared of the detox and withdraw symptoms caused by quitting. If a severe alcoholic just quits “cold turkey” the body can go through severe medical withdraw symptoms, so bad that a seizure or other severe medical difficulties can occur. The best way to address this problem is ensure that you bring the alcoholic to a medical detox. The medical detox will taper the person slowly off the alcohol with prescribed medications that will provide a gentle and safe way to quit.

2) The second reason an alcoholic wont quit is they don’t know how to deal with problems in life or they have low self-esteem/depression. As humans we all have problems and issues that we deal with in everyday life but for many alcoholics they don’t have those coping skills many of us have. Depression and failures can cause a person to sink so low they don’t know what else to do except medicate with alcohol. Ensuring the addicted individual finds the right alcohol rehab is essential. Our counselors can help locate a facility that will provide cognitive counseling and life skills therapy.

1) The first and most common reason a person never quits his or her alcohol addiction is they don’t think they have a problem. Most alcoholics are what we call “functioning alcoholics.” Functioning alcoholics are moms, dads, brothers, sisters, college graduates, business owners, successful individuals that are able to function in society while consuming lots of alcohol. Unfortunately it is only a matter of time before the success runs out and the hardships of addiction take over. This is the hardest scenario to deal with. What we try to encourage families to do is all the research and legwork regarding treatment for alcoholism before. Once the alcoholic hits rock bottom you don’t have to wait around and lose your opportunity, instead the alcoholic is brought immediately to rehab.

The first thing to understand about alcohol addiction is that it’s not all mental. There are extreme physical cravings for alcohol, which sometimes require an alcohol detox. When a person drinks alcohol, it goes through a process called metabolization. This is how the body breaks down the alcohol into metabolites. These alcohol metabolites travel through the blood stream and most exit the body either through the sweat or urine, but some don’t make it out of the body and began to accumulate in the tissues and organs of the body. After time these alcohol metabolites not only start damaging the organs like the liver and kidneys but they also start to have an adverse effect on the brain. While the alcohol metabolites are stored in the tissues they can also release back into the bloodstream at any moment and cause intense cravings. This physical restimulation of the alcohol is one of the number one reasons for relapse.

Many alcoholics will experience this craving for the alcohol and never know what’s happening. Many programs in the US offer a type of cellular cleanse which helps remove these alcohol metabolites from the body to eliminate cravings for alcohol. The most popular of these treatment modalities is called a biophysical treatment. To find out more about a biophysical alcohol rehab, call one of our counselors today.

Long-term alcohol rehabilitation facilities have anywhere from a 30-80 percent success rate. Many of these programs offer something called holistic or biophysical treatment. Holistic and biophysical treatment programs use a natural detoxification process that is very effective in cleansing the body. Once a person is cleansed and feels healthy, counseling is applied and life skills therapy to teach a person how to make life changes to effectively handle the addiction.

Remember, when looking for alcohol treatment, find something that is individualized and not group based. Look at how long the rehab program is and make sure the offer a health based program and counseling. If you need any help at all locating a facility, please give us a call or email one of our counselors.

Elder alcohol abusers with health problems may be the best candidates for faith based alcohol treatment. Many patients who are actively and successfully participating in a christian or faith based programs usually says that they are offered additional benefits with those groups and that most importantly it allows them to draw strength from their faith.

In searching for an alcohol rehab center, the first thing to find out is whether or not you will need an alcohol detox. A person who is an acute alcoholic usually will need a medical detox. If they don’t get a medical detox than can experience seizures and DT’s which can create horrible medical problems. A good rehab has some sort of detox for an alcoholic to prevent this. Once a person has been medically detoxed then they will start the treatment process.

Alcohol treatment should combine counseling and life skills. Getting to the underlying issues of why a person first started drinking is essential for a successful recovery. Individualized counseling and dual diagnosis treatment is more effective than group counseling but does not mean that group counseling can’t be effective. Also, life skills counseling and cognitive therapy are also very beneficial tools for a treatment facility.

Remember, the first step of getting help is realizing that you need help and there is some sort of problem. Once you realize this, then locating the right alcohol treatment center is next. We can help you find an alcohol rehab today.

Alcohol addiction can be overcome. It does not have to be an incurable disease. A person does not have to feel powerless and. As a matter of fact, they shouldn’t. When a person finishes a treatment program, they should feel good about themselves and ready to take on life again. They should healthy, happy, spiritually clean, and have purpose in life. A good program will rehabilitate a person from the ground up, and address all aspects of life. The addiction to alcohol is the problem on the surface. If a program is not able to get to the underlying issues than the problem is never addressed which can cause a person to relapse once out of treatment.

Alcohol Treatment is here to help you not only find the best type of rehab program for a person suffering from alcohol addiction, but also to educate you about alcoholism and all of its facets.