In terms of severity, people often think of street drugs as more dangerous than alcohol. However, that’s not the case when it comes to detoxing and dealing with alcohol withdrawals. If you or somebody you know is dealing with alcohol addiction, here’s what you need to know about alcohol addiction and the role outpatient rehab for alcohol plays in detoxing.
Signs of Alcohol Addiction
The first step to dealing with alcohol addiction is knowing how to recognize it in the first place. There are a handful of common warning signs of alcohol addiction and substance abuse that you should never ignore.
If you or somebody you know has frequent issues with blacking out and losing memory while drinking, it’s due to alcohol abuse. Alcohol addiction may also lead to finding excuses to drink and even drinking alone to hide frequent alcohol abuse. People who abuse alcohol for a long period of time may begin to feel hungover when they aren’t drinking.
As is the case with any substance, signs of alcohol abuse also include things like frequent mood swings, isolating yourself from friends and family and choosing alcohol over other responsibilities and obligations in life. These are all good reasons to consider outpatient rehab for alcohol. Check Abbey Care Foundation to learn more about how the body recovers form alcohol abuse.
Dangers of Detoxing
With most drugs, you can detox without any real medical risk. While withdrawals are never easy to deal with, they’re particularly dangerous when you’re talking about alcohol addiction.
Seizures are one of the biggest dangers of alcohol withdrawal. Severe seizures can occur in people who have been drinking heavily for a long time and suddenly stop, and those seizures can lead to numerous injuries and even death. Your body learns to live with alcohol on a day-to-day basis, and taking that away makes some serious changes. Since alcohol is a sedative, suddenly stopping alcohol use can give you the opposite effect.
The only way to safely detox from alcohol is to do so with the help of a medical professional. While death from alcohol withdrawals isn’t common, it’s certainly a possibility depending on the extent of your alcohol abuse.
Get Help
As problematic as alcohol addiction is, it’s also very common. Knowing how to recognize the signs, when to get help and how to get help are the keys to putting yourself back in control. If you’ve noticed any of these signs of alcohol addiction in yourself or a loved one, and outpatient rehabilitation program should be your next step.
