When treating an individual that is an alcoholic the goal is total abstinence. This goal is attainable, for those who are motivated, enjoy reasonably good health and have positive social support, recovery rates are reasonably good. For these people about 50 percent will remain abstinent after a year, the majority of those who do not slide back to drinking stay dry permanently. For those that do not have good health, do not have positive social support and are not motivated it is a different story. The chances are poor that they will stay dry, success for these people is measured by longer periods of abstinence or perhaps a reduction in the amount of alcohol they consume.
Alcoholism treatment in Utah can only start once the alcoholic admits to him or herself as well as others that there is a real problem and agrees that the only solution is to stop drinking. It is possible to cure a dependence on alcohol but the alcoholic must be motivated to change. There are three stages to successful treatment for alcoholism:
*Detox: This is the first stage and needs to be undertaken as soon as the alcoholic stops drinking. Detoxification must be done under strict supervision as it can result in serious issues such as seizures, the DTs or hallucinating.
*Rehab: Once the alcoholic has been successful with the detoxification process the nest stage is rehabilitation. Rehab includes counseling and in many cases medication, the objective of rehab is to give the recovering alcoholic the life skills that are necessary to maintain a sober state. Rehab can be conducted either inpatient or outpatient.
Detox does nothing more than to rid the body of unhealthy substances, it does not stop the incessant craving for an alcoholic beverage; as a result it is often very difficult to maintain recovery. If alcoholism has been caught in the early stage the problems when alcohol is discontinued will normally be limited to symptoms such as the inability to sleep well and bouts of anxiety. For those that have been dependent on alcohol for a long time, withdrawal symptoms will be much worse and can include spasms, uncontrolled shaking and the DTs. These people must be treated by professionals; late stage detox from the effects of alcohol must be done under the care of experienced medical personnel and must be done in a treatment center.
*Maintenance: This stage of alcoholism treatment in Utah is up to the recovering alcoholic, the individual must be self motivated to maintain a sober state. The key issue with maintenance is support, most recovering alcoholics find that Alcoholics Anonymous to be extremely beneficial as their sponsor is always available to help if necessary.
