Why Do I Need to Detox?

Why do I Need to Detox?

Detoxing  can be the first step on the road to beating alcohol addiction or ending drug abuse. Detox usually takes place in a rehab clinic or rehab centre but it can equally take place at your home. The important thing is that you discuss detoxing with a medical professional first (in a rehab clinic you’ll be under medical supervision). Failure to consult with a doctor or another health professional can be very dangerous because of the possible side effects of detoxing.

Side effects can include:

• Tremors
• Feeling or being sick
• Sweating a lot
• Hallucinating or seeing things

It’s hard to predict how a person will react to detoxing because the effects depend on so many different things, including:

• A person’s weight and build
• How regularly they use drugs and alcohol
• How much drugs and alcohol they regularly use
• What type of drink or drugs they’re addicted to
• Their medical history

How will detoxing help me?

A detox programme alone will not ensure you kick your habit. However, it can help significantly. Put simply, ridding your body of the toxins caused by abusing drugs and/or alcohol lessens your mental and physical dependence, making it easier to then focus on changing your behaviours and attitudes.

The average length of a detox programme is between three days and a week. The length of time you spend will depend on:

• Individual programmes’ outlooks
• How long you have been using drugs/alcohol
• Your medical history

As we have said, you will not automatically be free of your dependence on drugs and alcohol as soon as you attend a rehab centre or undertake a detox programme. In fact, research shows that those who do detox as a standalone measure are much more likely to relapse than those who combine it with measures such as:

• Counselling
• Therapy
• An aftercare programme

Many people find quitting drink or drugs without help almost impossible and experts believe that long-term abuse causes chemical changes in the brain. Because of the cravings, compulsion and withdrawal symptoms that this causes, people find it hard to stop taking drugs or drinking on their own.

In addition, habits and relationships have an effect on people’ behaviour and therapy and counselling help individuals to examine, break and avoid these habits and relationships.

To sum up – detoxing can help you stop drinking or taking drugs. Counselling and therapy can help you make sure that you don’t start taking them again.

Ask individual rehab centres about their approach to detox, counselling and aftercare before you sign up to one clinic or another.

More Drug Counseling Articles