To be abstinent, as is demanded of many alcohol treatment programmes, is to be a pariah. On top of that I think mental illness in general is largely taboo…

What are treatment strategies that make sense in this context, then? How do you help someone with a ‘drink problem’ who’s in sync with his culture?

Any thoughts are welcome…

Q1. What does alcohol addiction treatment in the US really intend to do?

In most parts of the world, alcohol addiction treatment means to reduce the dependency of the person. Most treatment programs believe that alcoholism can never be completely and effectively removed from the mind of a person. These programs will therefore only try to reduce the dependency.

But in the US, the meaning of alcohol treatment is to completely bring the person out of the dependency for the substance. The intention of the program is to make the patient recover fully. This is definitely not an easy thing to do. While programs in Europe, for example, will believe that a person is out of alcohol addiction if they are brought to a lower level of dependency, programs in the US will consider themselves a success only if the person has totally stopped using the substance in question.

Q2. What are the different phases of alcohol addiction treatment in the US?

The first phase of alcohol treatment is the intervention program where the patient is convinced to go through the treatment process. Most centers pay the greatest attention to this phase of the treatment because this is where the patient can be made to develop a determination and dedication to go through the recovery process. This part of the program is usually implemented through counseling and education where the patient is made aware of the various repercussions that they addiction might have on their lives. In most cases, help from their families and friends is also sought because they can help motivate the patient in the best manner.

Once the intervention program has become successful, the patient is led through a detoxification program. The alcohol detoxification process focuses on removing the alcohol present in the body of the person by making them abstain from the substance completely and then administering various medications that can help bring them out of their dependency on the substance.

After the person has successfully come out of the withdrawal for the substance, they are led through an aftercare program. This program is targeted at completing eliminating the craving for alcohol from the mind of the person. This is as difficult as it seems and the whole process can sometimes go on to up to a year. The patient is trained in various therapies and techniques, including breathing exercises and meditation routines such as Yoga, which can help them in keeping their addictions at bay.

Q3. When does the detox process become important in alcohol addiction treatment?

Basically speaking, the detox process is not an obligatory part of alcohol treatments in the US. There are many outpatient forms of treatment for alcoholism that do away with the detox altogether. That notwithstanding, it is very important to undergo a detox treatment program, especially if the person has been with the alcohol addiction for a long period of time.

Alcohol is a fluid. It gets mixed with the bloodstream of the person quite fast, but its chemical composition does not allow it to be broken down in the human body at a commensurate rate. For that reason, it is quite possible that a lot of alcohol remains residual in the body of the person. It may accumulate mainly in the liver and the kidneys of the person and may also remain within the bloodstream. This can give rise to some serious health complications.

That is the reason detox treatment becomes important. Detox is also important because when the alcohol is removed from the body of the person, it becomes easier for the person to come out of the temptation for using the substance, thus accelerating the recovery process.

Q4. How much of family involvement is needed during an alcohol addiction treatment program?

The alcohol treatment program in the US is quite family intensive. The family of the patient will be needed for the initial phase of the treatment where they need to be motivated to come out of the denial. They will also be needed at various stages of the program where the courage and determination of the patient begins to falter. Also, there are counseling programs for the family during the aftercare process so that they can properly monitor the patient’s condition and bring them out of their dependency and into complete recovery.

The intervention phase is more or less like a preparatory phase where the person is explained the seriousness of his or her alcoholism and is made to realize how important treatment is for their condition. This may prove to be difficult initially, because denial is one of the most important factors in the scenario of alcohol addiction treatment in Michigan. The treatment providers will likely take help from the families and friends of the patients so as to build a strong support and motivation system for them to accept an addiction treatment.

Once the person is ready for the treatment, the detoxification phase will begin. This is where the patient will be medically cleansed of all presence of alcohol in it. This takes time; it will depend on various factors such as the length of the patient’s addiction, their physical and psychiatric composition, whether or not they are on some other kinds of prescription drugs, etc. However, in general cases, the duration of alcohol detox in Michigan is of about seven days.

The purpose of the detox program is to bring the patient out of the alcohol dependency in a complete manner. This is done by cleansing the substance out of the person’s system in entirety. This is definitely not simple. If the patient’s addiction is too much intensive, then the patient will be isolated in a treatment setting where he or she will be made to completely abstain from alcohol. The idea of putting them in an isolated treatment setting is to keep them away from all kinds of memories that might trigger a craving for alcohol in them. It takes a while for the patient to adjust to such a setting. The abstinence will make the patient experience withdrawal symptoms. This will happen usually within two to five days of the commencement of the abstinence. Again, this will depend on the kind of addiction the patient has been in.

One of the main focuses of the treatment program at this stage is to remove the withdrawal symptoms from the person. This is definitely not an easy task. The patient needs to be put on specific medicinal therapies in order to make this happen.

The following patterns of medication are used in alcohol addiction treatment in Michigan:-

1. Medications are provided in order to increase the hangovers that are produced due to alcohol addiction. Since these symptoms are definitely quite inconvenient and uncomfortable, the person will be psychologically weaned off from consuming any more alcohol. It is noticed that the hangover symptoms due to alcoholism are produced because of the release of acetaldehyde in the body. So any medication that will pump in more acetaldehyde into the body can be taken as a way of stopping the person from consuming more alcohol. Antabuse is the leading anti-alcoholism drug that has this effect. When consumed, it will produce an increase in the amount of acetaldehyde in the body and that will amplify the hangover. As a result, the person will not like alcohol quite as much.

2. Another attempt at reducing alcohol addiction in people during the treatment is by giving them a drug that reduces their capacity of absorbing alcohol in the body. Due to that reason, though the person might consume alcohol, he or she will not feel its effects. After a while, the person will give up alcohol in the absence of the effects that the substance must produce. Naltrexone is such a medication.

3. Medication is also needed to normalize the condition of the patient’s nervous system once the alcoholic abstinence has begun. This is needed so that the person feels healthy once again and realizes that the removal of alcohol from their system can actually bring back good health unto them. Medications such as Campral can help to normalize the chemical reactions that take place in their body due to alcoholism. This is more of a stabilizing drug that allows the patient to plow on with the detoxification process.

Once these medications are provided and the person is sustainably out of the addiction, it is important to ensure that the person will stay out of the addiction for a long period of time. This is possible through the aftercare program that follows the patient’s successful detox treatment.

These three phases define alcohol addiction treatment in Michigan. However, there might be differences in the way the program is implemented in various centers across the state.