In most cases of addition, especially drug addiction, an individual gets physically dependent on a certain substance. The dependency is intense that without the drug the person might be in severe pain or dysfunctional. This is because the drug has by now affected the chemical balance in the brain allowing the person’s structure to crave for the certain drug in order to obtain stability. Much worse is that the body later on tolerates the drug that enters the system, thus, resulting to a higher quantity requirement the next time the drug is taken to achieve the desired result.
By its very classification, addiction is the situation of being enslaved to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, such narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma. This trauma can differ in intensity from intense cravings to life threatening illness (depending on the drug), making it virtually impossible for an addict to quit without assistance. Because the majority withdrawal symptoms can be relieved immediately upon use of the drug that the body is withdrawing from, the craving to use that drug is exceptionally high in this stage, often resulting in defeat of the recovery before it can even begin.
As the addict recognizes the problem, the treatment process is another cross to carry. Curing substance dependence means eliminating the dependency on the drug. This would indicate that the person had to stop taking the drug. However, inhibiting the body of an addict from taking in the drug would lead to withdrawal symptoms. And it is not easy having to deal with these symptoms. The severity of the symptoms depends on the kind of drug the person is addicted to. Moreover, to ease the pain of the withdrawal symptoms, detoxification should be done.
The process of detoxification is the cleansing of the toxins in our body. In the case of drug addiction, it is the removal of the drug residues from the body and controlling the symptoms of withdrawal. The detoxification process is only the first step to recovery. Taking away the toxins that have been controlling the body system of the addict should be done first before any behavioral based theraphy which would cure the causal factors of addiction.
Drug detoxification can be referred to as the stage of withdrawal during which the person’s body eventually comes back to homeostasis after long-term use of an addictive substance. The process may vary depending on the kind of addiction.
Detoxification can be done on both inpatient and outpatient basis. Inpatient detoxification will agree to close monitoring on the patient. With these, the exposure to the substance of abuse could be avoided. Meanwhile, outpatient detoxification allows higher social support. Compared with inpatients, patients in outpatient theraphy retain greater freedom, continue with their day-to-day activities with lesser disruptions. However, with outpatient treatment, there is an increased risk of no improvement because the patient is more likely to be exposed with the substance of abuse.
This drug detoxification process seeks to lessen the severity of the trauma associated with the body’s withdrawal from dependence on a particular drug by medically alleviating and monitoring the intense physical symptoms associated with stopping drug use. Once the drug is cleared from the system and the pain and discomfort associated with stopping its use have been alleviated, the other factors contributing to the addiction, such as the emotional and psychological issues, can be addressed.
Addiction is a very serious problem among the many people in all walks of life. This problem requires serious treatment that requires self-determination, and self-will to be able to overcome the first phase of recovery. The treatment process is to be deal very hard everyday.