Inpatient Alcohol Treatment

When you or someone you love is faced with an alcohol addiction problem, it's important to get effective treatment as soon as possible. There are many different ways in which alcoholism is treated. They all generally fall into one of two main categories – outpatient and inpatient alcohol treatment. Both have proven to be effective in certain cases. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of what inpatient alcohol treatment is.

What Is It?

Inpatient alcohol treatment is often referred to as residential alcohol treatment. Basically, what this means is that the patient will stay for a period of time in a treatment facility. The length of these programs runs anywhere from 30 to 90 days, and you can figure on it costing around $1,000 or more. A patient will be confined to the facility while they are treated and counseled. They will then be released at the end of that time into some sort of after care program.

Advantages

There are several advantages of an inpatient alcohol treatment program. The first of which is that, while the patient is in the facility, they are removed from the situations and other things that contribute to their addiction. There are many circumstances and people in the life of an addict that allow them to justify their destructive behavior. Staying in a treatment facility gives them an opportunity to get away from those things and focus on the reasons for their addiction. It also gives them a rare period of time when their mind is clear and free from the alcoholic haze they normally live in. Many times, a person can then think clearly enough to come up with reasons to motivate them to live clean and sober.

Disadvantages

Inpatient alcohol treatment programs also have their share of drawbacks. As stated above, these programs can be quite costly, which eliminates them as a possibility for many people. The removal from everyday life can also have negative effects as well. Staying in this type of facility without alcohol for a period of time may seem easier than it really is. This is not the same as quitting in the face of the situations that normally cause you to drink. This often leads to a more challenging re-entry into your normal life. Many times, this is too much of a shock, and a relapse soon follows. It is possible to end up right where you started from. Now you need to find another form of treatment in addition to the thousands of dollars you've already spent on this one.

Inpatient alcohol treatment can be an effective way to treat alcoholism, but only in concert with a strong after care program. The hard part is when your stay is over and you must begin to re-adjust to everyday life.