Without some type of outpatient alcohol treatment, many alcoholics will never get the help they need to stay sober in the long haul. It’s heartbreaking to see the brave men and women who fight their addictions on their own only to fall back on old habits. The following new techniques help them overcome their obstacles and live free of alcohol or other drugs:
Anti-Alcohol Medication
When these medications were first announced, many people in the recovery world scoffed. What kind of alcoholic would take medication that would keep him or her from drinking? You’ve seen the results, however, and people do keep up their prescriptions. Why? Because they want to stop drinking.
Relapse is fairly common for people fighting alcoholism. These drugs are intended to react to alcohol present in the system. Knowing that on its own rarely keeps someone who is addicted from giving into their urges. The results have astonished even the drug’s designers. An average of 85 percent of recovering alcoholics who are taking these prescriptions will have a single relapse.
The negative effects are that strong. The willpower not to drink is strong enough to take a pill each morning. Most patients will relapse once but will never do so again. All on their own, these drugs have revolutionized outpatient alcohol treatment and given patients a tool to help them kick their habits for good.
Alternative Healthcare Treatments
Once you stop drinking, you will experience a wide range of side-effects as the toxins work their way out of your system. You may suffer uncomfortable episodes of anxiety or restless leg syndrome. You may have stomach aches, insomnia or night sweats. Having a way to deal with these problems is important to your success.
Drug treatment professionals have found holistic treatments like acupuncture are effective in treating withdrawal symptoms. They also prevent alcoholics from trading their dependency on one substance with another, by taking pain medications or sleeping pills to deal with their symptoms.
Behavior Therapy
Counseling is an important component to outpatient alcohol treatment. This may include talk therapy, but for those who are not comfortable with that, behavior therapy can be an effective alternative. Discussing your actions and finding better solutions to problems than what you’ve currently been using can give you the skills to cope with situations you would normally have run away from.
Change is hard on everyone, but when those changes create physical issues it makes recovery more difficult. Take advantage of the latest advancement in outpatient alcohol treatment. By putting these new methods to work, you give yourself a better chance at long-term success.
