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. The reason is that 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 balance. 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 reach the desired effect.
By its very description, addiction is the condition of being enslaved to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, such narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes distress. 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 give up without aid. Because most withdrawal symptoms can be relieved instantly upon consumption of the drug that the body is withdrawing from, the want to use that drug is remarkably high during this stage, often resulting in defeat of the healing 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. It is never easy to deal with these symptoms. However, symptoms will always depend on the type of substance being used. Moreover, to ease the pain of the withdrawal symptoms, detoxification should be done.
Detoxification is a process of cleansing the toxins from the body. Relating this to, it is the taking away of the drug residues from the body and controlling the symptoms of withdrawal. Detoxification is not the whole treatment process but it is the first step towards recovery. Eliminating the toxins that have been controlling the body system of the addict should be done first before any behavioral based treatment 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 for both inpatient and outpatient basis. Inpatient detoxification allows a close monitoring on the patient. Also, the exposure to the substance of abuse could be avoided. On the other hand, outpatient detoxification allows greater social support. In comparison to inpatients, patients in outpatient theraphy retain greater freedom, continue with their day-to-day activities with fewer disruptions. However, with outpatient treatment, there is an higher threat of no improvement because the patient is more likely to be exposed with the substance of abuse.
The process of drug detoxification seeks to decrease 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 reasons contributing to the addiction, such as the emotional and psychological issues, can be taken cared of.
Substance dependence is always a serious problem for everybody. 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.
