Drug Rehab vs Drug Detox: What They Are, When They're Needed by Rod MacTaggart
An alcohol and drug rehab program is often confused with detox, but it's not the same
Every day we read about this or that celebrity entering "detox" or "rehab", and all too often the reporter uses the terms interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. Even the people going to detox or rehab have been quoted making the same mistake, but they soon discover the difference when they're on the receiving end of one or the other of these two life-saving processes called drug detox and drug rehab.
Many addicts and substance abusers want to stop taking drugs or drinking alcohol. They may have tried, and discovered how difficult it can be. They don't want to experience the physical pain and mental anguish of stopping again. And abruptly stopping alcohol, as well as many types of drugs, can be quite dangerous.
Before we describe the differences between drug rehab and drug detox, what the purpose of each is, and what one can expect from them, let's clear up another confusing couple of terms - substance abuse and substance addiction.
Addiction vs Substance Abuse
Use of any illicit drugs is, by definition, substance abuse. For pharmaceuticals, however, medical and non-medical uses are different. Medical use means taking a prescription or over-the-counter drug as prescribed, and isn't abuse. Non-medical use means taking more than the prescribed dose, which could be for a legitimate reason such as trying to handle severe pain. Or it can mean taking someone else's prescription or stolen pharmaceuticals to get high or feed an addiction. These last two are drug abuse. As for alcohol, occasional drinks are not abuse, while binge drinking or frequently getting drunk are abuse. Addiction is something very much more than abuse. It means the continued compulsive use of alcohol or drugs in spite of adverse health or social consequences. And usually it results in damage to the addicted person's health and family and job and social life.
Drug Rehab vs Drug Detox
Drug detox means ridding the body (including the brain and nervous system) of the changes that have been created by the substance that result in painful, stressful or even dangerous withdrawal symptoms, as well as the physically addictive effects of the substance. Detox handles only the physical side of things, and can take a few days to a week or two. It should always be medically supervised.
Drug rehab is a long-term program - three to six months or more - of self-discovery, learning the psychological reasons for one's addiction, cleaning up the damage that's been caused to self, family and friends, and setting out new ground rules for a successful life of sobriety. Drug rehab should always immediately follow a successful drug detox if one is addicted, and in-patient residential programs are proven the most successful.
In mild cases of substance abuse, neither drug detox nor drug rehab may be required. In more extreme cases - and usually that's a lot less substance abuse than most people think - both drug detox and drug rehab may be indicated. It should only be decided by a drug rehab expert, on a case-by-case basis. And in all cases of addiction, whether to alcohol or drugs, both a drug detox program and an alcohol or drug rehab program are essential for a positive outcome.
Conclusion
Drug detox is a serious affair - most prescriptions warn you to not stop taking the drug without consulting your physician. And it can be just as dangerous for alcoholics to stop drinking. The bottom line is, if alcohol or drugs are causing unwanted side-effects - or worse, upsetting their lives -- don't take any chances. Help them into a medically supervised detox program followed by a long-term residential alcohol or drug rehab program.
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