Drug detox primarily refers to the period of time during which a drug of abuse or dependency remains in a person’s system after cessation of use. Depending on the substance, this period can be characterized by dangerous physiological symptoms that should be monitored by a physician. Detox from alcohol or other depressants, for example, can cause death if unsupervised.
Drug detoxification also sometimes refers to the process of breaking an addiction, or to the type of treatment that is receive during the course of this process. We will examine a number of concepts related to drug detox in depth.
Drug Detox Centers
Drug detox centers are typically equipped with medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, drug counselors, and other mental health professionals. It is not uncommon to receive additional addiction treatment while staying at a detoxification center, such as 12-step meetings, support groups, and traditional psychotherapy.
This is a good thing because multiple treatment modalities seem to be roughly correlated with treatment success. It is likely that this is due to the receptiveness of certain patients to certain treatments, for reasons that are not as yet fully understood. It could also be that the skill of treatment providers plays a role in patient recovery.
Drug Addiction Detox
Drug addiction detox refers to the second type of drug detox program that we mentioned. It is somewhat more complicated than simply detoxifying the system from one or more pollutants, because the system in question has an added element of nervous system dependency and/or psychological addiction. This means that extra psychological elements will affect the patient’s ability to successfully complete detox and then continue on without the substance.
It is in this case that psychological treatments will be the most necessary in order for a full recovery to be realized. In many cases people will consider themselves to be in “drug detox rehab” for the duration of their treatment, even after their system has technically been detoxified. It is the remaining psychological element that has not yet been cleansed.
Prescription Drug Detox
Prescription drug addiction has become an increasingly prevalent problem. Many people struggling with this type of addiction have not ever purchased their medications illegally, but have simply been prescribed habit-forming medications by their physicians or psychiatrists. This is often the case for chronic pain patients or people struggling to manage anxiety or insomnia.
In this case the psychological aspects of the addiction may be very different than is typical for patients addicted to illicit drugs. There may be a feeling of distress as the patient struggles to come to terms with giving up a medication that has been, in many cases, the only thing that has proved effective in alleviating a chronic condition. Psychotherapy for prescription drug addiction requires a special sensitivity to this, because such a patient may be feeling understandably frustrated.
Drug Detox Programs
There are a number of different types of drug detox programs, ranging from the basic medical detox all the way to the involved recovery program. The appropriateness of one type of treatment over another will depend on the nature of your addiction to the substance you are detoxing from.
If you are simply being medically supervised, you are not likely to receive much psychological support aside from the pleasant bedside manner of your nurses. However, certain specialized units who work with patients often afflicted by unintentional medication addiction will offer psychological services to patients undergoing this type of medical drug detox.
If you are staying at a full-blow drug detox center, then this is the type of treatment facility where you are most likely to receive plenty of psychological support, which can be immensely helpful in the drug and alcohol detox process.
One of the main problems with describing the level of psychological services that you may be likely to receive is that it is difficult for patients to adequately assess their need for this type of service. In many cases psychological care can be very helpful to patients who, for a variety of reasons, may be most resistant to it.
It is good practice for anyone seeking alcohol, drug detox, or any other type of addiction treatment to talk with their doctor about the potential benefit of psychological services. If you do not have a close relationship with your doctor or are uncertain about having this type of discussion, either a drug detox facility, psychiatric hospital, or a psychologist will be able to perform an addiction assessment for you to help you determine whether you would be likely to benefit from mental health care during your recovery.
Drug Detox Products
There are a number of products on the market which claim to assist individuals in detoxifying their systems from a variety of drugs and medications. While we cannot speak for the efficacy of these products, we can say that it is extremely inadvisable to attempt any form of detox from drugs without special medical care, if not also psychological care. Attempting a home drug detox could very easily result in adverse medical and psychological events. Depending on the drug you are attempting to clear out of your system and your level of dependency, this could result in death.
Rather than trying to learn and understand a drugs detox cycle from a layman’s perspective, we would urge you to contact a professional for a medical and psychological evaluation so that you can have help detoxing from drugs and alcohol. The added benefit of doing this is that your detoxification experience is likely to be much more comfortable than it otherwise would be. Detoxing without any medical assistance or pharmacological aid, aside from causing medical problems, also results in a lot of discomfort for you that may be avoidable.
Chicago Psychology is a community site where mental health professionals share their insights. If you are seeking psychotherapy or counseling in Chicago, you can get help right away by calling 312-869-2323.