Individuals who have become addicted to substances such as drugs and alcohol may have to come to terms with quitting this substance in dealing with intense withdrawal symptoms which may affect them physically, emotionally or psychologically. The process of withdrawal from their drug of choice can be extremely unpleasant and painful which is where drug detoxification comes in.

By going through detoxification, often shortened to detox, they have the option of relieving some of the more intense and severe physical or emotional ailments associated with addiction withdrawal and therefore being more successful at quitting and remaining off the drug.

Understanding Detoxification

The purpose of drug detoxification is to curb and control some of the acute drug intoxication symptoms and drug withdrawal when someone quits using their drug. The process of drug detoxification refers to when a person gets rid of the substance they are addicted to through a process of purging these substances. By going through a detoxification program, the person addicted to the substance which may be drugs or alcohol, will lessen some of the physical affects of withdrawal which can lead to withdrawal syndrome shortly after quitting these types of substances.

A variety of treatments used when going through a drug detoxification program which aims to lessen not only the physical effects of quitting the substance but also the emotional and psychological symptoms of addiction withdrawal such as anxiety, depression and more severe signs like delirium and hallucinations.

What's Detoxification Involves

There are three main steps of any drug detoxification program, while the actual details of the program may vary slightly depending on the person, how often they used the drug, what types of drugs they were addicted to, and the drug rehab center or clinic's preferences. The first step is evaluation where the patient enters the testing stage of detoxification including calculating the amount of substances currently in their bloodstream and going through a questionnaire of sorts to find out what they have been using, how much and for how long. Mental and behavioral patterns are also determined during the evaluation stage.

Step two of the detoxification process is stabilization where the patient begins the actual detoxification process. This often includes medications which are designed to curb some of the effects of withdrawal syndrome and are helpful for physical, emotional and psychological ailments. The third step involves guiding the patient into treatment where they not only complete the detoxification stage of quitting the drug and dealing with the withdrawal symptoms, but also to deal with recovery and learn to deal with the physical dependency that they often have even after quitting. This is often when patients decide if they want to enter a drug rehabilitation program for further success.

What's Rapid Detoxification

For some patients who would prefer to get through the withdrawal stage quicker and who are prone to more severe withdrawal symptoms, there is a way to speed up the process called rapid detoxification. This is rather controversial because the individual goes through various methods which include sedatives, strong medications, and anesthesia so they bypass some of the major effects of quitting a drug including severe pain, anxiety and depression. Many people believe that part of the success of not only quitting substance use but remaining sober from these drugs is to go through the unpleasant and often painful process of withdrawal and detoxification since this acts as a reminder to the individual about why they never want to go through this again. However for some drug users, primarily those who abused hard drugs like heroine, it may be their only option if they want to quit and bypass the often severely painful side effects from withdrawal.

Drug Rehab Center Treatments

Most drug detoxification programs are done through professional and certified drug rehab centers and clinics which staff individuals with personal and professional experience in helping others control their substance abuse problems and deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal from drugs or alcohol can be intense and include mild symptoms like insomnia, headaches and nausea to more severe and often life threatening effects such as severe anxiety, depression with suicidal tendencies, hallucinations, seizures and muscle spasms, irregular heartbeats, heart palpitations, and delirium. For this reason, drug rehab centers exist as one of the best ways to help individuals beat their addiction and learn to cope without it. Many of their effects are physical such as the more painful withdrawal symptoms, but others deal with more long term effects primarily that are emotional or psychological. Drug rehab centers offer treatment programs which combine detoxification and medications, counseling and support groups to help those in need of maintaining their sobriety.