Alcohol Addiction Treatment in Canton, OH
Alcohol addiction treatment in Canton can provide the necessary tools and coping skills for anyone recovering from alcoholism. However, in order to begin the journey to recovery, it's important to first reach out and ask for help from a specializing alcohol addiction treatment center.
When seeking alcohol addiction treatment in Canton, it's important to recognize that not all types of treatment will suit every person. Just as the triggers behind addictive drinking behaviors are different for each person, so too are the types of alcohol addiction rehab therapies and treatments needed to make a successful recovery.
What is Alcohol Addiction?
According to statistics released by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, approximately 17 million Americans over the age of 18 have an alcohol use disorder.
It's important to note that there is a distinct difference between alcohol abuse and addiction. A person who drinks too much, too often, or too quickly abuses the substance, but is not necessarily addicted to it or is assumed to have control over their actions.
By comparison, addiction is a chronic disease of the brain characterized by uncontrolled drinking. Alcohol is a mind-altering substance that acts on the central nervous system as a depressant. Drinking heavily over a period of time can cause the brain to decrease production of some neurotransmitters naturally, unless the brain stops receiving the artificial stimulus of alcohol for a while.
When the user tries to stop consumption, the brain goes into a hyper-excitable state. The brain continues to over-produce the counteracting neurotransmitters and is still under-producing other neurotransmitters, which causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. At this point, the person is considered dependent, or addicted to the substance.
Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Addiction
When many people think about someone struggling with alcohol addiction, they tend to picture the stereotypical drunken hobo living under the bridge. What you may not realize is that it's possible for a person with alcoholism to continue living a normal life.
On the outside, the person may still have a job, a home and a family. In some cases, the person may have an alcohol abuse disorder, which can quickly turn into dependency and addiction.
There are some telltale signs of alcoholism to watch for. These include:
- Deceitful behavior: Someone with a drinking problem may work hard to hide their drinking or conceal exactly how much is being consumed.
- Cravings: Craving, or feeling a strong urge to drink after work, after a stressful event, in order to feel more confident, to feel normal, or to avoid the onset of withdrawal symptoms can be a sign of dependency.
- Loss of control: A person with a drinking problem will often struggle to stop drinking once they've started. Some people end up drinking more or for longer than they intended.
- Repeated attempts to quit drinking: A person struggling with an alcohol use disorder may want to quit drinking or cut down consumption, but are unable to do so.
- Tolerance: Drinking regularly can cause a person to develop a level of tolerance to the effects of alcohol. It may appear that the person is relatively sober after drinking a large volume of alcohol. The person may also need to drink higher volumes of alcohol in order to achieve the same effects that used to require much less.
- Withdrawal symptoms: When consumption of alcohol stops suddenly, the person may experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. While many of the symptoms can be physically and psychologically uncomfortable, some of them can be potentially life threatening and could require medical attention.
Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms
A person who is physically dependent on alcohol may experience potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms if consumption stops suddenly. The severity of symptoms will depend heavily on the amount of alcohol the person was consuming and for how long.
Some common symptoms of withdrawal include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headaches
- Shaking and tremors
- Insomnia and sleep problems
- Anxiety
- Agitation
- Fever
- Profuse sweating
- Increased heart rate
- Elevated blood pressure
- Hallucinations
- Seizures
- Coma
- Delirium tremens (DTs)
As some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be potentially life-threatening, it's strongly advised that an addicted person doesn't attempt to quit drinking without proper medical supervision in an alcohol addiction treatment facility.
Why Should You Begin Alcohol Addiction Treatment in Canton?
Anyone struggling to overcome dependency on alcohol is encouraged to seek professional help through specialized alcohol addiction treatment programs.
Despite the improved recovery rates and reduced relapse rates recovering people can achieve after rehab treatments, many people still avoid entering addiction rehab centers. Many seem to believe they can detox on their own for a few days and then somehow be miraculously sober for the rest of their lives.
What those people don't recognize is that detox alone does nothing to treat the underlying psychological triggers behind addictive substance abuse.
There are a number of facilities providing alcohol addiction treatment in Canton. Detox is always the first step in any treatment protocol. In an effort to reduce the risks associated with detox, rehab facilities provide monitoring and supervision. Patients may also be given prescription medications to help alleviate the worst of any withdrawal symptoms that may emerge.
In conjunction with our detox treatment programs in Canton, recovering addicts may also need specific behavioral therapy, individual counseling and group counseling sessions to address the psychological aspect of the addiction.
Therapy and counseling work to correct dysfunctional behaviors and replace them with strong recovery skills. People in alcohol addiction recovery are also taught relapse prevention strategies designed to help them avoid returning to a pattern of abusive drinking and to remain sober over the long term. Our relapse prevention program in Canton helps patients to build coping skills. These coping skills help the addict to handle inevitable undesirable everyday life situations (that may trigger a relapse) without the use of drugs or alcohol.
If you or a loved one is suffering from drug and/or alcohol addiction, please call Canton Drug Rehab Centers at (877) 804-1531 today.