Alcohol is a legal substance in most, if not all countries in the world. This means it is readily accessible to anyone who is of legal age. However, this has not stopped underage individual from engaging in a drinking spree at least once in their teenage life.
In Virginia, most people who have drinking problems will state they started drinking when they were teenagers. Some did it for fun while others due to peer pressure. With time however they got addicted and quickly discovered they were in need of alcohol treatment programs in Virginia. In the mid-20th century up to the late 20 century, people suffering from alcohol addiction were not that many.
Currently, there has been an enormous increase in the number of people who are searching treatment for alcohol addiction.Reports from treatment providers state that the most commonly cited substance their clients abuse is alcohol. Majority of people looking for treatment drink a lot of alcohol. Some of them are likely to be either multiple drug users, or using more than one substance. There are a number of treatment programs developed to help treat alcohol addiction.
Behavioral interventions
Outpatient and residential approaches are among the many behavioral treatments effective for alcohol addiction. Behavioral therapies are known to be the only effective, available treatment approaches to a lot of drug problems. Once the addicted individual has been stabilized, treatment takes place in an outpatient or inpatient program. Identifying ‘triggers’ that create a desire to drinkalcohol, ties with friends who drink and breaking old habits is the beginning of a learning process for recovery.
Emotional and spiritual issues counseling
The intense shame and guilt felt by most alcoholabusers is the most difficult aspect of recovery and treatment. All addicted individuals feel shame resulting from the conflicts a user has with their morals and values. It takes trust and time to deal with such painful issues.
A trusted clergy, another recovering addict or an experienced counselor can be of great help. Residential programs or therapeutic communities with planned lengths of stay, normally 6 – 12 months, offer an alternative to treatment for alcohol addiction.
Self-help programs
Programs such as twelve step programs are of great help to alcohol abusers. They assist recovering addicts to learn from and accept their problems. Twelve-step programs emphasize self-forgiveness, making amends to others and taking responsibility for behavior. For an individual to successfully abstain from alcohol, they will need to attend many 12-step programs’ sessions.
Medication approaches to treatment of alcohol addiction
There are no medications to specifically treat alcohol addiction. Consequently, NIDA (National Institute of Drug Abuse) is aggressively pursuing the testing and identification of new medication treatments for alcohol.
A number of newly emerging compounds are under investigation to assess their efficacy and safety in alcohol addiction treatment. Due to the mood changes during early alcohol abstinence stages, antidepressant drugs have shown to be advantageous. Professional drug detox centres at reputable drug rehab facilities are the best course of action to overcome addiction.