An alcohol detoxification clinic is where you go to ‘dry out’ from alcohol and drugs for a few days. It doesn’t cure you, but it’s a beginning.
When you do alcohol detoxification, it’s done at a hospital or other medical center with trained doctors and nurses to monitor your physical health. And there are D and A (drugs and alcohol) counsellors who will help you before, during and after the detox process.
The alcohol detox part of the process is only where you go through withdrawal from alcohol. It’s not some permanent cure, but it can be the beginning for you on the road to Recovery, where you can have a sober life again.
After the alcohol detoxification part is finished with, you’ll need alcohol rehab to help you stay on the straight and narrow path. You need to break some old bad habits and replace them with new ways of coping with life.
There’s no quick fix, no matter what the ads on the Internet pitch at you. You need weeks or even months of sincere effort to break your old habits and stop associating with old buddies who still use mind-altering substances, including alcohol.
You need to learn to live with new friends who don’t need to take a drink every single day.
In alcohol rehab they’ll teach you a lot of the stuff you need to learn. But for it to succeed long-term, your new bahaviour has to become a habit. And you will need a strong support group who can help you stay sober.
In my opinion, the best there is, is Alcoholics Anonymous. Most people have heard of A.A. but few non-members understand it. It’s not just a bunch of alkys going to meetings, it is a fellowship of alcoholics, and they all help each other to get sober — and to stay that way. It has been proven that, by helping others, recovering alcoholics can stay sober themselves. And that is a very, very powerful state to be in.
A.A. teaches that alcoholism is a medical sickness. It’s not some weakness of character, it’s like an allergy to alcohol. This means that even a drop of alcohol can trigger an alcoholic to start drinking again. And once drinking, an alcoholic doesn’t know when to stop.
It’s too hard to ‘tough it out’ and go things alone. It just doesn’t work. Millions have tried and died drunk. Believe me. But in the 12 Step Fellowship of A.A. you’re not alone any more; and the Group can help you though it as long as you’re willing to be helped.
Go find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in your area now and go talk to them. They’ve all been where you are now. Do your alcohol detoxification when you know where to go afterwards for help to stay sober… And remember, you only have to do it one day at a time.
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