Long-Term Alcohol Rehab

Alcohol addiction is one of the most destructive things that can happen to a person. The compulsion to drink excessively destroys families, businesses, futures, health and self-esteem. It often gets to the point that a person plans their days and weeks around opportunities to drink, no matter how much wreckage is left in their wake.

This destructive process can go on for years or decades. Year by year, more of a person’s life is ruined by their personality changes, loss of integrity and deteriorating mental and physical health.

For many people, short-term alcohol rehab does not provide enough time to recover from all this devastation. It takes longer to rebuild one’s self-esteem and learn how to make sobriety one’s top priority. For many people in this situation, it takes long-term alcohol rehab.

Choosing a Long-Term Alcohol Rehab

A family looking for long-term alcohol rehab may not realize how important their choice is in determining the result for their loved one. The right rehab program can result in a productive, enjoyable life for their loved one. The wrong one may provide temporary sobriety with a relapse down the road.

Because alcohol abuse and addiction very often last so long before a person goes to rehab, this choice is critically important. Families and individuals seeking alcohol rehab would be smart to choose one that lasts considerably longer than 30 days. The National Institute on Drug Abuse actually recommends rehab stays of 90 days or longer for optimum effectiveness.¹

Rebuilding Self Esteem, Relieving Guilt

There is so much territory that must be covered during a person’s stay in a long-term alcohol rehab. Those who have been addicted to alcohol have usually spent years in denial that there was any problem at all. Spouses have often been neglected or even abused. Children’s needs have been ignored. Lies have been told. Jobs have often been lost. Years of this behavior have piled a mountain of guilt atop the addicted person.

Rehabilitating the person’s self-respect and lifting this guilt is not a quick process. It’s vital to choose a rehab program with a proven method of providing these improvements. Families and individuals checking into rehabs should learn the steps of the program and determine that, in their estimation, this process can provide this relief.

Start Recovery with Detoxification

Few people wean themselves off alcohol before they arrive at rehab. Most will drink right up to the moment they pass through the entry to the long-term alcohol rehab facility. This is expected. The staff will help each person detoxify from the alcohol they have been consuming. Close monitoring of the person’s symptoms is needed to protect their health.

People who have been drinking a high volume constantly will often need a medical detox before arriving. A medical exam will determine what they need.

When going through withdrawal at a Narconon long-term alcohol rehab, careful monitoring and one-on-one work with the staff help ease the discomfort of this process. Nutritional supplementation is also vital for a person who has been abusing alcohol and is carefully administered.²

Relief From the Long Term Effects Of Alcohol Use

When this initial withdrawal is complete, a solution is offered at Narconon facilities that enable those in recovery from alcohol addiction to get a fresh start on their sobriety. This is called the Narconon New Life Detoxification.

Utilizing sweating in a low-heat sauna, moderate exercise and a precise regimen of nutritional supplements that aid detoxification, old, stored residual alcohol toxins are flushed out.³ Both the body and the mind benefit from this elimination of old toxins.

Many people comment on the way this detox alleviates their Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms or PAWS.⁴ Without this second detox, they could have suffered the following symptoms for years:

• Cognitive difficulties
• Feelings of panic or anxiety
• Depression
• Cravings for drugs or alcohol
• Poor sleep
• Sensitivity to stress
• Poor outlook on life

Beginning a New Life

The past can be such a burden for a person recovering from alcoholism. There are many painful memories. There may even have been injuries, arrests and incarcerations. Many people have lost everything of value and are starting over with nothing. The more positive their viewpoint at this point, the better they can make this transition to a new life.

This is not the easiest change to make. Work activities can help a person gradually see life in a new light. Group and individual counseling can also be therapeutic.

On the Narconon long-term alcohol rehab program, a series of therapeutic exercises bring about this shift. Gradually, day by day, each person lets go of the pain of the past. The present begins to look more inviting. They gain more control of their mind, body and emotions. This is their next step toward being able to make the right choices in life.

Assembling Vital Sober Living Skills

For the months, years or decades that the individual spent compulsively consuming alcohol, their life skills were being damaged. After all, they were repeatedly making self-destructive choices. This results in a serious loss of self-esteem and devastating effects on relationships.

If a person is to achieve lasting sobriety, they must rebuild their self-respect. They must also know how to repair the relationships they value. And perhaps most important of all, they must know how to deal with losses and setbacks without reaching for a bottle.

New life skills must be developed to help each person make better choices in the future. Some programs offer classes in life skills and others guide this personal development through counseling sessions.

The Narconon long-term alcohol rehab program builds these abilities in the life skills component of the program. Through detailed lessons covering the skills each person needs, these necessary skills are restored for each recovering person. Putting the principles to work immediately, each person also begins to see their life change.

Recovery from Alcohol Addiction Doesn’t Happen Overnight

All this detoxification, skill-building and recovery takes time. For most people, it takes considerably more time than 30 days. Longer rehabs are advisable.¹

There is no set time limit for a person on the Narconon long-term alcohol rehab program. Each person must achieve specific goals at each level. That’s their best insurance for achieving lasting sobriety after their program is complete.

Whatever long-term alcohol rehab is chosen by a family, they should make sure that each of these vital components is addressed—deep detox, gaining a new, positive outlook on life, and rebuilding life skills.

Sources: