Addiction is a worldwide problem affecting millions of people each year. Alcohol addiction is often characterised by compulsive behaviour, which can often cause problems for a drinker’s physical and mental health. This type of addiction may cause a long string of other troubles, such as financial difficulties, problems at work, strains on your relationship and personal neglect and it can take significant time to completely overcome alcohol addiction.
To understand how long it takes to overcome an alcohol addiction, it is important to understand addiction itself and the treatments needed to recover from it. Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, personality disorder and many more conditions can be the stepping stone to addiction and this makes it much harder to overcome.
Understanding Alcohol Addiction
When alcohol addiction is in its early phase, it may be difficult to detect. It may be that you are drinking a little more than usual, or you feel the need to constantly drink socially or at home. It may also be a response to stress or an event that is ongoing in your life. Once the line between casual drinking is crossed, and your behaviour and shame and fear of drinking are impacting your daily life, that is when the addiction must be dealt with appropriately.
The signs and symptoms of alcohol addiction must be known as early on as possible in order to treat it. When addiction is not treated, it can worsen quickly, leading to a devastating decline. This can include liver damage, overdose and a multitude of psychological issues.
Some of the symptoms to be aware of are:
- Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink
- Trying to cut down but being unsuccessful
- Finding you are dealing with difficult hangovers and an inability to recover quickly
- Craving drink in many situations, and times of the day
- Relationships are strained or suffering
- Work and finance may be affected, arguments and unable to do your job correctly
- Anxiety and depression
- Moodiness or aggressiveness
Factors That Affect Recovery Time
Every person facing addiction has a different walk of life, different physical and mental needs, different ages, and different perspectives and therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all. That is often why so many public sectors or local addiction treatment programmes fail in the first year.
In order to tackle these issues, you must have a personalised plan that can be achieved through private alcohol rehab. Certain factors may affect the speed of your recovery from alcohol addiction. This may include the severity of your addiction, the length of use, any co-occurring disorders, your individual lifestyle and your desire to maintain sobriety.
The time it takes to overcome alcohol addiction varies greatly – many programmes last 28 days in rehab, and detox takes 5-10 days.
Following a programme at a private rehab centre, you will gain access to something known as an aftercare plan. This relapse prevention plan will ensure that you are given dedicated amounts of time for follow-up chats, treatment continuation and general support. Each stage of your recovery will be monitored and discussed, and re-evaluated if needed.
The Stages of Alcohol Recovery
There are three main stages of alcohol recovery. Once you have taken your courage and decided to join a rehab programme, you will be cared for by a professional multidisciplinary team in a luxury setting. These three key phases below, work in conjunction with one another to give you a pathway to healing, including life skills and tools to use once you have recovered from addiction.
Phase one: Detox
Detox is a 7-day process that helps remove the alcohol remnants safely from the body. This is undertaken in a medical environment with any withdrawal symptoms well managed. There may be some combined use of medications to make this process easier. During this phase, you will be in a medical environment, and each day you will be slowly weaned from the alcohol.
Phase two: Psychotherapies and rehabilitation
Following alcohol detox, a series of therapy and counselling sessions will ensue and will create a pathway for success. This will be the biggest chunk of your rehabilitation programme, often lasting up to 28 days (sometimes more). Dealing with and understanding hindering mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and many more, you can learn your own behaviours, understand your triggers and learn to deal with these if and when they arise.
Psychotherapies include CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) which will allow you to free yourself from limiting beliefs, change your thought patterns and shape new behaviours, which will allow you to prevent future outbreaks or breakdowns. Understanding your new environment and setting goals, including mindfulness and a healthy lifestyle all work together to create a winning formula to help you overcome alcohol addiction.
Phase three: Maintenance
Overcoming alcohol addiction takes time. Following your stages of recovery, you will have to reintegrate. This includes a relapse prevention plan. Monitored and instigated by our professional team, you will have long-term access to support, updated information, support groups, counselling sessions and more.
How Long Does Alcohol Rehab Take?
Alcohol rehab and recovery can look very different depending on each patient. The severity and longevity of the addiction will determine how long you will need to spend in rehab, including any potential treatment routes that are best suited to you. It is so important to reach out for professional help when you are starting this journey. Detox must be completed medically. Anyone who undertakes detox alone could end up with a serious medical emergency.
The standard time for a rehab programme is 28 days, but this may vary. The best thing to do is to speak to our professional friendly team, to gain a better insight into your personal journey and the way in which we can help you. It is important to note that these rehab programmes are often hugely successful when combined with a post-rehab support plan.
Maintaining Sobriety From Alcohol Addiction
The biggest challenge to overcome after leaving rehab is the fear of not being able to continue with your psychological tools alone. Firstly, you will never be alone in this state, but physically, there will be times when you have to go back to the life that you have left. The challenges include feeling lonely, or unstable.
With the help of your aftercare plan, you can mitigate these risks. However, there are other key things to do:
- Start journaling – make a diary of how you feel and see if any other symptoms tie into specific elements of your life
- Start eating well – a rich nutritious diet is vital for recovery
- Sleep well, and ensure you have a good sleep routine
- Exercise – going to a gym or working out from home will release important endorphins
- Reach out to people and be open about your emotions
- Keep all temptations out of sight and remove them entirely from your life
To get help today, please feel free to contact us at 01923 369 161 or Text HELP To 83222.
Posted on Tuesday, April 25th, 2023 at 10:05 am in Addiction, Latest News.
Call Us
Contact Us