Alcohol rehab in College Station offers the best possible opportunity for anyone struggling to regain control over their drinking habits to begin the recovery process. Alcohol rehab centers use a combination of treatments and therapies designed to address the underlying causes of self-destructive drinking behaviors and replace them with healthy coping skills for living a sober life.
The basis of alcohol rehab in College Station is to help each person identify their personal addiction triggers and then begin working on new strategies for reducing the risk of relapsing back into a pattern of abusive drinking.
It's common for people to believe they can quit drinking and detox at home. However, without professional treatment in alcohol rehab centers, the risk of returning back into self-destructive drinking behaviors and spiraling deeper into the grip of addiction is high.
Anyone serious about alcohol addiction recovery should seek specialized treatment in an alcohol rehab in College Station.
A person who is addicted to alcohol has become dependent on the substance. Alcohol acts as a sedative on the central nervous system, which causes the brain to release higher-than-usual levels of certain hormones in an effort to counteract the effects.
Over time, the brain becomes accustomed to the presence of alcohol in the system, so the person needs to drink larger volumes of alcohol to achieve the same effects. To outsiders, the person may appear to be able to consume a lot of alcohol without getting drunk. In reality, the person has developed tolerance.
The person may experience cravings to drink alcohol in certain situations, such as trying to relax or unwind after a stressful day or just to feel more confident in social situations. Cravings are a warning sign of addiction.
If a person who experiences cravings and who has developed tolerance to the effects of alcohol tries to stop drinking suddenly, it's likely that unpleasant and potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms may emerge, some of which may require emergency medical assistance.
Withdrawal symptoms are a sign of the brain's inability to adapt quickly to the lack of alcohol in the system. When the person stops drinking, the brain goes into a hyper-excitable state that causes the symptoms of drug withdrawal in College Station. The person may either continue drinking to avoid the onset of more symptoms, or seek treatment to begin the alcohol addiction recovery process.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) binge drinking is responsible for more than half of the alcohol-deaths recorded each year. Binge drinking is classified as more than 4 drinks on a single occasion, although statistics show that binge drinkers tend to drink an average of 8 drinks during a session.
The same report also indicates that around 88,000 deaths each year in the Unites States are caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Heavy drinking over a period of time and binge drinking can shorten the lives of adults by an average of 30 years.
Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing a range of serious health conditions and diseases, including:
Brain damage: Alcohol interferes with the brain's normal communication pathways, affecting the way it works. The result can cause changes in mood and behavior, including increasing the risk of developing mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
Heart damage: Drinking a lot damages the heart muscle, causing it to stretch or droop, a condition known as cardiomyopathy. People who drink too much may also develop arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.
High blood pressure: Alcohol consumption causes hypertension, or high blood pressure, which can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Liver damage: Alcohol is metabolized by the liver. Drinking too much puts enormous strain on the liver, preventing it from effectively completing other tasks it needs to complete to keep the body functioning optimally. Heavy drinkers may develop fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, or cirrhosis of the liver.
Cancer: Alcohol is a known carcinogen, increasing the risk of developing a range of cancers, including breast, throat, esophagus, liver, and colorectal cancer.
It's common for many people to believe that having a few drinks after work or on a weekend with friends is quite normal, so they can't possibly have a drinking problem. Besides, most people associate alcoholics as being non-functioning homeless people shuffling in the street with a bottle wrapped in a brown bag.
In reality, only people suffering through late-stage alcoholism display signs of being unable to function unless the drink continually. People in the early stage of alcoholism may still have a job, a family, and other responsibilities, so they often deny having a problem at all.
Yet feeling the need to have a drink in order to unwind after work, or after an argument, or to feel more confident, or due to boredom, or even drinking alone are all signs of a serious drinking problem developing.
Anyone wanting to regain control over their drinking habits should seek treatment for alcohol rehab in College Station. Treatment within alcohol rehab centers focuses on identifying each person's individual addiction triggers before tailoring the right combination of treatments and therapies to begin the recovery process.
Detox is the first stage of addiction treatment in College Station, where the effects of alcohol are eliminated from the body. It's important to recognize that detoxing from alcohol could potentially produce life-threatening symptoms that may require emergency medical assistance, so it's advised that withdrawal is done under medical supervision.
Detox on its own does nothing to promote alcohol addiction recovery. In order to improve the success rates of rehab treatments, it's important to also address the underlying psychological aspects of addictive drinking behaviors. Call us now at (877) 804-1531.