Alcohol Treatment in Altoona, PA

If you're addicted to alcohol and have made up your mind that you no longer want to find yourself in such a situation, you shouldn't try the approach that most people do: quit on your own. At this center for alcohol treatment in Altoona, PA, experts help addicts and their families understand the great risks involved.

What Goes Wrong with Self-Directed Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment?

Self-directed rehab is usually ineffective, no matter what drug it is. Alcohol, however, is one of several drugs known for great risks involved. Quitting alcohol actually puts the addict in grave danger of bodily harm. When an alcoholic quits, the sudden change rapidly alters the brain's chemical balance, causing severe stress. In addictions that have lasted years, an addict can go through dangerous withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, cardiac arrest and delirium tremens (a condition involving severe tremors and hallucinations). These symptoms are not harmless. While cardiac arrest can kill, seizures and hallucinations can cause injury to the brain.

It's important for patients to seek professional alcohol treatment. It isn't easy to find such treatment however. Not every alcohol addiction rehab offers professional treatment. It's critical to learn how to recognize a quality offering.

What Should You Look for in an Alcohol Rehab?

Look for individual customization: Many lesser alcohol rehab programs attempt to treat all their patients with generic treatment plans. This is always the wrong idea. Patients tend to have very different needs, and these need to be either recognized. Patients come in at different stages of addiction, and at different ages; they may not suffer from mental or psychological disorders, suffer from malnutrition or liver failure. They may come in with different levels of motivation.

In the worst cases, alcohol addiction programs will attempt alcohol treatment in Altoona with the same programs as patients with opiate addiction or an eating disorder. It's extremely important not only to ensure that there is deep individual customization at the treatment planning stage, but at every stage. You need to determine if there are enough qualified personnel, and make sure that they do offer individualized treatment.

Involvement of the family: Whether it's an inpatient program that you pick or an outpatient one, it's important that family members who want to help are allowed to involve themselves. Studies have proven that the more closely family is involved, the better one's chances of long-term sobriety are. It isn't a given that family is always welcome. Some inpatient rehabs do not approve of it. With family involved in both therapy and medical detox in Altoona, it makes for much more effective treatment.

Evidence-based treatment: Medical professionals, in general, tend to be slow to drop old, discredited science, and pick up newer, proven science. The lag tends to be particularly noticeable with rehabilitation centers. Most centers do not even make an attempt to follow the latest in evidence-based methods. It's important to make sure that modern methods -- dual diagnosis treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy and so on -- are followed, however.

Inpatient treatment: Rehabs offer patients the choice of accepting alcohol rehab on an outpatient basis -- where they live regular lives, but come in once a day for treatment. This method tends to be workable for those who need to be with their families and to go to work. It tends to only work with very mild cases, however. For those who suffer from complications or from long-term addiction, inpatient rehab makes the most sense.

Aftercare: Robust aftercare is the number one indicator of an effective alcohol and drug rehab in Altoona. Aftercare is the segment of rehab treatment that comes after detox. Once detox care is done, and the patient no longer experiences withdrawal symptoms for cravings, the brain is still addicted, and requires considerable treatment to break away from a psychological dependence on alcohol. Without aftercare, patients tend to relapse 90% of the time. A robust aftercare program includes multiple forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy, with a deep focus on individual attention.

Finding a Certified Rehab

With hundreds of rehabs around vying for your attention, it can be hard to do the research. Looking for rehab accreditation by organizations such as the Joint Commission or the CARF can be very useful. Certified centers thoroughly review rehabs for quality treatment before granting accreditation.

These ideas should help in any search for quality alcohol treatment. If there any more questions, this center for alcohol treatment in Altoona, PA, is always an option.