What Is Drug Detoxification?

Drug detox

Drug addiction is a multilayered psychosocial happening, and for this reason, there should be little surprise to learn that the drug detoxification process can be equally complicated. Detoxification, most just, entails the elimination of drug or alcohol substances from the body. While there is no single crowning definition that encompasses every facet of drug detoxification, the Washington Circle Group (WCG) provides an insightful and workable definition.




The drug epidemic in America is multifaceted.
 While it is a critical first step to look at the face of dependency, the next would be to consider whether substance abusers are finding their way into treatment. So long as there is not a 1:1 ratio of drug abusers to persons in treatment, America continues to have a drug problem. In 2009, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), 23.5 million individuals age 12 or older were in need of treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol problem, but only 2.6 million of these individuals were in treatment at specialty centres.Drug abuse continues to carry a social stigma, and it is often not a transparent task (family, friends, and colleagues are frequently in the dark or in denial and may not comprehend a person's drug abuse until it reaches the tipping point). Because of this, among the most dependable sources of advice on drug abuse comes from emergency room intakes. SAMHSA manages the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). DAWN is a public health surveillance system that requires SAMHSA to review emergency room visits from participating hospitals that included recent drug use.The DAWN review encompasses many drugs, for example illicit drugs, over-the-counter drugs like cough suppressants, prescription drugs, alcohol (in some cases), and inhalants with mind-altering effects.

The 2011 DAWN findings contained the following:
Drug issues continue to climb.
In the age group of 6-11 years, drug-related emergency room visits amounted to 288 per 100,000 in the population compared to 2,477 visits per 100,000 in the population aged 18 to 20 years.
In the 18-20 age group, drug misuse is frequently the reason for the drug-related emergency room visit. For example, in the 18-20 age group, while 2,477 total had a drug-related visit, over 1,500 presented with substance misuse or abuse.

The tendency of substance misuse exists across most of the age groups studied.
The prevalence of substance abuse is high. Approximately 2.5 million of the emergency room visits that were drug-related included drug misuse or exploitation.The reality of SAMHSA's findings is that however powerful DAWN may be in collecting data, the actual incidence of substance misuse and exploitation must be even higher.

The Detoxification Procedure

Detoxification is widely considered to be the first thing to do in drug treatment. For a drug addict, the psychological burden of detoxification is clear. Not only may he fear the loss of the drug itself, but also the possibility of unwelcome physical, emotional, and mental effects as a result of withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms generally happen when the body becomes habituated to a material that's consumed over a long enough period of time and either stopped completely or drastically reduced in dosage.

Medical professionals should be consulted before beginning any course of detoxification. Most of the time, those undergoing detox should be supervised by consulting doctors to ensure health and safety through the process.
Medical professionals trained in detoxification treatment can help treat undesirable effects of withdrawal. Frequently, the detoxification procedure contains drugs to manage unpleasant withdrawal symptoms and thus make the process safer and more tolerable for the patient. Drug detox management medications can be administered both at inpatient and outpatient facilities.

Drug treatments for withdrawal are linked to the particular kind of substance that was abused, the duration of time of exploitation, and the volume of intake. Some common kinds of treatments, based on special drugs, are as follows:
Opioid withdrawal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved both methadone and buprenorphine (types comprise Subutex and Suboxone) for treatment of opioid habit.
Benzodiazepine withdrawal. Strategies comprise the patient continuing to take benzodiazepines in gradually decreasing sums, changing to another benzodiazepine, or phenobarbital substitution.[14]
Stimulant withdrawal. There are not any FDA-approved medications acting as antagonists for cocaine addiction treatment. Nevertheless, inpatient detox plans may use benzodiazepines to treat withdrawal from cocaine and methamphetamines. Although benzodiazepines can be addictive, they can be prescribed to relax the effects of stimulant withdrawal mostly on account of the lack of other medication choices

Dangers of Quitting Cold Turkey
For many, the process of self-detox, popularly referred to as "stopping cold turkey," doesn't necessitate medical intervention, and it can lead to fatalities in some events, such as when a person is a longtime alcohol abuser, benzodiazepine user, or withdrawing from long term use and/or high amounts of methadone.[16] Users of these drug types so will likely require medically supervised detox plans.

Drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines, and nicotine, don't often cause fatality in the withdrawal procedure, but they're able to still yet present severe problems for the person stopping cold turkey and medical attention should be considered. A serious complication of stopping cold turkey is the relapse variable. The effect of quitting cold turkey is that the body loses its allowance for the formerly abused substances, and if those substances are then reintroduced into the body at the level of prior ingestion, there is a high risk of overdose, which can cause death or other serious negative side effects.

Detox Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Recovery
Detoxification is a crucial first step, though it'll feel like a huge leap for most. The detoxification procedure addresses the physical dimension of addiction, but nevertheless it most often takes months for the brain to return to normal function and successfully manage cravings.

Dependence specialists are in near unanimous agreement that detoxification should appear in specialized detoxification facilities. There are several advantages to being in a medically supervised detoxification plan, which can efficiently:

Come cravings, as attention is supervised and drugs may be available to check any drug abuse instincts
Administer medications to help with any uncomfortable or severe effects of withdrawal


Provide a support system that acts as a soothing mental balm for the emotional and psychological challenges detoxification can present
Offer comforting amenities and non-habit-forming treatments, including a diet that complements the detox procedure, nutritional supplements, and pain relievers for body pains and other physical ailments

Beyond Detox

A 2012 John Hopkins study found that while the relapse rate post-detox is 65 to 80 percent, recovering drug addicts who remained in treatment were 10 times more likely to remain drug free.[22] The level of time commitment to treatment is, in addition, an important factor. Research attests that there is a direct correlation between the length of time in treatment and rate of relapse. To put it differently, a commitment to treatment has a high rate of return for recovering substance abusers and can be an effective way to combat the perilous chances of relapse.
Treatment must be controlled for quality. The healing process is not only about being in treatment, but also about being in an effective treatment program. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has supplied the following guidelines to assist recovering substance abusers and their nearest and dearest in assessing the effectiveness of treatment plans:

Treatment plans shouldn't be based a one-size-fits-all approach and must be appropriately tailored to the patient's needs.
Treatment strategies should interact with the patient not only on the physical level of dependence, but also take into account her psychology, social foundation, and even factors such as age, culture, gender and occupation.
A treatment plan must not be static. It must be periodically reviewed and revised, as necessary, to be most responsive to the patient's needs.
Many patients have a Dual Analysis of drug addiction and mental health illness(s), and treatment should address all known analyses.
Treatment doesn't need to be voluntary; involuntary treatment does not present a hurdle to successful healing.

Beyond Treatment

Dependence is a chronic disease; along with the physical aspects, the psychological and social facets need healing. Graduation from a drug treatment plan does not signal the ending of healing. The avoidance of relapse -- or stated affirmatively, the continued pursuit of abstinence -- is a preeminent concern post-treatment. It is important that the recovering individual assemble a healthy infrastructure for her life. The following measures can be taken to further ensure continuing and successful recovery:

New Social Group
Engage in healthy social settings that are not reminiscent of the days of using drugs.
Spend time with those who are drug free and provide a healthy social network.
Remember the structured living environment of treatment and use it as template or guide to create a program that supports the healthy use of time.
Actively maintain motivation to avoid falling into old routines that could lower mood and invite relapse.


Moreover, involvement in a 12-Step program like Narcotics Anonymous (NA) program can be another healing resource as attending assemblies basically provides treatment at the community level. The program is based on anonymity, and for this reason, there is little empirical research available about its effectiveness.However, the program continues to grow in popularity; in 1978, there were fewer than 200 documented groups in three states, but by 1994, groups were holding 19,822 weekly assemblies in 70 nations.

In the short term, the goal of detoxification is the elimination of drugs from the body system, but even this critical measure must get the need for a long term effective treatment plan.