Alcohol abuse and dependence involves drinking too much or too frequently and being addicted to alcohol. If you're suffering from alcoholism, you have several different treatment options available to you, including outpatient treatments. Talk to your doctor about these various treatments and which ones are right for you in treating your alcohol problem.
Treatment
Although some people might need medical attention and treatment in an inpatient facility or hospital while recovering from alcoholism, you can also find help through outpatient treatment, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Outpatient treatments for alcoholism recovery often include detoxification to flush the alcohol from your body, explains the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Detox is typically the first part of alcoholism treatment and usually lasts four days to one week.
Your doctor may prescribe sedatives or other similar medications like Antabuse, Campral or ReVia to help reduce your withdrawal symptoms while you're detoxing from alcohol, the Mayo Clinic says. You might also need to take certain medications to help prevent you from relapsing into alcohol abuse. Outpatient alcohol treatment also includes individual or group counseling and support groups or other community services for alcoholism recovery. Alcoholism counseling often involves behavior modification skills, psychological support or psychotherapy to treat related problems like depression and lifestyle changes. Community support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous offer help with relapse prevention and aftercare programs.
Signs & Symptoms
Alcoholism is characterized by an uncontrollable daily craving for alcohol or an inability to control how much you drink, explains the University of Michigan Health System. Signs of alcohol dependence include drinking alone, in the morning or excessively every day, hiding your drinking or drinking alone, feeling guilty about your drinking and experiencing withdrawal symptoms like sweating, shaking, nausea and anxiety when you try to stop drinking. Even if you feel like you can control how much or how often you drink alcohol, you may still need treatment for alcohol abuse when you're drinking excessively, the Mayo Clinic points out.
Dangers
Although alcoholism itself is considered a chronic disease, it can also cause various other health problems, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Long-term, excessive alcohol consumption can cause liver problems like cirrhosis. Alcohol abuse can also cause high blood pressure, heart disease and elevated blood sugar, the Mayo Clinic warns. Additionally, chronic alcohol consumption can cause mild to severe nutrient deficiencies, says the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Complications
Depending on the severity of your alcoholism, you may need inpatient treatment during the detoxification process, the Mayo Clinic says. Alcohol withdrawal can cause uncomfortable and potentially dangerous effects, such as shaking, hallucinations and confusion. These and other symptoms indicate delirium tremens, a condition that occurs from alcohol withdrawal in some alcoholics who are severely physically addicted to alcohol. Your doctor could also recommend inpatient treatment instead of outpatient due to other factors like an unsafe or unsupportive home environment, the potential of you harming yourself or others and the existence of other psychiatric or medical conditions, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Particularly during the detox process, physicians usually recommend outpatient treatment only for alcoholics who are considered "low-risk."
Considerations
Your healthcare provider will decide whether inpatient or outpatient treatment is right for you, depending on how severe your alcohol abuse is and the level of outpatient resources available in your locality, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. In most cases, the goal of alcoholism treatment is total abstinence from drinking alcohol. Most alcoholics rely on a combination of several outpatient services to become and remain sober.
