Across the country, alcohol abuse treatment programs boast of their success in treating their patients. While this may sound impressive, it is not illogical to ask what exactly constitutes a high success rate for treatment. An alcohol abuse treatment program addresses the immediate issues of the physical addiction to alcohol, as well as the underlying psychological reasons for the addiction. The physical component of
alcohol abuse treatment programs is dealt with through detox.
Alcohol detox is often a physically painful time, and the withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable, but the end result is an individual resolved to conquer his or her addiction to alcohol.
Individual and group counseling are designed to assess the root causes for the alcohol addiction. The individual counseling often uses role play and real world solutions to ensure long-term sobriety. In group therapy sessions, it is the beneficial experience of hearing other people's stories. This allows the individual to gain comfort and strength from the knowledge that they are alone on their journey.
There is little information about the success rates of
alcohol abuse treatment programs. This is primarily because there is a lack of consensus on what actually constitutes success in treatment. It is also because many alcohol abuse treatment programs do not make their records public, citing concern about patient privacy and confidentiality. The fact is, alcoholism is a disease like diabetes and heart disease. Because of this, the person who goes into "remission" or a recovery stage may relapse at any time. This is why it is difficult to assess success rates of alcohol abuse treatment programs. It is more advisable to judge the success of an alcohol abuse treatment program in the terms of how well they helped their patients manage their disease. If an alcohol abuse treatment program equips their patients with the tools to live their lives without alcohol, then it can be deemed successful.
