Alcohol Rehabilitation Options

Watching alcohol addicted pop stars such as Brittany Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and others you may be led to believe that recovering from alcohol addiction is a quick fix-just a weekend stay at rehab and you're good to go, only to fall back off the wagon, again, as we've seen too often with too many of the young Hollywood celebrities. However, recovering from alcohol addiction is a lifetime process and not achieved by any "magic" bullet or brief stint in rehab.

What is Alcohol Addiction?

Some describe alcohol addiction as the obsession of consuming alcoholic beverages to the degree that behavior interrupts the alcoholic's normal life. Despite health problems and negative social consequences, alcoholics continue to abuse alcohol. Others consider it a medical condition. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism contend that it's a disease, noting that the alcohol cravings of an alcoholic are as strong as the need for food or water, compelling the alcoholic to continue drinking although he (or she) is aware of the grave consequences, including family, health, and/or legal problems. As a disease, it's a chronic condition, a lifetime problem as opposed to something that's cured, without fear of returning.

Impact of Alcoholic Abuse

Physical impact----Just as sedatives, barbiturates, and anesthetics, drinking excessive alcoholic beverages (such as beer, wine and hard liquor) slows down the central nervous system, making a person uninhibited, slowing down brain activity. Other effects include slurred speech, as well as cloudy thinking, dulled hearing, and faulty vision (the degree of severity related to amount of alcohol consumed.)

Social impact on the alcoholic----Besides damaging the alcoholic's body, excessive drinking also hurts him socially, as he's more inclined to bursts of emotions, saying and doing things he probably wouldn't do if he weren't intoxicated. Severe social consequences can include being arrested and incarcerated, resulting in losing his job, respect, and friends.