How Serious Does My Problem Need to Be to Need Residential Alcohol Treatment Centers?

To the everyday layman, a drinking problem is a drinking problem. There aren’t a metric people can use to decide how significant a person’s drinking problem might be. For the person with the drinking problem, there’s this tendency to walk around carrying the notion their drinking problem isn’t really all that bad no matter how bad it really might be. Experts call this denial. A problem drinker’s first wake up call usually comes when they realize their life is spiraling out of control and drinking in the culprit. For some of the people in this predicament, this is the wake-up call they need.

The addiction treatment community refers to this process as “hitting rock bottom.” Regardless of what drives the problem drinker to come to such a realization, it’s a good thing. It sets the table for the individual to finally reach out for help. If this is you, you are to be commended for your moment of clarity that drove you to finally reach out for help. At this point, you need to think seriously about finding a reputable rehab to help you with your addiction. In all likelihood, you probably need some time in a residential treatment center. This is the type of program that’s going to give you the best chance to arrest your addiction and built a long-term recovery.

If you find it difficult to commit yourself to that level of care, you might want to consider why. It’s quite possible your personal circumstances make residential treatment too prohibitive. Some common reasons you might not be able to submit to residential treatment include:

  • Work or school obligations you cannot forgo
  • Attending residential care would negatively impact your family’s financial situation
  • The cost of residential treatment it too prohibitive
  • Your drinking problem is moderate

Even if one or more of these conditions are present in your life, you would still be better served to attend residential treatment. Let’s discuss why.

How Serious Does My Problem Need to Be to Need Residential Alcohol Treatment Centers?

If your drinking problem has reached the point that you actually had a rock bottom, that’s a hint that you have a significant addiction to alcohol. The reality is you should leave it to the addiction treatment professionals to decide just how significant your addiction might be. They can do this objectively while you may still be living with a little bit of denial. Remember, addiction treatment professionals are trained to recognize addiction. That includes the depths of one’s addiction. At the end of the day, it’s the depth of your addiction that’s going to dictate which kind of addiction treatment program you need. For the most part, there are two things intake clinicians consider before they make recommendations. These two things will go a long way to answering your question about how bad your drinking problem needs to be to mandate residential treatment.

The Metrics

During the intake process, there are three pieces of information the facility’s intake clinician is going to need to determine the level of care you really need. We’re going to assume there’s no viable reason for you to avoid residential treatment other than you would prefer a treatment option with fewer restrictions. The three pieces of information are:

  • The frequency of your drinking
  • The amount of alcohol you need to consume to get the desired effect
  • The longevity of your drinking problem.

If the intake clinician interprets your answers as evidence you have a significant problem, that’s an indication your problem is bad enough to warrant residential treatment.

Withdrawal Symptoms

As you go through withdrawal, you will likely encounter withdrawal symptoms that will tell a story about the depth of your addiction. If you encounter issues like tremors and convulsion, the DTs (auditory and visual hallucinations), profuse sweating, confusion, high blood pressure and an array of other serious symptoms, your body’s dependence on alcohol is very strong. That translates to a significant addiction, which is bad enough to warrant time in a residential treatment program. The fact you are ready to seek help is a good thing. As part of your decision to seek help, we hope you will trust addiction treatment professionals to help you decide which treatment option is best for you. We are ready to help you with this process. You can get in touch with one of our staff members by picking up the phone and calling 800-411-8019.