What is Detoxification?

Are you or a loved one facing the reality of a serious addiction?   If you’ve been looking into the steps for how to get clean or ways to get sober, you’re probably familiar with the term detoxification.  But what is it and how will it go for you?

Using drugs or alcohol, especially in a habitual pattern for long periods of time, can cause addictive dependencies to develop in the body.   This addiction is chemical in nature and, for some people and some drugs, it’s often something beyond the realm of conscious control.  It becomes an overwhelming need that your body develops for the chemicals in or affected by the drug in question.  Your body learns to require the alcohol or drugs just to function properly, all the while running toxic chemicals through your bloodstream an internal organs.

When you suddenly stop feeding your body the chemicals it has grown to rely on to function, the body enters a kind of shock at the withdrawal.  Medical detoxification is the process of systematic elimination of drugs and alcohol from the body while refusing to put any back in.  Your body will go through a difficult, sometimes painful, period of detox as it adjusts to no longer having those chemicals to rely on and function around.

For some addictions, a detox can be a couple days of hangover-like misery and then you’re on your way.  But for others, like heavy alcoholism and opiate addiction, the process of detoxification can be extreme and even life-threatening.  It is always advised that you detox in a safe, supervised medical environment where physicians can administer IV hydration, mitigate pain, and monitor your heart and lungs for problems.

Many drug rehabilitation centers have their own detox programs that are designed to aid you through the process and safely carry you into a recovery period of sobriety before releasing you back into the regular world and your daily life.

While the prospect of enduring a painful detox may not seem ideal, it’s often the best way to rid yourself of the poisons and toxins that plague the body during an intense addiction to drugs or alcohol.