Addiction is a disease that affects millions of lives and affects both a person’s body and mind. Left untreated, addiction can lead to serious complications and could even be fatal. In order for a person to recover from addiction, they will need to seek out treatment. This is because addiction is a disease that requires treatment, similar to when someone is experiencing an illness like heart disease and needs to have treatment. When you seek out treatment, you will first be placed in a detox program to start your recovery process.

How Does Addiction Affect The Brain?

To understand the importance of the detox process, it is important that you understand just how addiction can affect the brain. Addiction is considered to be a brain disease. Although addiction can affect every aspect of a person’s life, prominent chemical changes occur in the brain as a result of the addiction. Your normal reward system in the brain tells you to replicate something if it made you feel positively. Thus, your brain will release hormones that make you feel good. When a toxin, such as a drug, enters the body this reward system does not respond naturally. Instead, the reward system is thrown out of whack and shoots up to abnormal levels. This causes a person to develop an addiction to that substance. This is made evident by a person’s constant obsession with a substance and need to find the substance at all costs. Unfortunately, this is due to the increased urge to obtain the substance due their brain’s reaction. These pathways in the brain are then changed and the person will require treatment in order to recover from the damage.

What is Detox?

If you enter a detox, then you are entering a program that is professionally designed to help rid your body of any toxic substances. Detox is a necessary part before you begin any treatment plans and how long the process takes can depend on the individual. Detox is necessary because without it, the treatment program may not be as successful and an individual may be more uncomfortable than needed. Instead, detox programs were designed to help give those seeking recovery a safe and comfortable space with medical professionals to aid them. Medical professionals are specifically trained to help with the process, providing you with an overall health evaluation to help address your needs and concerns. This will allow you to be as comfortable as possible during the entirety of your detox. You may think that you can detox safely at home, however you would be mistaken.

Why Detoxing From Home is Dangerous

Detoxing from home is never recommended, as it is very dangerous and could even become life threatening. This is because when a person detoxes, they will experience withdrawal symptoms. What symptoms you exhibit will depend on a multitude of different factors and may even be difficult to predict. Your home is not equipped for you to handle these various symptoms and could lead to you experiencing painful and complicated symptoms as a result. However, one of the biggest risks of detoxing from home is relapse and overdose. Relapse can occur during the detox stage, as the withdrawal symptoms may become overpowering without medical assistance. Overdosing can also occur as a result, which could even be fatal. Instead, it is recommended that individuals wanting to detox choose a professional location that can keep them safe, comfortable, and better the chances of a successful transition to treatment.

Transitioning to a Treatment Program

Once detox is completed, it will be recommended that an individual enters a professionally designed treatment program. Those who are part of a professional detox program will find the transition into a treatment program more seamless. This is because they will be familiar with the support structure, have access to the tools they need, and have the guidance of a professional healthcare team.

Our dedicated healthcare team is passionate about providing individualized care to those we serve. Upon arrival, you will receive an overall health and wellness assessment, which will provide our team with a baseline for your care. However, we strive to provide customized care for each person that steps through our doors. If a plan is not working for an individual, we go to great lengths to edit their custom plan to create something that will work best for them. Call our team today to set up an initial consultation.