Alcohol addiction can have detrimental effects on your health, your relationships, and your career. If you are struggling with alcohol addiction, you may want to think about rehab. However, you may wonder how long rehab lasts. The answer to how long it takes to get sober depends on several factors, such as how long it takes to detox, which depends on how long you have been drinking, and the length of your inpatient treatment program. Ask your doctor or a treatment center about medical detox and residential inpatient rehab for you if you’re ready to start on the road to recovery.
Medical Detox
Detox is different for everyone, so there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for alcoholism. There is no standard length for a medically assisted detox program. It depends on the type of program you attend and your individual needs. If you have been drinking for a long time, you will probably need a longer program than someone who has been drinking for less than a year. You should detox in a medical setting since alcohol withdrawal can cause life-threatening symptoms.
How long it takes to detox from alcohol depends on several factors, including how much you drink, your metabolism, how quickly your body metabolizes alcohol, and whether you have any health problems that make detox more difficult. Withdrawal symptoms begin within six hours of taking their last drink and tend to get worse over 48 hours. Detox programs for alcohol last between two weeks and a month, and they are usually integrated into a medically assisted treatment program so that patients can begin therapy after the worst of their symptoms have passed.
Inpatient Rehab Programs
Most treatment centers now offer medication-assisted treatment, which combines behavioral therapy with medications like naltrexone or buprenorphine to reduce cravings and prevent relapse. Generally, alcohol rehab programs last between 30, 60, or 90 days. Extended treatment programs that include residential treatment may be the best option for some people.
These programs usually last 90 days or more. Ultimately, the best alcohol rehab program for you is the one that meets your unique needs. When you find the right program, the length of treatment will depend on how long it takes you to reach your goals. For most people, residential treatment programs for alcohol addiction lasting between 30 days and 90 days, are more than enough to become sober. However, there are also longer programs. These are for much more chronic cases. They can last for six months. However, some programs last up to a year.
The longer programs are typically used for patients who have co-occurring disorders, such as depression or anxiety. The reason is that treating addiction is complex and dealing with all the issues involved takes time. You’ll attend individual and group therapy sessions at a residential rehab center. You may also attend 12-step meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Holistic therapies, such as yoga and acupuncture, may also be available.
Aftercare and Relapse Prevention
After you finish an alcohol rehab program, you should follow up with your treatment team and go to support groups. Aftercare activities can help you stay on track in your recovery and prevent relapses. An aftercare program can take the form of sober living or 12-step fellowships. Programs like these help people stay connected to others in recovery, stay accountable for their sobriety, and receive support when needed.
If these programs are insufficient to stay sober and you find yourself relapsing, then you may want to consider an outpatient rehab program. The therapeutic community interventions that follow alcohol rehab rely on community members who are in recovery to help newly sober individuals stay on track.
Participants in 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous attend meetings and participate in the fellowship for years, if not their entire sobriety. People in recovery consider extended-care essential to maintaining their sobriety. Without it, they risk relapsing. When you are ready to begin your recovery journey, call our counselors at 844-639-8371.