ALCOHOL TREATMENT: LOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY RECOVERY

For those in search of alcohol treatment Los Angeles and its surrounding areas have much to offer in the way of recovery resources. Though Southern California’s reputation is seeped in excess, a new health-conscious culture has developed in the region over the last two decades, which has brought with it a plethora of rehabilitation programs. As the area has transformed into a vibrant recovery niche, the area has become more and more suited for alcohol treatment. Los Angeles and Orange Counties in particular have risen to the occasion, developing and fine-tuning a wide variety of treatment centers geared toward different populations. Any alcoholic looking for treatment is sure to find an ideally suited program in this geographical region.

UNDERSTANDING ALCOHOLISM

Alcoholism is complex because it is both a mental and physical disease. Physically, addiction to alcohol is fairly straightforward. With regular consumption, the body grows accustomed to the presence of alcohol, readjusting its definition of normality to include this foreign substance. The physical systems of the body become used to operating under the influence of alcohol. Because the body’s baseline has come to include alcohol, more and more alcohol is required over time to produce the same affects. For this reason, alcoholics will often be capable of consuming a tremendous volume of alcohol without showing outward signs of inebriation. When alcohol ceases to enter an alcoholic’s physical systems, problems occur. Shaking, sweating, sleeplessness, and vomiting are only some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.  In severe cases, alcohol withdrawal may cause seizures and even death. Because of the dangerous nature of this unavoidable part of getting sober, it is crucial that alcoholics detoxify their bodies within the confines of alcohol treatment. Los Angeles rehabilitation facilities begin their programs with a detoxification period, followed by an extended therapeutic treatment plan.

More complex than the physical addiction is the psychological component of the disease of alcoholism. Many problem drinkers have a hard time admitting to themselves that their alcohol consumption has become an issue, even when others may find this fact to be obvious. It is the mental aspect of alcoholism that causes its victims to deny that they are affected by it. Because the disease is mentally synonymous to a belief that consuming poison is maintaining one’s health, alcoholics have profound fear of sobriety and often refuse alcohol treatment.  Los Angeles rehabilitation facilities, as some of the finest in the nation, design their programs to accommodate this psychological conundrum. Effective alcohol treatment, Los Angeles or elsewhere, emphasizes the psychological aspect of alcoholism and, in turn, the psychological aspect of recovery.

Most alcoholics are people who have a difficult time coping with the stress of everyday life. Unable to deal with seemingly innocuous situations when sober, these individuals tend to be people who struggled psychologically and emotionally as children and adolescents, before they began to abuse alcohol. Upon discovering that alcohol numbed the psychological and emotional pain that plagued them, drinking became a means of self-protection. For some of these people, the numbing effects of alcohol seemed to cure serious mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, and others.  Alcoholics of this variety rely on drinking in order to function on a day-to-day basis.  This explains why the prospect of leaving alcohol behind forever is terrifying to those plagued by alcoholism.

Unfortunately, while alcohol may act as an anesthetic in the short-term, it only worsens preexisting mental and emotional problems in the long-term.  This is where the poison analogy comes into play. Alcoholics believe that drinking is the only thing that keeps them functional, when in reality, alcohol abuse compounds other issues, resulting in a more serious level of debilitation than they started with.  The only way to ensure that alcoholic individuals receive the physical and mental care they need in early sobriety is to utilize a program of alcohol treatment.  Los Angeles and other Southern California locales offer rehabilitation programs that approach recovery from this bi-lateral perspective.

GETTING HELP: ALCOHOL TREATMENT

Once alcoholics reach the point when they can no longer deny the problems drinking is creating in their lives, they are in an ideal position to begin alcohol treatment. Los Angeles and Orange County offer an impressive array of treatment options, and the added benefits of warm weather and proximity to the ocean make them even more enticing as recovery destinations. Orange County, home to the largest active 12-step community in the world, is a particularly prime treatment locale. This area hosts more around-the-clock 12-step meetings of all varieties than any other geographical location.

When choosing a facility for alcohol treatment, Los Angeles and Orange County provide the option of a gender-specific treatment program. While alcoholism is a disease that can strike any person and does not discriminate based on gender, there is no doubt that the disease affects the two sexes in distinct ways. Female and male alcoholics show different emotional and mental symptoms, and they tend to incur different types of consequences as a result of their drinking. Female alcoholics, whose drinking often produces depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and codependency, benefit greatly from an intimate and nurturing environment in alcohol treatment.  Los Angeles and Orange County’s prime rehabilitation facilities for women offer this dynamic.

Women also tend to experience more verbal, physical, and sexual abuse as a result of their alcohol-centered lifestyles than men. An all-women’s treatment facility, like Safe Harbor Treatment Center for Women in Costa Mesa, California, customizes each woman’s treatment plan to accommodate past trauma she may have experienced in her years of drinking. Safe Harbor’s treatment environment, a small community of warm-hearted women, ensures that those who are coming to terms with trauma feel safe and secure. Safe Harbor’s treatment program allows women from all backgrounds to come together as they strive to leave alcohol behind and create better lives for themselves.

If you, or someone you know is looking for a second chance at life, call us today. We are here to help.

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