The 4 Stages of Alcohol and Drug Rehab Recovery

During the action stage, the plan to get sober is put into motion. For patients with a severe alcohol use disorder, this likely involves entering an inpatient treatment program. The first priority in this stage is detox, or to cleanse the body of alcohol. Some patients may have a hard time holding on to a job or keeping their friends around. Others may have declining physical and mental health or have their entire day revolve around drinking alcohol. To find out how to enroll in one of our alcohol and drug addiction treatment programs. Alcohol and drug abuse can tear families apart and transform loving and successful individuals into desperate, lonely husks of their former selves.

You may find this to be the hardest stage, as it involves unpleasant and sometimes dangerous physical ailments from withdrawal. Therefore, it is imperative for you to seek medical supervised detox. You have nothing to worry about, though, because our staff will ensure your comfort and safety as well as monitor you through the entire process. The fact is that alcoholism is a chronic condition that requires lifelong management.

Alcohol Recovery Days 1, 2, 3

When individuals continue to refer to their using days as “fun,” they continue to downplay the negative consequences of addiction. Expectancy theory has shown that when people expect to have fun, they usually do, and when they expect that something will not be fun, it usually isn’t . In the early stages of substance abuse, using is mostly a positive experience for those who are emotionally and genetically predisposed. Later, when using turns into a negative experience, they often continue to expect it to be positive. It is common to hear addicts talk about chasing the early highs they had. On the other hand, individuals expect that not using drugs or alcohol will lead to the emotional pain or boredom that they tried to escape.

• Their brain is changing—and without help, there can be serious long-term consequences.
• The field of alcohol science progressed further after Prohibition was repealed in the 1930s.
• While some alcoholics progress through the first five stages of recovery in a linear fashion, many do not.
• There are other self-help groups, including Women for Sobriety, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, Smart Recovery, and Caduceus groups for health professionals.
• At Nova Recovery Center, we provide personalized alcohol addiction detox, rehab, sober living, and aftercare programs for people in all stages of addiction and recovery.
• Harnessing science, love and the wisdom of lived experience, we are a force of healing and hope ​​​​​​​for individuals, families and communities affected by substance use and mental health conditions.

This will be a difficult time during your addiction treatment in Ohio, but we guarantee you will gain a lot from it. We are here to encourage you, and this is a temporary experience if you trust the process. The second stage on your road to recovery is early abstinence, where you will undergo a medically supervised detox.

Causes of Relapse in Late Stage Recovery

The cognitive challenge is to acknowledge that recovery is sometimes hard work but addiction is even harder. If addiction were so easy, people wouldn’t want to quit and wouldn’t have to quit. Clinical experience has shown that occasional thoughts of using need to be normalized in therapy. They do not mean the individual will relapse or that they are doing a poor job of recovery. Once a person has experienced addiction, it is impossible to erase the memory. But with good coping skills, a person can learn to let go of thoughts of using quickly.

Dr. Bishop is also a certified open water scuba diver, he enjoys fishing, traveling, and hunting. In the US alone, over 140,000 people die from excessive alcohol use – 380 deaths per day. In 2020, opioid-related deaths only surpassed alcohol deaths by seven percent.

Help is Available During Every Stage of Alcoholism

As they continue drinking, though, they move from a point where their reasons for drinking are no longer social but psychological. Whether they realize it or not, they’re beginning to lose control of their drinking. If they do not stop drinking, they continue progressing to the point of alcohol dependence and then finally to the point of chronic alcohol use.

They must also overcome the guilt and negative self-labeling that evolved during addiction. Clients sometimes think that they have been so damaged by their addiction that they cannot experience joy, feel confident, or have healthy relationships . It isn’t long after a person stops drinking alcohol that they begin to feel the effects.

Recovery Coaching

Clinical experience has shown that this stage usually starts 3 to 5 years after individuals have stopped using drugs stages of alcoholic recovery or alcohol and is a lifetime path. In the abstinence stage of recovery, clients usually feel increasingly better.

Despite its importance, self-care is one of the most overlooked aspects of recovery. Without it, individuals can go to self-help meetings, have a sponsor, do step work, and still relapse.