1) Safety – it is actually very dangerous to stop drinking alcohol and in fact the withdrawal from alcohol can kill a person. This might sound counter-intuitive but it is actually safer to continue drinking alcohol than it is to go through detox unsupervised. So what you want to do is get to a treatment center with a full medical detox unit so that you can sober up safely.

2) Support – there is a lot of peer support in a drug rehab facility and this is based on the other residents who are in the same boat as you are. Having a recovery network of friends is a big help because the support is critical for staying sober in early recovery.

3) Aftercare – most drug rehab centers don’t just let you go without some sort of follow up plan in place. This plan might include long term treatment, counseling, or meeting attendance. Either way you are going to get some additional guidance and help in how to stay sober after you leave the facility.

What happens when a struggling alcoholic isn’t willing to make a change in their life? If so then there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. In some countries or states there is the possibility of committing an alcoholic to rehab but this can create ill feelings and might actually backfire in the end. The better option in this is case is normally to offer treatment to someone and let them know that the option is available when they are ready to change.

Part of the problem is that existing recovery programs lack customization. They are basically a general program that is supposed to work for everyone but obviously this is not the case as many will fail to achieve success. For instance, programs such as AA or NA, which make up the bulk of treatment options today, have basically not changed for a long time.

When a person needs to sober up or get clean from drugs, our usual answer is to have them attend group therapy or 12 step meetings. When this does not give us great success rates, we often will fault the individual instead of the program itself, citing excuses such as “the person just did not want to get sober”.” These excuses are unacceptable and we should be pushing ourselves to come up with a better solution, instead of simply blaming the individual. I would suggest:

1) Push alcoholics to use treatment for early recovery. This is important because early recovery is so incredibly difficult; it can be a struggle just to string together a few days sober on “the outside.” In a safe setting such as rehab it is much smoother when trying to get a hold on early recovery.

2) Push alcoholics to create a new life for themselves. This is important because it is not enough to merely quit drinking. When an alcoholic drinks they do it with passion and it becomes a huge part of their life. In recovery, the alcoholic must find passion and purpose in some way or they will eventually revert back to that which once held meaning for them: drinking.

3) Encourage alcoholics to make holistic growth a priority in their life. If you can convince someone to make progress in one area of their life, this is decent. But if you can encourage an alcoholic to make progress in multiple areas of their life, then this is really good. Holistic growth is indicating that the person is treating their disease as a whole, not simply as a spiritual problem (as some treatments deal with it).