How a Quality Alcohol Detox Leads to Better Mental Health. 

 When an alcoholic undergoes treatment in an alcohol detox center, the staff are required to be trained and experienced in assisting in a quality alcohol detox. Alcohol can have a significant effect on mental health. Many people are aware of the negative physical effects of drinking, but the relationship between alcohol and mental health is somewhat lesser known.

Mental health problems can be the consequence and the cause of drinking too much alcohol. Those who overindulge in the substance are generally looking for a mind and mood altering effect which alcohol can create when consumed in large quantities.

Indeed, alcohol can be a ‘quick fix’ and help to ease negative feelings. We need only look at typical drinking scenarios such as a romantic break up to see how common it is for our society to “drink on our feelings.” What do the rejected parties do? They get incredibly drunk to the point of total inebriation.

What is alcoholism?

Alcoholism is a proven brain disease. It is an incurable, progressive and potentially fatal illness. It can be arrested and managed through a detoxification at an alcohol detox center, followed by treatment in an alcoholism center. An alcohol rehab is a place where an alcoholic can deal with their emotional and mental problems, and learn coping skills through a programme of recovery. However, continued drinking is extremely harmful, not only physically but mentally too. The physical and mental repercussions of alcohol addiction leave an alcoholic with a greater need for alcohol consumption to ease these consequences.

Self medication with alcohol – the effect on mental health

Neurotransmittors in the brain assist the body with regulating depression and anxiety. When alcohol is consumed, the neurotransmitters in the brain are lessened, and over time, this effect can lead to significant depression, a state that can drive someone to drinking more in order to ease the negative feelings. A dangerous cycle can develop from this behaviour, especially when the disease of alcoholism is present. In this case, the cycle can extend to physical addiction and serious damage to the body, greatly affecting physical and mental health.

The World Health Organisation states that there is significant evidence to prove that alcohol can play a contributing factor in the development of depression. In the short term, alcohol works as a depressant to the body’s central nervous system. When this part of the human body is depressed, the brain loses inhibitions, which shows in behaviour. When a person is drunk, they either suffer from a lack of emotion allowing them to avoid uncomfortable feelings (for example, to ease the pain after a break-up of a romantic relationship), or these uncomfortable feelings are magnified, causing the person to become aggressive, sad or angry. 

Alcohol detox and mental health

Delirium tremens, or “DTs” are a symptom experienced during the withdrawal from alcohol. During a detox, an alcoholic can experience mental delirium, characterised by agitation, disorientation, paranoia, panic attacks and perceptual disturbances which lead to visions of tiny insects, snakes and rats. An alcohol detox center will usually administer benzodiazepines to an alcoholic experiencing delirium tremens as the drug eases these symptoms.

The mental health of an alcoholic deteriorates continuously. This is why it is so important to admit an alcoholic to an alcohol detox center for a quality alcohol detoxification, where after they can begin rehabilitation from their disease. The 12-Step meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous are a popular and successful tool for alcoholics, and form the basis of a recovery programme used worldwide.

The 12 Step programme of AA assists alcoholics in staying sober, one day at a time, and assists those suffering from the disease to live life to its full potential. The longer an alcoholic stays sober, the better their mental health becomes. Time in an alcohol detox center is the starting point to an alcoholic getting sober, staying sober, and rescuing their mental health.

Call us today for rehab referral services in South Africa, the UK and Thailand. We help alcoholics to find the alcohol detox center that is the best option for their needs, and to start the journey of sobriety and restoration of mental health.

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