Nelsan Ellis, the popular American actor, and playwright was going from peak to peak in his career. But what a lot of people did not know was he was desperately trying to overcome his drug and alcohol addiction. However, when he died at the young age of 39, his death was not due to alcohol poisoning or drug overdose or any health complications arising out of alcohol or drug abuse. It was due to alcohol withdrawal, which he was unequipped to deal with, as he tried to overcome his addiction on his own. It is perhaps, this rather extreme case that should serve to highlight the importance of medical supervision while you try to undergo alcohol detox.
Understanding Alcohol Withdrawal
Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: How it works
When you ingest alcohol, your brain function is temporarily depressed. Also, communication between your nerves slows down. Now for occasional light drinkers, these changes are quickly reversed. But if you have been drinking regularly for a long time, then your body is used to the presence of alcohol in it. Also, the brain triggers an increased generation of hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine to compensate for the continued state of brain function depression. When the presence of alcohol in your body suddenly reduces, your brain does not immediately return to its normal state, but it has a surplus of brain activating chemicals.
Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal
The following are symptoms of alcohol could occur in varying combinations, severities, and last for varying durations:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Disturbances in Sleep
- Excessive Sweating
- Racing Heart
- Fever
- Hypertension
- Seizures
- Confusion
- Hallucinations
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Psychosis
Why it is dangerous to try Alcohol Detoxification without medical assistance
Even if you have realized that you have an alcohol addiction problem, and you have resolved to overcome it, trying to do so by yourself could be at best frightening at times, and at worst, dangerous and possibly life-threatening. This is because, in addition to all the aforementioned symptoms that you might face, you might even suffer from dangerous conditions such as:
- Seizures
- Cardiac Arrest
- Liver Dysfunction
- Kidney Dysfunction
- Delirium Tremens
These conditions can be extremely dangerous and could be fatal too if you do not receive timely medical intervention. Apart from this, some of the psychological symptoms mentioned above could be traumatic and may lead you to cause self-harm or maybe relapse back into addiction, which could be a frustrating experience.
Alcohol Withdrawal and Detox
Having understood why trying to overcome alcohol addiction in an unassisted manner can be so dangerous, let us look at why medically supervised alcohol detoxification can be of great help in enabling you to overcome your addiction. When you are treated at a good de-addiction center, your physical and mental health condition is regularly monitored, and if you face any of the problems mentioned above, you could be administered necessary help such as:
- Administration of Medications: Administration of medications such as benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, barbiturates, etc. to help you manage conditions such as temporary excitatory neural signaling, alcohol-related insomnia, dysphoria, and so on.
- Behavioral Therapies: Psychological and behavioral counseling to help support your mental state and ensure that you do not face any debilitating mental conditions such as the ones mentioned above
- Nutritional Support and Exercise: To maintain and improve general health and make you feel positive during the experience of undergoing detox and de-addiction
- Medical intervention during emergencies: In case your body faces some of the fatal conditions as listed above, medical staff will immediately attend to you to ensure that there is no risk to life.
The above article should make it clear why medical supervision is highly necessary for someone who is undergoing alcohol detox. At Alpha Healing Center, we have successfully helped hundreds of patients successfully overcome their alcohol addiction through effective and professional medical supervision. Should you feel the need to undergo a de-addiction program, we would love to welcome you to our center.
