Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Do Alcoholic Treatment Centers Treat Other Addictions?

Whether a person has an addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, addiction affects people in the same way. The addiction process also follows a standard path of progression. Alcoholic treatment centers specialize in treating alcohol’s effects in a person’s life, but alcohol is still considered a drug.

According to an article on the Scientific American site, gambling and sex have the same effects as drugs in the life of someone who’s addicted. Whether an alcoholic treatment center treats other addictions depends on the types of services a center offers. Since treating the addiction is the focus of any treatment program, many alcoholic treatment centers do treat other types of addictions.

Types of Treatment Centers

Alcoholic treatment centers will offer a wide range of services to help you through your addiction problems.

Treatment centers in general offer a wide variety of services with each center having its own type of program. Besides treating alcoholism versus other addictions, differences between treatment centers include:

The types of services offered
How a center is funded (public or private)
Treatment principles or tenets that determine how a particular program is run

All of these factors determine whether an alcoholic treatment center treats other types of addictions.

When considering substance-based addictions, the only real difference between alcohol drug treatment and other types of drug treatment is the type of medications use to help relieve withdrawal symptoms. Since withdrawal symptoms become an issue when treating any type of addiction, alcoholic treatment centers differ in that they are medically-equipped to treat alcohol-related withdrawal conditions.

Alcoholism vs. Addiction

While alcoholism and drug addiction have acquired their own designations as far as treatment modes go, the common thread of addiction runs through both camps. Both types of conditions change a person’s physiological, mental and emotional state to the point where the substance takes over his or her life.

With non-substance-based addictions like gambling and sex, it’s the activity itself that alters thought and behavior patterns to the point where it disrupts a person’s life. People addicted to these types of activities also experience physiological, mental and emotional changes that work to reinforce addictive behaviors.

In this light, alcoholic treatment centers can provide the types of services needed to treat most any type of addiction, but not all do. It really comes down to locating the types of alcoholic treatment centers that also offer treatment for other types of addictions.

Finding a Treatment Center

When looking for an alcoholic treatment center that treats other addictions, the amount of funding a facility receives can limit the types of services offered. As publically-funded centers rely on money provided through state and federal agencies, funding may be limited. This means these centers may only be able to offer alcohol-based treatment because of limited funding. Privately funded treatment centers are more likely to provide a wide variety of addiction treatment services and programs.

Also important is the level of care and support a person requires when they enter treatment. As different treatment centers may offer inpatient, outpatient and/or aftercare programs, finding the appropriate level of care becomes just as important as finding a program that treats a person’s addiction needs.

Resources:

Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=does-rehab-work

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Study: Regular Alcohol Consumption Leads To Binge Drinking

A new study made by researchers at the University of Montreal and University of Western Ontario showed regular alcohol consumption increases the chance of binge drinking. The report, published in the journal Addiction, was based on close monitoring of 11,000 Canadian respondents the past year of their alcohol drinking habits and patterns. The 11,000 was….

How to Get a Loved one to Accept Treatment for Addiction

Millions of people suffer from addiction to drugs or alcohol and thousands of families find themselves trying to figure out how to get their loved ones to accept treatment for addiction. Getting someone into treatment is not always as easy as it sounds and anyone who has dealt with an addict knows that sometimes getting….

Alcoholics affect everyone but help is available

Ann’s husband is an alcoholic. Spouses of alcoholics have two options — they can leave the alcoholic or they can seek help and understanding in order to live with the person they love. Ann chose the second option. For several years Ann has been attending Al-Anon. Ann is not her real name and her identity….

Law aims for youth drinking, hits everyone

In the most tragic way possible, the December alcohol-poisoning death of Foothill High School student Shelby Lyn Allen fostered intense local discussion of underage drinking and its consequences. And on Tuesday, in a move they argue would prevent another such senseless death, advocates will ask the Shasta County Board of Supervisors to pass a “Social….

Statistics show youths are drinking earlier

When Saratoga County sheriff’s deputies broke up an underage drinking party in Ballston last month and charged 22 area teens with possession of alcohol, reactions varied. Some thought the kids got a bum deal. Many, however, agreed the community as a whole needs to remain proactive in stemming teen drinking. Statistics show youths are starting….