For most people who do not have severe addiction symptoms, alcohol withdrawal takes between one week and two weeks. After your body is over the side effects of withdrawal, you are ready to enter the treatment phase for alcohol addiction. While detoxing from alcohol takes a short time, treatment for alcohol addiction is a lifelong process.
If you know that alcohol addiction is a chronic, lifelong disease, you also know that your approach to treatment needs to be from a perspective that you are moving along a path toward healing.
Many physicians advocate inpatient treatment for alcohol addiction because recovery is not only a continuous process but also a lifelong one. People in recovery need connections with others outside the treatment facility as well as in treatment. Often, alcoholics feel they are isolated and end up struggling through their addiction alone.
However, treatment centers allow alcoholics to connect with other people on the same journey to sobriety. Inpatient treatment centers offer between a 30-90 day program of group therapy, individual therapy, and strategies for managing life without alcohol.
