What Happens When You Detox?

07/13/2022

What Happens When You Detox?

When people decide that they need to make changes in their lives and get clean from their demons, the process is never easy or truly linear. Even with the help of a local detox center, substance abusers have a long fight ahead of them to beat their drug or alcohol addiction. For people that are looking to enroll themselves or a loved one in an addiction treatment facility, they have one big question on their minds — what happens when you detox?

What It Means to Enter Drug and Alcohol Rehab

Taking the necessary steps to enter a rehab program can be a difficult — yet vital — decision. For those looking to enter an addiction treatment center for the first time, it can be a scary proposition. Knowing what to expect when you begin detox can help alleviate some of your anxiety and help prepare for what lies ahead.

How Long Does It Take for Withdrawal Symptoms to Kick In?

A major component of many addiction treatment plans is ensuring that all traces of the substance are out of the patient’s body before their treatment can truly begin. Detoxification facilities help people cope with these symptoms and keep them in a controlled environment where they cannot access their vices and focus on working through their withdrawal symptoms.

For most people, the signs can begin to show themselves within a few hours after their last hit, or it could happen in a few days. It can significantly depend on the addiction and tolerance levels.

What Happens to Your Body During Detox?

The physical reactions people experience during their detox happen due to their bodies missing the substance’s presence in its system. People who have spent years using drugs and alcohol recreationally have built a natural tolerance to the substance. Their bodies learn how to function under the influence, and when it’s gone, it can take some time before they can begin to learn how to function without it again.

If they do not have a stable support system in place to cope with their experience, their likelihood of a relapse increases. In many cases, people fail to get clean because they believe it’s easier to indulge in their vices than deal with the withdrawal symptoms.

It Changes Your Brain Chemistry

A side effect of prolonged drug and alcohol abuse revolves around how these substances change our brain chemistry. They rewire our minds to associate the substance with feelings of happiness. As you continue to feed it, the stronger these connections become. During the detox, they’re depriving their body of what they long associated with rewards, and it starts to crave that feeling.

It Changes How We Behave

During a detox, people can become more agitated, irritable, and prone to lashing out against those around them. They feel every instance of their body trying to eliminate toxins, and when someone tries to interact with them, behavior changes are expected.

It Changes Us on a Psychological Level

Building off of the irritability, detoxification has discernible effects on a psychological level. When you are a regular drug user looking to get clean, the detox and withdrawal process presents you with a wide range of challenges that you can overcome or fall back into bad habits. As you begin your treatment program, this process can affect everything from your mood to your physical well-being and mental health.

It Can Impact Our Cognition

With so much change happening in regards to your brain’s chemical makeup, it’s natural that your cognitive abilities can suffer as you experience detox and withdrawal. While regular drug use addles our critical thinking, trying to regain what we lost during detox and rehab can be equally — if not more — difficult. Feelings of confusion and disorientation are often commonplace among people going through withdrawal.

Making Detox More Comfortable at Silver Pines Treatment Center

Anytime a person attempts to get clean, knowing what to expect when they detox can help them be better prepared for what comes next. Getting the help you or someone you love needs to get through the detox process and on the road to recovery is more important than ever. Silver Pines Treatment Center has made it our mission to help people looking to make changes in their lives.

If you or someone you love wants to learn more about detox and recovery, one of our specialists will gladly walk you through it. Please call our staff at 267.209.7313 today.