Addiction | Outpatient Detox | Holistic Detox Center

Addiction is a mental illness that stems from the desire to fill a void in ones life with a substance. Often time there are multiple layers to this void that require treatment from many angles. The first part of this is getting the person off the substance of abuse. We offer outpatient detox to do this but inpatient detox can be a really good option to get treatment and detox all in one.

Treating addiction comes with several challenges. The most obvious of these is that we don't actually treat addiction, we treat people. The majority of people with an addiction don't believe they are addicted and this is one of the fundamental challenges with treating addiction... acknowledgment and acceptance that there is a problem. There are, of course several different types of addiction. There is physical addiction also known as dependency and psychological addiction. Both stem from an underlying physiological or psychological imbalance. It is a bit of misnomer to separate the two as physiological dependence will carry with it some psychological dependence and vice versa. Lets look at each individually.

In the case of psychological imbalance the mind seeks out situations and substances that make the mind feel in balance. These situations and substances will vary from person to person. These variations come about from individual genetics, environmental upbringing, and current environment. These create the background through which the individual perceives normal (i.e. balance). A person that was raised in a dysfunctional environment may see it normal to be over stimulated. This may manifest as an addiction to stimulants. Combine this with a genetic deficiency in stimulant neurotransmitters and you have a recipe for an addiction. This is an over simplification but hopefully gives some insight into how addiction emerges from a psychological basis.

With physiological imbalance there is an initial consumption of a drug or substance that triggers a high and corresponding low of certain neurotransmitters. Over time the drug creates such a corresponding low when the drug is not present the person needs the drug just to keep the neurotransmitters at a normal level. This is know as dependency. If the drug or substance is not consumed, the physiological imbalance that ensues creates withdrawal symptoms. This is where detox comes in. Therefore it is important to treat both the physiological and psychological imbalances if you wish to maintain normalcy during and after your addiction treatment.

Benzodiazepines- Addiction to medications such as Xanax (alprazolam), Klonapin (clonazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), and the like can be very challenging to overcome. In this case it is the physiologic dependence that creates such a difficulty. For instance, often times this medication is prescribed to assist with sleep. Initially the drug works well but the dose often needs to be increased as the body adjusts to the medication and no longer creates the same sedative effect. Equally problematic is the rebound anxiety created when the medication is not consumed. This anxiety can present anywhere from 6 hrs to 3 days after the medication is consumed (depending on the half life of the drug). Once your body is accustomed to the medication, when it is not consumed the next night's sleep becomes almost impossible.

Our doctors are trained in integrative benzodiazepine detox and treatment. Following very specific methodologies, you can become free of these medications. It should be noted that coming off these medications can be very dangerous and should be done under the supervision of a physician.

Opiates- Recreational use pain medications and other opiates is rampant in the United States. The unfortunate part is that often times the addiction starts with a prescription for these medications and ends with using heroin. Because heroin is cheaper than prescription opiates like Oxycodone and Vicodin, it becomes the drug of choice when the person can no longer get a prescription or afford to purchase the drug on the street.

Once a person becomes physically dependent on opiates, the physical signs and symptoms of opiate detox can be severe. In most cases it mimics a very bad flu with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of sleep, bone pain, etc. One of the keys to recovery from the opiate detox is hydration. Our phoenix doctors are skilled in the area of integrative opiate detox and treatment and can provide you with the needed resources to overcome this powerful addiction.

Alcohol- The difficulty with alcohol abuse is that it is readily available and socially acceptable to consume alcohol. Many alcoholics believe they are drinking "socially" when they are obviously drunk and unable to interact socially. The challenge is that they cannot see themselves and often need the help of family and loved ones to point this out to them. Stopping alcohol cold turkey can be life threatening. It is recommended that you seek medical attention to detox off alcohol as it can result in seizures and other potentially life threatening medical problems. Our integrative Phoenix alcohol detox doctors can help you detox from alcohol and get you the treatment you need.

Smoking and nicotine addiction- With smoking there is a strong habitual addiction along with the nicotine problem. Of course we all know the detrimental health problems with smoking but this is often not enough to cause someone to quit. It is the combined habitual pattern and the physical dependence on the nicotine that perpetuates the vicious cycle of smoking.

Smoking cessation is possible though. Using a combination of pattern disruption and assistance with cravings, our Phoenix smoking cessation doctors can get you off the cigarettes for good. It is worth noting that some willingness is needed to be successful. If you really don't want to quit, your mind will find a way to justify picking the cigarette back up again. With our techniques you can develop a greater willingness to stop by breaking the habitual patterns os your mind.

Food Addiction- Many people don't realize the power of food on our subconscious and conscious mind. When we eat food the flavors and contents cause release of neurotransmitters much in the same way a drug would. When we start to use food for its effect on neurotransmitters rather than to nourish our bodies, there is a problem. This is not to say that you should not enjoy the food you are eating or that you can never indulge in delicacies. Rather that when we repeatedly consume food to feed and soothe our mind it sets up an association and pattern that can lead to negative health consequences. When these negative health consequences are ignored only to soothe the mind, excess food consumption becomes no different that consuming heroin from the perspective of addiction.