Stubborn and varied, alcoholism requires a treatment as comprehensive as the disease is powerful, and for most alcoholics, no one therapy or intervention induces complete abstinence. Recovery rates are highest when alcoholics use a variety of therapies and medications for relapse prevention and eventual sobriety.
Naltrexone, Acamprosate and Disulfiram…
The existing medications for use in the treatment of alcoholism all remain imperfect, and there does not yet exist a magic bullet solution for the disease. No medications will work well without additional psycho social therapies and education, and no medications will work without an internalized desire to change and strength of will against temptation. But although imperfect, existing medications used in the treatment against alcohol relapse do offer some assistance in cravings minimization and relapse avoidance, and clinical studies have shown that patients treated with comprehensive drug and alcohol therapies, and also using a combination of relapse preventing medications, have the best eventual recovery rates.
There are three primary medications used in the treatment of alcoholism, and all are used after detox and therapies, and are used to assist the recovering alcoholic resist the temptations to relapse. The three most widely used medications used in the treatment of alcoholism are Naltrexone, Disulfiram and Acamprosate.
Page last updated Dec 17, 2012
