Continuing alcohol abuse reduces the benefits of opiate substitution therapy, and there remains a significant risk of overdose and other health risks. The best program is an intensive and residential period of rehab, of sufficient length to provide a period of sobriety and with enough counseling and education to provide a new model for drug free living once released.
The treatment for a poly addiction to alcohol and pills proceeds in a similar manner to conventional rehab, and individual therapy, peer group therapy, education, cognitive behavioral classes, and meditation and introspection are combined to offer the recovering addict a number of strategies to future abuse avoidance.
Because the poly abuse of alcohol and pills can increase the severity of either addiction, and also increases experienced cognitive declines, rehab needs to be intensive and long lasting to offer the best probability of long term sobriety.
page last update Aug 05, 2010
