Summary: Alcohol rehab does more than going to AA meetings in a variety of ways, the most important being access to clinical medical support and monitoring by licensed nurses and physicians, access to professional mental health support, and time away from the life circumstances that contribute to problem drinking.
Key Points:
- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can work, but many people with alcohol addiction/alcohol use disorder need the immersive environment of alcohol rehab, which can do more than going to AA meetings once or twice a day.
- Alcohol rehab can do more than going to AA meetings early in recovery by offering medically monitored detox, reducing the risks associated with alcohol withdrawal, which – and this is not an exaggeration – can be life-threatening.
- A high quality alcohol rehab will have treatment options beyond the scope of peer-centered mutual support groups like AA, including psychiatry, counseling, complementary support – from nutrition to exercise to mindfulness – that can enhance and improve the likelihood of achieving sustainable, long term recovery.
Alcohol Rehab is Much More Than Going to AA Meetings
We never discourage anyone from going to an AA meeting. The collective wisdom and support you can find in a community of like-minded peers can be life changing, as millions of people since the 1930s have learned.
But millions more need more than meetings.
If AA works and is effective, then why would they need more than meetings?
The answer is simple:
Just like every path to alcohol addiction is unique, every path to recovery is unique.
That means that while some people can quit drinking on their own and some people can quit drinking by going to AA meetings, other people need professional help and support to attain abstinence and create a solid foundation for long-term recovery.
Before we go any further, we need to talk about the dangers of alcohol withdrawal:
If you drink every day, we recommend consulting a physician before quitting drinking, because alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is very real, can be very dangerous, but professional medical support and supervision can mitigate the chances of negative, life-threatening complications associated with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS).
Alcohol withdrawal is a serious component of seeking sobriety that’s important to understand. For information on AWS written for general audiences, please refer to these articles:
Cleveland Clinic: Alcohol Withdrawal: Symptoms, Treatment & Timeline
Mayo Clinic: Alcohol Use Disorder – Diagnosis and Treatment
For an in-depth understanding of AWS from a medical and scientific standpoint, please refer to these articles:
Clinical Management of the Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome
Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: Mechanisms, Manifestations, and Management
Managing Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome
We take the time to share these references because this is important, and many people who drink don’t know about the dangers of alcohol withdrawal. With all of that said – and those resources provided – let’s take a look at ten things alcohol rehab offers that AA meetings don’t.
Ten Reasons Alcohol Rehab Does More Than Going to AA Meetings
1. Full Assessment
When you go to an inpatient or residential alcohol rehab, you receive a full biopsychosocial assessment from licensed and qualified medical providers. They administer screenings/tests alcohol and substance use disorders as well as co-occurring mental health disorders. They review your complete medical history, your family medical history, your mental health and mental health treatment history, any current disease or injury, any current medication, social factors that may play a role in your addiction, and any family factors that may play a role in your addiction.
You don’t get all that at an AA meeting.
2. Medical Diagnosis
After you receive a full biopsychosocial assessment, a medical provider – a physician or clinical psychologist or nurse practitioner – can give you an official diagnosis for a substance use disorder (SUD), and alcohol use disorder (AUD), or any co-occurring mental health disorder that they observe, such as depression (MDD), anxiety (GAD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A diagnosis is not a scarlet letter, but rather, it creates opportunity. You can receive referrals for professional treatment that can be reimbursed by insurance providers, which is important. In addition, when you have a medical doctor such as a psychiatrist on your treatment team, they can prescribe any medication you may need for your diagnoses and monitor and adjust that medication during the course of treatment.
At an AA meeting, you don’t receive a medical diagnosis, a referral for treatment, or prescription medication with medical monitoring.
3. Distance From Your Daily Life
One thing about going to rehab that can make a difference for some people is taking time away from their typical daily life. Things that you experience every day, like your job, your family relationships, your environment, and your friends may all contribute to your addiction. When you go to alcohol rehab, you get away from all that. You get time and distance, which can lead to perspective. The goal is not necessarily to change everything about your daily life – yes, there are some things that will need to go, most certainly – but rather to understand how the different components of your daily life affect you, how they may contribute to your addiction, and then make personal changes that allow you to manage the unchangeable parts in a healthy and productive manner, and replace the replaceable parts with new behavior and activity that promote recovery, and a life without alcohol.
If you only go to AA meetings, then you still have the rest of your daily life to manage, and the components that drive your addiction may overwhelm any insights you have or progress you make during meetings.
4. Medically Monitored Detoxification
In the first few hour after eliminating alcohol consumption completely, you may experience headache, anxiety, and insomnia, which are not dangerous. However, within 24 hours, you may begin to experience hallucinations. If your withdrawal syndrome is mild, it will likely resolve between 24-72 hours after your last drink. But if your withdrawal syndrome is severe and/or complicated, your risk of experiencing life threatening delirium tremens increases during this time, and you may be at risk for as long as 7-8 days. Here’s what you should know about delirium tremens:
“As the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS), DT can lead to life-threatening complications if not promptly recognized and appropriately treated. DT typically occurs in individuals with a history of chronic, heavy alcohol consumption who suddenly reduce or cease their alcohol intake.”
With timely recognition and treatment, it’s possible to mitigate the consequences of delirium tremens, improve outcomes, and significantly reduce risk of developing serious, life-threatening complications.
At an AA meeting, you don’t have a medical staff on call capable of recognizing delirium tremens and administering immediate medical treatment and support.
5. Professional Mental Health Support
Many people use alcohol and develop an alcohol addiction as the result of using alcohol to manage the painful emotions and severe psychological distress associated with mental health disorders such as depression (MDD), anxiety (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder (BD I&II), and others. This pattern of behavior is called self-medication. If you self-medicate with alcohol to manage the symptoms of a mental health disorder, evidence indicates that in order to address your alcohol addiction, you must also simultaneously – or after detox – address your mental health disorder, because that’s what addiction professionals would likely identify as the root cause of your addiction.
Any gardener knows that if you don’t deal with the roots, the plant is likely to grow again. The same is true for addiction that’s caused by self-medication for mental health symptoms: if you don’t address and heal the mental health disorder, your chances of achieving sustainable, long-term recovery decrease dramatically.
At an AA meeting, you don’t get professional support or treatment for underlying mental health issues, and you won’t receive psychiatric medication that only a doctor or other medical professional can prescribe.
6. Access/Exposure to Complementary Supports
When you go to alcohol rehab, the core of your treatment will most likely consist of group therapy, individual therapy, skill building, and education about various topics related to addiction and addiction treatment. Most high quality treatment centers supplement these standard, best-practice modalities with complementary and alternative supports, which may include things like yoga, acupuncture, mindfulness, expressive therapies like writing/music/visual art, exercise, outdoor experiential therapies, and more. For some people discovering yoga helps recovery and improves outcomes. For others, hiking in nature might be what really helps. And for others, learning the basics of stress management with simple mindful breathing techniques can make the difference.
At an AA meeting, you won’t find a yoga class, a hike in nature, equine therapy, or mindfulness-based stress management.
7. Recovery/Sobriety Skills Practice
During group sessions during alcohol rehab, you’ll learn practical skills that promote sobriety and support long-term recovery. The skills you need for recovery are varied. You need to know how to recognize your triggers, i.e. the things that make you want to drink, you need to know how to successfully refuse a drink in a public place, you need to know how to manage conflicts at home and work that could result in relapse/drinking, and you need to know the basics about how to manage overwhelming and difficult emotions.
At an AA meeting, you won’t have conflict resolution workshops, time with your therapist to identify and devise ways to manage your triggers, or a situation where you can role play refusing a drink or practice applying healthy communication skills you learn in group therapy.
8. Close Peer Contact
While the foundation of AA is peer support, the people at AA meetings come and go. Whereas in alcohol rehab, you’re in treatment with a group of people who are in the same – or nearly the same boat – that you are. Your peers will most likely be at the beginning of their recovery journey, facing some of the same issues you face. You’ll see them every day, learn from them, grow with them, and form bonds unlike those you’ll form anywhere else.
While AA includes peer support, sponsorship/mentorship, and daily contact with peers – if you go to meeting every day – it doesn’t include the same kind of peer contact or bonding you find in rehab, developed through direct contact over days, weeks, and in some cases, months.
9. Family Participation
Evidence shows that when families participate in the addiction treatment process, long-term outcomes improve. When the people most important to you – parents, spouses, siblings, and children in some cases – understand exactly what you’re doing, what you’re going through, and what you need for a successful recovery, then they can help you meet your recovery goals. They may learn they need to change aspects of their behavior and communication patterns while you change aspects of yours. When everyone is on the same page working toward the same goal, the likelihood of success improves dramatically.
There is an organization allied to AA called Al-Anon, available for family members of people with addiction, but you will not engage in family therapy sessions at an AA or Al-Anon meeting.
10. Aftercare and Relapse Prevention Plan
When you go to alcohol rehab at a high-quality treatment center, the clinicians will begin formulating you re-entry plan – also known as your aftercare plan, your continuing care plan, or your relapse prevention plan – as soon as your treatment begins. You can think of an aftercare plan as your little black book or important information, tricks, and tips to keep you on track and in active recovery after your formal treatment program ends.
Your aftercare plan can include doctor’s appointments, contact information for therapists/counselors for ongoing mental health needs, information on local AA meetings, a list of your go-to stress management or trigger management techniques, and contingency plans for what to do when you’re in crisis or at high risk of relapse.
While you may find a sponsor who can offer critical support in times of crisis, you won’t leave an AA meeting with a comprehensive aftercare plan in hand.
Alcohol Rehab Does More Than Going to AA Meetings: The Proof is in the Treatment Plan
When you go to alcohol rehab, a team of addiction professionals creates a treatment plan based on your specific needs and goals. While AA can provide excellent, lifesaving support for people with alcohol addiction, the level of support at an AA meeting is nowhere near what you receive at a real alcohol rehab: the list above makes that clear. There’s one more thing we should note: nearly all alcohol rehab centers include AA meetings one or two nights a week during treatment, and sometimes on the weekends. Therefore, when you go to alcohol rehab, it’s not either AA or rehab: it’s both – and you get the best possible benefit from both approaches to alcohol addiction.
