Commentary
Structured Preparation before Alcohol Detoxification; A Shift from the Current Treatment Paradigm
Christos Kouimtsidis*iHEAR Partnership, 1 Prince Regent Road, UK
- *Corresponding Author:
- Christos Kouimtsidis
Consultant Psychiatrist, iHEAR Partnership
1 Prince Regent Road, UK
Tel: 02085381150
Fax: 02085381164
E-mail: drckouimtsidis@hotmail.com
Received date: April 27, 2017; Accepted date: May 10, 2017; Published date: May 17, 2017
Citation: Kouimtsidis C (2017) Structured Preparation before Alcohol Detoxification; A Shift from the Current Treatment Paradigm. J Addict Res Ther 8:326. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000326
Copyright: © 2017 Kouimtsidis C. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The current treatment paradigm for alcohol dependence of planned medically assisted detoxification and aftercare has two main limitations; (i) only a percentage of people are engaged and exposed to aftercare, which is considered to be the effective treatment component; and (ii) does not take into account the accumulating evidence of the adverse effect of repeated medically assisted detoxifications. The proposed new treatment paradigm of Structured Preparation before Alcohol Detoxification (SPADe) is based on the most recent cognitive theories of addiction and aims to reverse the automatized decision making process, support lifestyle changes and conscious decision making, while amount of alcohol and pattern of drinking are kept stable, before proceeding to medically assisted detoxification. The current paper comments on the Abstinence Preparation Group, which is one of those interventions developed and evaluated following the SPADe paradigm.
