The main participants in medical detox are the doctors and nurses who provide the medications and monitoring of the process. These are the only personnel who are qualified to assist in the most serious cases of medical detoxes, such as from heavy use of alcohol or benzodiazepines.
There is also residential detox, which can be undertaken once the client has reached a stable enough state to require a lower level of medical care. This type of detox is still managed by licensed medical personnel, but it can be supervised by biomedical technicians who supervise the person while self-administering medication.
In the case of other needs, such as co-occurring mental health disorders, a psychiatrist may also be available to help with factors that may complicate the detox process.
Detox is the first step in the process to help a person achieve recovery from substance abuse. According to research, people who go through detox but do not continue with other methods of substance abuse rehab or treatment are most likely to begin using again.
Relapse to substance use is a great risk because, once detox is complete, the body’s tolerance for the drug is lowered, meaning that the person becomes more sensitive to the amount of the drug taken. Nevertheless, when the person returns to using the same amount as before detox, this has become too much for the body to handle, and the person can end up overdosing on an amount that might not have been a problem before detox.
This issue has become an increasing problem. For example, between 2000 and 2013, the rate of heroin overdose almost quadrupled, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of this problem can be attributed to repeated withdrawal and relapse to heroin use.