Inpatient alcohol rehab is for severe alcoholics who for a multitude of reasons cannot abstain from drinking. It is usually only severe alcoholics who will sign themselves in for inpatient alcohol rehab. In some cases the alcoholic will have no choice because they may have been ordered to take inpatient alcohol rehab by a court of law or they may have been taken into an alcohol rehabilitation program because they have become ill from the effects of alcohol abuse.
The first part of any alcohol rehabilitation treatment is alcohol detoxification. Alcohol detoxification is the process of removing all of the toxins that have been built up in the body by alcohol abuse. These toxins are responsible for the cravings that alcoholic will get when he has not had a drink. Alcohol detoxification is a controlled way of enabling the patient to deal with the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.