Is Quitting Cold Turkey Recommended?

Quitting cold turkey is a term that refers to the act of stopping substance use and withdrawing abruptly without medical assistance. This method is not recommended for individuals who are detoxing from opioids, alcohol, or other harmful substances. 

Going “cold turkey” means immediately stopping the use of drugs, not undergoing medically assisted withdrawal, and suffering through the pain of your withdrawal symptoms until your body is finished with the process. While this method might be possible, it’s uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst. Cold turkey is never a recommended approach due to the intense physical and emotional pain it puts the individual through. Medical detox allows you to remove harmful substances from your body safely and securely under the 24/7 supervision of a qualified medical team. 

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Quitting cold turkey isn’t advised

Not all treatment centers offer detox services. There are currently around 14,700 rehab centers in the United States. This includes inpatient or residential centers as well as facilities offering various levels of outpatient care (partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, or general outpatient). According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), around 9% of long-term inpatient centers offer detox services, while 14% to 16% of outpatient clinics offer this service. In all, approximately 2,581 treatment centers around the U.S. offer some kind of detox program.

Of these facilities, the following percentages address detoxification from the listed substance:

• Opioids: 85%
• Alcohol: 65%
• Benzodiazepines: 58%
• Methamphetamine: 51%
• Cocaine: 50%
• Other substances: 10^

In addition, of the treatment centers offering detoxification services, 79 percent of the facilities use medication as part of their program. That means 21 percent operate with cold turkey methods. Of the ones that use medication, 52% use methadone only, while 31% use a combination of several addiction medications to support detox, including methadone, buprenorphine, and injectable naltrexone.

Social Detoxification

Social detoxification programs are most likely to allow clients to go cold turkey, although many of them do offer medically-assisted detox.

The SAMHSA reports: “Social detoxification programs are defined as short-term, nonmedical treatment services for individuals with substance use disorders.” These programs typically provide room, board, and interpersonal support. However, beyond that, there is a lot of variety among their approaches, offerings, and philosophies.

Some of these programs offer on-site medical and nursing supervision, while others simply provide access to medical oversight via clinics, urgent care, or emergency treatment centers. For many individuals, specifically those without insurance or those experiencing homelessness, this may be the only option of detoxification service available. While social detox is preferable to unsupervised, cold turkey detox, full hospitalization and medically assisted detox is the best course.

Medical Detox For Safety

Alcohol, sedative-hypnotic, and opioid users face extreme withdrawal symptoms and, for safety and humanitarian reasons, should seek out detox with 24-hour medical supervision. The rapid elimination of these substances from their bodies can cause their symptoms to completely shut down. This is why experienced, certified medical staff need to be on-site to take an active role in the detoxification process.

If you’ve been thinking about using cold turkey detoxification or another method, or if you need help fully researching detox, call Detox.com at 800-996-6135(Sponsored) . Everyone deserves the best chance at sobriety they can get, and proper detox can start the whole process off on the right foot. We’ll help you find accredited detox centers near you that can help you take this next step in confidence.