Inpatient detoxification is recommended when someone is withdrawing from substance use due to the fact that there may be risks involved. While in an inpatient detoxification setting in Witt patients can be closely checked for symptoms of drug or alcohol withdrawal which may cause health risks or even death in more serious cases. Someone struggling with alcoholism for example will need to be closely monitored and likely given specific prescription drugs which would prevent delirium tremens and seizures. Benzodiazepine withdrawal is another type of drug that could cause very similar symptoms, and nurses and doctors in an inpatient detox facility can minimize health risks.
There isn't an exact process for each client in detox, because of the unique health differences that each patient presents when entering detox. A person who is otherwise in good health may go through detox for 3 or 4 days and be discharged without much medical intervention, while a different person may need to have intensive treatment and intervention for a couple weeks. Health safety is of the greatest concern, and also a transition to treatment for patients who need to attend an actual drug and alcohol rehabilitation center once detox is finished. Most detox facilities collaborate with drug treatment programs to make this transition possible, since detoxification is merely the first step in an overall rehabilitation plan for recovering addicts.