Hospital inpatient substance abuse treatment is performed in a hospital or similar setting and is supervised by doctors and other medical staff. Hospital inpatient treatment is often necessary in the beginning stages of abstinence when the person may encounter the onset of life threatening withdrawal symptoms, which is sometimes true when quitting alcohol as well as a category of prescription drugs known as benzodiazepines which should be supervised very carefully by medical professionals in case of any complications. Hospital inpatient treatment is also administered to individuals who desire a medication assisted withdrawal, as is the case with individuals who are addicted to opiates and wish to use this type of detoxification technique to avoid the severe withdrawal symptoms associated with heroin or other opiate withdrawal. This type of opiate detox is not treatment in itself however, and these individuals will require further counseling and therapy to entirely recover from addiction.