Hospital inpatient substance abuse treatment is done 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 experience the onset of life threatening withdrawal symptoms, which is sometimes the case when quitting alcohol as well as a category of prescription drugs known as benzodiazepines which should be monitored very carefully by medical professionals to minimize ant dangerous health complications. Hospital inpatient treatment is also administered to those 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 approach to avoid the harsh withdrawal symptoms associated with heroin or other opiate withdrawal. This type of opiate detoxification is not treatment in itself however, and these individuals will need further counseling and therapy to entirely recover from addiction.