Dependence on alcoholic beverages has long been recognized as a serious disease.Alcoholism- multifactorial chronic pathology, which is often accompanied by mental and physiological disorders. The mechanism of turning a bad habit into a dangerous disease is constantly being studied, trying to determine its connection with the genetic characteristics of a person, his lifestyle and character.
According to WHO statistics, about 140 million men and women in the world suffer from alcoholism. The disease knows no age limits. Today, even teenagers and the elderly drink alcohol. Alcohol dependence leads to loss of behavioral control, increased drinking, aggression during sudden withdrawal, and prolonged bouts of drinking.Alcoholicgradually loses family, friends, career. His connection with society is severed, the circle of interests narrows to drinking, and personal degradation begins.
Not only the drunkard suffers from alcoholism, but also his relatives. The family has to put up with the inappropriate behavior of the husband and father, get used to excessive spending on alcohol from the family budget and endure domestic violence. Often a woman becomes addicted to strong drinks. In such cases, the treatment will be difficult and long, since the fairer sex is more emotionally dependent on alcohol. In any case, a person with alcohol addiction needs urgent drug treatment.
Signs of alcoholism
Alcohol dependence is a progressive condition that leads to a severe clinical picture. Noting the formersigns of alcoholism, you should not ignore them or expect the alcoholic to stop drinking on his own. It won't happen. The disease requires medical intervention - only an experienced narcologist can guide a person on the road to recovery.
The following signs indicate the development of alcoholism:
- every happy or sad event is an occasion for drinking;
- the need for drinks containing alcohol increases daily;
- the dose required for intoxication increases;
- memory lapses occur after drinking;
- the protective vomiting reflex, which previously saved the body from intoxication, disappears;
- withdrawal syndrome appears - a healthy person after a holiday does not feel the desire to have a hangover.
In adolescents, alcohol addiction manifests itself much faster due to physiological immaturity than in adults. Addiction often develops in people who grew up in a family of alcoholics and consider this lifestyle to be normal. The desire for alcohol arises in conditions of chronic stress, against the background of family or professional problems, loneliness, and in some cases also because of too stable and emotionally saturated free time.
Alcoholics most often do not admit that they are sick. It seems to him that drinking is a panacea for all problems and does no harm. This is self-deception. It is important for relatives to knowhow to help an alcoholic, stop the disease before critical consequences occur.
The harm of alcohol
Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages has a negative effect on all internal organs and systems of a person, and also reduces life expectancy. The central nervous system and the brain are mainly affected. Ethanol and its breakdown products lead to the death of neurons. Cells are not restored, the most important neural connections are disrupted. Doctors say alcoholics develop microscopic ulcers and scars on the surface of the brain. Long-term drinking leads to deterioration of cognitive functions, loss of short-term memory, auditory and visual hallucinations.
Internal organs suffer from toxic substances. Alcoholics are more likely to be hospitalized with heart attacks and strokes and die from cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis. Men and women have impaired sexual function and cannot conceive healthy offspring. Alcohol causes a huge blow to the gastrointestinal tract. Varicose veins of the esophagus appear, intestinal walls are deformed, peptic ulcers and colitis are provoked. Iftreatment of alcoholismnot started promptly, the patient is doomed to die.
How to help an alcoholic to realize the problem?
If a person suffers from alcoholism, he needs outside help. It is important for the next of kin to understand that there is no need to play rescue at this stage. You cannot put moral pressure on an alcoholic, scold him or constantly control him. Instilling a sense of guilt for his drunken behavior will not have a positive effect on the situation. There's no need to try to solve your problems for a drunkard. Such relationships are called codependent. This is not the norm.
How to help an alcoholic understand the problem? People from the close circle of the patient must develop behavioral tactics that will allow them to build special relationships. In the process of communication, the alcoholic himself must understand:
- how harmful is drinking alcohol for him?
- how a drunken lifestyle negatively affects his family and work;
- how health deteriorates due to constant intoxication;
- what will happen if you don't stop poisoning the body with ethanol.
Intervention is the only true and effective way to unobtrusively and without pressure encourage the patient to look at himself from the side. It is often used by narcologists to motivate the patient to go to the clinic to receive adequate treatment.
How to help an alcoholic get out of binge eating?
Excessive drinking is a dangerous condition. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages is fraught with serious intoxication. Ethanol poisons the body, its breakdown products do not have time to be eliminated by the liver and excretory system, and toxins accumulate. If you suddenly stop drinking, the alcoholic will experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which in particularly critical cases will lead to the failure of vital organs.
Relatives of the drunkard should remember that a hangover is difficult to tolerate. During this period, the patient is in search of a new dose. Without receiving it, he falls into a depressed or aggressive state. Cases of physical violence against weaker family members - wife, elderly mother, children - are becoming more frequent. Any attempt to shame him, to guide him on the path of sobriety, will be met with hostility and outrage.
I do not know,how to help an alcoholic stop drinking? Don't risk his health. Contact experienced narcologists who will slowly and without stress on the patient's body relieve his condition, both physically and psycho-emotionally. Only a specialist can, through professional intervention, teach the patient to look at his life from a different angle. The doctor alone or in tandem with a psychologist will work with the alcoholic. An integrated approach always gives good results. Even if consent to further treatment is not obtained immediately, the process of accepting the addiction problem has already begun in the subconscious. Often, the patient then voluntarily transfers control over alcohol consumption to the helping party.
How to help an alcoholic?
The duration of overeating is 4-10 days. In particularly severe cases, an alcoholic may drink for a month or more until his body stops responding to ethanol. During this period, the patient does not work, does not follow the rules of personal hygiene and does not eat normally. The consequences of such a long period of drunkenness are critical, as they affect well-being, health and appearance.
How to help an alcoholicand is it even possible to do this? You won't be able to deal with withdrawal symptoms on your own. Drinking plenty of fluids, sedatives, and moral support can ease the condition, but it's not enough when you give up the binge.
In an inpatient hospital or at home, the narcologist will conduct detoxification, prescribe drugs to stabilize the condition, quickly remove toxins and relieve stress from the internal organs. The patient will be under the supervision of medical staff and will receive emergency care if necessary. Narcologists and psychologists knowhowhelp an alcoholic stop drinking, and successfully cope with this difficult task.
How to help an alcoholic at home?
A short binge (less than 3 days of drinking) can be overcome on its own.How to help an alcoholic at home:
- organize abundant drinking - at least 2. 5 liters per day;
- introduce ascorbic acid or fruits with a high content of vitamin C into your diet;
- organize the intake of sorbents, for example, activated carbon or preparations based on silicon;
- give the patient simple sedatives - valerian, sedative drops;
- provide a gentle diet rich in vegetables, grains and proteins.
However, even if your health improves and the alcoholic promises to stop drinking, it is advisable not to miss the opportunity to receive effective treatment at an inpatient drug addiction treatment clinic.
How to help an alcoholic?
In some cases, the only effective method isalcoholism coding. Turning to narcologists and psychologists will be a real salvation from a sad outcome. Doctors will be able to find words so that the patient independently understands the seriousness of the situation and makes a voluntary decision to undergo treatment. After detoxification, the specialist will choose the most suitable coding method and radically change the alcoholic's life for the better.
The patient refuses to visit the clinic? Call a narcologist at home. A visiting doctor will perform all procedures in an environment comfortable for the alcoholic, guaranteeing 100% anonymity.