Alcohol addiction is a problem known to many families.Some people do not realize the danger of craving for alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome with a simple effort of will.In fact, with the development of psychological and physical addiction to alcohol, only professional narcologists who know how to stop drinking can help the patient.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.Without timely treatment, it leads to pathological disorders in the functioning of internal organs and systems, degradation of the personality, and the probability of premature death increases.
How to convince someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems faced by relatives of addicts is how to convince a person of the need to stop drinking.The problem is that after developing an addiction, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate the surrounding reality.Because of this, he can honestly believe that everything is fine with him;if necessary, he will independently refuse alcohol at any time.
In fact, by this point physical dependence has had time to develop.Ethanol toxins penetrate the tissues and internal organs and actively participate in metabolism.Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as its level decreases, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to deal with them is by taking another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged bouts of drunkenness, addiction develops and concomitant chronic diseases appear.
Getting an alcoholic to quit is not easy, and coercive therapy is prohibited.Such a decision can only be made in court.However, providing medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective.As long as a person does not want to stop drinking on their own, the likelihood of relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to involuntary treatment
In order to obtain the alcoholic's consent, the relatives are advised to carry out an intervention.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Give up ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help the alcoholic to give up his addiction.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving problems caused by alcoholism until the patient agrees to accept drug treatment.
- The use of folk remedies and methods must be abandoned.They can only help in the early stages of addiction, but even then not always.Often the patient's condition can only worsen and alcoholism will move to the next stage.
- Instead, you must choose a drug treatment clinic in advance.
- Take advantage of a situation where the patient is suffering from withdrawal symptoms.They are so painful that most agree to see a doctor to stop suffering.
Another way is to contact motivational psychologists from a drug addiction treatment clinic.They conduct confidential conversations at home and know well the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics in order to achieve results.
Motivation to break free from addiction
In order for the alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to go through all the stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will help.During it, relatives will be able to present serious arguments and reasons that should convince the person to make this responsible decision.These reasons may include:
- Children and family - expecting or planning a child is incompatible with alcoholism, as is raising young children.For some, the decisive factor is the appearance of a real and tangible threat of losing the family.
- A healthy state, when a person begins to develop more and more new diseases, internal organs gradually fail, systemic damage occurs in the body, this becomes clear evidence that you need to stop.
- Due to addiction, your career begins to suffer significantly.The prospect of losing a job, everything that was previously achieved in the professional field, becomes a good incentive.Over time, drinking alcohol inevitably affects success at work: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, discipline limps.
- Reputation is often not the main reason people stop drinking, but it can be.At a minimum, this argument should be used in conjunction with other reasons why an alcoholic should give up alcohol.If the patient has a chronic addiction, self-esteem loses value due to serious psychological changes and personality degradation.
- Moral or physical fatigue from systemic alcohol consumption.In some cases, it is possible to guarantee that a person will objectively look at himself from the outside and realize the senselessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be the fact that the patient stops enjoying alcohol;not a trace of the former satisfaction remained.
- Significant changes that have occurred in life.In this case, a clear awareness of the grayness of the current reality and the desire to radically change everything should play a role.
After you have achieved voluntary and informed consent for comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, you should proceed to the stages of therapy.The program is developed individually, taking into account the psychological and physiological characteristics of the patient.If necessary, regular meetings with a psychotherapist are held to maintain the level of motivation at the right level.
Where to start addiction treatment?
Patients and their relatives should be prepared for the fact that the fight against alcoholism will take a long time - on average, about a year.To begin with, doctors do everything possible to rid the body of the remnants of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot stand a week without alcohol on his own.This is also done when giving up binge drinking.
The patient is put on a drip system with powerful drugs in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you will not be able to organize diffusion therapy yourself, even if you read a lot of posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of express diagnostics, can determine which drugs to include in the drip infusion and what the dosages should be.
- Most often, when removing a person from binge drinking and cleansing the body of toxins, powerful drugs are used that can be purchased at a pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription.
The drop is placed for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring the vital organs.On leaving, he leaves the relatives with medicines for the next few days and gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to.
Diagnosis
To decide what methods of alcohol addiction treatment you should use, you need to conduct a comprehensive examination.It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and identify all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examination and questioning of the patient, appointment of laboratory tests.The complex of these measures allows you to establish:
- stage of dependence;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drinks alcohol, what alcoholic beverages he prefers;
- if the treatment is not carried out for the first time, the past experience is clarified, for what reason the relapse occurred;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of the drug;
- the level of motivation of the patient, how badly he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the obtained results, the narcologist, after consultation with the patient and his relatives, discusses a comprehensive treatment program and gives recommendations on how to carry out the therapy most effectively.
Coding
The next stage in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding.Doctors use medicinal and non-medicinal methods.Diagnosis helps determine which option will be effective and safe.
Coding for alcoholism can be done at home or in an inpatient setting.Everything depends on the condition of the patient and the recommendations of the attending physician.Common coding methods for drinking alcohol include:
- Placement of an implant or other methods of introducing drugs based on disulfiram into the body.The active substance blocks liver enzymes responsible for breaking down ethanol toxins into water and carbon dioxide, which are completely harmless to humans.When this does not happen, the relapsed patient experiences painful symptoms of severe intoxication.The patient's condition deteriorates sharply in just a few minutes from even a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibitive therapy, as a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He is constantly reminded that he may die if he dares to drink.The probability of death is high if an effective antidote is not given in time.
- Use of naltrexone-based medications.This is another method of coding drugs, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for getting a feeling of pleasure from drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient still risks drinking after coding, he will simply not feel anything.He will therefore decide to give up alcohol as it is pointless, at least for the coding period.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a state of deep trance.In this position, the suggestibility of the patient increases significantly, while he is fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions about aversion to alcoholic beverages and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period varies from a few months to five years.Often they choose coding for a period of one year, this time is enough to stop drinking, the patient has time to realize the advantages of a sober life and go through the remaining stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
In order to consolidate the effect achieved after coding, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychological rehabilitation in the inpatient department of a drug treatment clinic.If the previous stages of treatment could be organized at home, now hospitalization will be required.This is the only way to eliminate the possibility of relapse, protecting a person from negative external social influences.
During psychological rehabilitation, it is possible to finally eliminate the physical and psychological desire for alcoholic beverages.The following methods are used for this:
- Individual and group psychological classes that help the patient understand his problems, learn to solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique originating in the USA.It is based on the recognition of helplessness in solving the problem, acceptance of help from a Higher Power (this can be religion or a mentor - a former alcoholic who successfully recovered thanks to this program).
- The Day Top rehabilitation program is based on the possibility of self-healing;the doctor takes an observational position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his loved ones when they develop codependency, and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapse, after discharge, each patient receives psychological post-rehabilitation support.