Alcohol addiction is a common problem for many families.Some people are unaware of the dangers of alcohol cravings, thinking it's a normal bad habit that can be overcome with simple efforts.In fact, with the development of psychological and physical addiction to alcohol, only a professional narcologist who knows how to stop drinking can help the patient.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.Without timely treatment, it leads to pathological disturbances in the functioning of organs and internal systems, personality deterioration, and the possibility 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 someone 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 may sincerely believe that everything is fine with him;if necessary, he will freely refuse alcohol at any time.
In fact, during this time physical dependence has time to develop.Ethanol toxins penetrate internal tissues and organs and actively participate in metabolism.Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as the level decreases, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to deal with it is to take another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged bouts of drinking, addiction develops, and concomitant chronic diseases appear.
Getting alcohol to stop is not easy, and forced therapy is prohibited.Such a decision can only be made in court.However, providing medical treatment without the patient's consent is ineffective.Until a person himself wants to stop drinking, the likelihood of relapse will remain very high.
An alternative to forced treatment
In order to obtain consent from the alcoholic, relatives are advised to carry out the intervention.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject double entendres, threats and scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to quit his addiction.Instead, the person may become more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving problems caused by alcohol until the patient agrees to receive drug treatment.
- The use of folk remedies and methods should be abandoned.They can only help in the early stages of addiction, and even then not always.Often the patient's condition can only worsen, and alcohol addiction will move to the next stage.
- Instead, you need to choose a drug treatment clinic first.
- Take advantage of situations where the patient is experiencing withdrawal symptoms.They are so painful that most agree to visit a doctor to stop the suffering.
Another way is to contact a motivational psychologist from a drug treatment clinic.They conduct confidential conversations at home and realize the psychological peculiarities of alcoholics to reach a decision.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
In order for an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to undergo all stages of complex therapy, an honest conversation will help.During that time, relatives will be able to present strong arguments and motives that should convince the person to make this responsible decision.These motives may include:
- Children and families - expecting or planning children is incompatible with alcohol, such as raising small children.For some, the decisive factor is the appearance of a real and tangible threat of losing their family.
- The state of health when a person begins to develop more and more new diseases, internal organs gradually fail, systemic failure occurs in the body, this becomes clear evidence that a person needs to stop.
- Because of addiction, your career starts to suffer badly.The prospect of losing a job, everything previously achieved in the professional field, becomes a good incentive.Over time, drinking alcohol inevitably affects work success: brain activity decreases, sense of responsibility weakens, and discipline becomes paralyzed.
- Reputation is not the main reason people stop drinking, but it is a possibility.At the very least, this argument should be used along 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 deterioration.
- Moral or physical exhaustion due to systematic alcohol consumption.In some cases, it is possible to ensure that a person looks objectively at himself from the outside, and realizes the meaninglessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be the fact that the patient stops enjoying alcohol;not an iota remained of the previous satisfaction.
- 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 achieving voluntary and informed consent for comprehensive alcoholism treatment, you need to proceed to the therapy stage.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 appropriate level.
Where to start treating addiction?
Patients and their relatives should be prepared for the fact that it will take a long time to fight alcohol - on average about one year.To begin with, doctors do everything possible to cleanse the body of alcohol residues and ethanol toxins.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot last a week without alcohol on his own.This is also done when withdrawing from drinking alcohol.
The patient is placed on a drip with a strong drug in the form of a solution.There are two reasons why you will not be able to arrange 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 the medicine that should be included in the drops and the proper dosage.
- Mostly, when removing a person from excessive drinking and cleansing the body of toxins, strong drugs are used, which can be bought at the pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription.
Drops are placed for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist was next to the alcoholic, monitoring vital organs.When leaving, he leaves relatives with medicines for the next few days and gives advice on what to do when the patient is conscious.
Diagnostics
To decide which method of alcohol addiction treatment should be used, you need to conduct a thorough examination.It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and establish all existing risk factors.
Diagnostics includes examination and questioning of the patient, ordering laboratory tests.This complex of steps allows you to establish:
- level 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 the first time, the past experience is explained, for what reason the recurrence occurs;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of the drug;
- the motivation level of the patient, how strongly he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the results obtained, the narcologist, in 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 medical and non-medical methods.Diagnostics help determine options that will be effective and safe.
Coding for alcoholism can be done at home or in an inpatient setting.It all depends on the condition of the patient and the recommendation of the attending physician.Common coding methods for drinking alcohol include:
- Filing implants or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based drugs into the body.The active ingredient blocks liver enzymes responsible for the breakdown of ethanol toxins into water and carbon dioxide, which are completely harmless to humans.When this does not happen, patients who relapse experience severe hangover symptoms.The patient's condition worsens in a few minutes even from a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibition therapy, because a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He always remembers that he can die if he dares to drink.The possibility of death is high if an effective cure is not given in time.
- The use of drugs based on naltrexone.This is another method of drug coding, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for getting the feeling of pleasure from drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient is still at risk of drinking after coding, he will not feel anything.Because of this, he will decide to leave alcohol, because it is useless, at least for the coding period.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a deep trance state.In this position, the patient's suggestion is greatly increased, while he is fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions about abstaining from alcoholic beverages and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the future.
Coding periods range from a few months to five years.Often they choose coding for a period of one year, this time just enough to stop drinking, the patient has time to realize the benefits of a quiet life, and go through the remaining stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
To consolidate the effect achieved after coding, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychological rehabilitation in the patient department of the drug treatment clinic.If the previous stage of treatment could be organized at home, now hospitalization will be required.This is the only way to eliminate the possibility of relapse, protect a person from negative external social influences.
During psychological rehabilitation, it is possible to eliminate the physical and psychological desire for alcoholic beverages.The following methods are used for this:
- Individual and group psychology classes that help patients understand their problems, learn to solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step recovery program is an effective technique that originated in the United States.It is based on the recognition of helplessness in solving problems, receiving help from a Higher Power (this can be religion or a mentor - a former alcoholic who has successfully recovered thanks to this program).
- Day Top's recovery program is based on the possibility of self-healing;the doctor takes an observing position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his relatives when they develop codependency, and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapse, after discharge each patient receives psychological support after recovery.