Alcohol addiction is a familiar problem for many families.Some people do not realize the danger of the desire to drink 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 personality and increases the likelihood of premature death.
How to convince someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems faced by relatives of an addict 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 sincerely believe that everything is fine with him;if necessary, he will independently refuse alcohol at any time.
In fact, at that 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 its level decreases, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to combat them is to take another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged drunkenness, addiction develops, and concomitant chronic diseases appear.
Getting an alcoholic to stop smoking is not easy and forced therapy is prohibited.This decision can only be made before the courts.However, providing medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective.Until a person wants to stop drinking, the probability of relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to forced treatment
To obtain the consent of the alcoholic, family members are recommended to carry out an intervention.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to give up his addiction.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help to solve the problems caused by alcoholism until the patient agrees to accept 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 alcoholism will go to the next stage.
- Instead, it is necessary to 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 visit the doctor to stop suffering.
Another way is to contact motivational psychologists at a drug treatment clinic.They conduct confidential conversations at home and are well aware of the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics in order to achieve results.
Motivation to get rid of addiction.
In order for an alcoholic to make an important decision and agree to undergo all stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will help.During it, family members will be able to present compelling 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 deciding factor is the emergence of a real and tangible threat of losing their family.
- A state of health in which a person begins to develop more and more new diseases, internal organs gradually fail, systemic failures occur in the body, this becomes clear evidence that it is necessary to stop.
- Due to addiction, his career begins to suffer greatly.The prospect of losing your job, everything you have previously achieved in the professional field, becomes a good incentive.Over time, drinking alcohol inevitably affects work success: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, and discipline is poor.
- Reputation is not usually the main reason people stop drinking, but it is a possibility.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 due to systematic alcohol consumption.In some cases, it is possible to make a person objectively look at himself from the outside and realize the meaninglessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be the fact that the patient stops enjoying alcohol;There is no trace of the satisfaction from before.
- 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.
Having obtained voluntary and informed consent for the comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, it is necessary to 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 proper level.
Where to start treating addiction?
Patients and their relatives should be prepared for the fact that combating alcoholism will take a long time: on average, about a year.To begin with, doctors are doing everything they can to rid the body of traces of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
For this, a drug detox is carried out if the patient cannot endure just one week without alcohol.This is also done when you stop drinking excessively.
The patient is given a drip with powerful medications in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you will not be able to organize diffuse therapy yourself, even if you read many publications on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of rapid diagnostics, can determine which drugs to include in the drip and what the doses should be.
- Basically, to get a person out of excessive alcohol consumption and cleanse the body of toxins, powerful medications are used, which can only be purchased at the pharmacy with a doctor's prescription.
The drip is placed for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring vital organs.Upon leaving, he leaves the family members with medications for the next few days and gives them advice on what to do when the patient regains consciousness.
Diagnosis
To decide which alcohol addiction treatment methods to use, a thorough examination is necessary.It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and establish all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examination and questioning of the patient, requesting laboratory tests.The complex of these measures allows us to establish:
- dependency stage;
- 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, why the relapse occurred;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of medications;
- the level of motivation 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, analyzes a comprehensive treatment program and gives recommendations on how to carry out therapy most effectively.
Coding
The next stage in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding.Doctors use medicinal and non-medicinal methods.The diagnosis helps determine which option will be effective and safe.
Alcoholism coding can be done at home or in a hospital setting.It all depends on the patient's condition and the recommendations of the treating doctor.Common coding methods for drinking alcohol include:
- Present an implant or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based medications into the body.The active substance blocks the 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, the relapsed patient experiences painful symptoms of severe poisoning.The patient's condition worsens dramatically in just a few minutes, even with a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibitive therapy, since a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He is constantly reminded that he could die if he dares to drink.The probability of death is high if an effective antidote is not administered in time.
- Use of naltrexone-based medications.This is another method of drug coding, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active ingredient blocks the brain receptors responsible for obtaining the sensation of pleasure when drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient still risks drinking after coding, he or she simply will not feel anything.Because of this, you will decide to give up alcohol as it is pointless, at least for the duration of the coding period.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a deep trance state.In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases greatly, being fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions on aversion to alcoholic beverages and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period varies from several 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 benefits of a sober 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 inpatient department of a drug treatment clinic.If the previous stages of treatment could be organized at home, hospitalization will now be necessary.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 physical and psychological cravings for alcoholic beverages.For this, the following methods are used:
- Individual and group psychological classes that help the patient understand their 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 powerlessness to solve the problem, accepting the help of a Higher Power (it can be religion or a mentor, a former alcoholic who has successfully recovered thanks to this program).
- The Day Top rehabilitation program is based on the possibility of self-healing;The doctor adopts an observer position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also their family members when they develop codependency and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude a relapse, after discharge, each patient receives post-rehabilitation psychological support.