Alcohol addiction is a problem that many families are familiar with.Some people are unaware of the danger of craving for alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome with a simple effort of will.In fact, only professional narcologists who know how to stop drinking can help a patient with the development of mental and physical alcohol dependence.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.Without timely treatment, pathological disorders in the functioning of internal organs and systems occur, personality deterioration occurs, and the likelihood of premature death increases.
How to convince someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems that relatives of an addict face is convincing a person of the need to stop drinking.The problem is that after developing an addiction, a person loses the ability to objectively assess the surrounding reality.For this reason, he can sincerely believe that everything is fine with him;If necessary, he will abstain from alcohol on his own at any time.
In fact, at this point there is still time for physical dependence to develop.Ethanol toxins penetrate tissues and internal organs and take an active part in metabolism.Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as its level drops, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to deal with them is to take another dose of alcohol.This leads to longer drinking bouts, the development of addiction and accompanying chronic illnesses.
Getting an alcoholic to stop smoking is not easy and forced therapy is prohibited.Such a decision can only be made in court.However, medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective.Until a person wants to stop drinking on their own, the likelihood of a relapse remains very high.
Alternatives to compulsory treatment
In order to obtain the alcoholic's consent, an intervention is recommended to the relatives.To do this, all family members must come together and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to give up their addiction.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving alcohol-related problems until the patient agrees to drug treatment.
- The use of folk remedies and methods should be avoided.They can only help in the early stages of an addiction, and even then not always.Often the patient's condition can only worsen and alcoholism progresses to the next stage.
- Instead, you need to select a drug treatment clinic in advance.
- Use a situation in which the patient is experiencing withdrawal symptoms.They are so painful that most are willing to see a doctor to stop the suffering.
Another option is to contact motivational psychologists at a drug treatment clinic.They conduct confidential conversations at home and are 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 all stages of complex therapy, an open conversation helps.The relatives can present important arguments and motives that should persuade the person to make this responsible decision.These motifs can include:
- Children and Family – Expecting or planning to have 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 develops more and more new diseases, internal organs gradually fail, systemic failures appear in the body is clear evidence that this needs to be stopped.
- Because of the addiction, your career begins to suffer greatly.The prospect of losing your job, everything that was previously achieved in the professional field becomes a good incentive.Over time, alcohol consumption inevitably affects work success: brain activity decreases, sense of responsibility decreases, and discipline weakens.
- Reputation is not often 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 abstain from alcohol.If the patient is chronically addicted, self-esteem deteriorates due to serious psychological changes and personality deterioration.
- Moral or physical fatigue caused by systematic alcohol consumption.In some cases, it can be ensured that a person looks at himself objectively from the outside and becomes aware of the meaninglessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be that the patient no longer enjoys alcohol;There is no trace left of the contentment that was before.
- Significant changes that have taken place 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 obtaining voluntary and informed consent for comprehensive treatment for alcoholism, you must proceed to the phases of therapy.The program is developed individually, taking into account the psychological and physiological characteristics of the patient.If necessary, regular discussions with a psychotherapist take place to keep 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.First of all, doctors do everything to rid the body of the remnants of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot easily endure a week without alcohol on their own.This also happens when withdrawing from binge drinking.
The patient is given a drip with effective medications in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you cannot organize diffuse therapy yourself, even if you read many articles on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of express diagnostics, can determine which drugs should be put into the drip and what the dosage should be.
- To free a person from binge drinking and cleanse the body of toxins, effective drugs are usually used that can be purchased in a pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription.
The drop is placed for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist stands next to the alcoholic and monitors the vital organs.When leaving, he leaves the relatives with medication for the next few days and gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
diagnosis
In order to decide which treatment methods to use for alcohol addiction, a comprehensive examination is required.It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and identify all existing risk factors.
Diagnostics includes examining and questioning the patient as well as ordering 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 drinks does he prefer;
- If treatment is not carried out for the first time, the reasons for the relapse will be clarified;
- concomitant chronic illnesses and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- Intolerance to individual components of medications;
- the patient's level of motivation, how strongly he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the results achieved, the narcologist, in consultation with the patient and his relatives, discusses a comprehensive treatment program and gives recommendations on how the therapy can be carried out most effectively.
Coding
The next step in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding.Doctors use medical and non-medical methods.Diagnostics can be used to determine which option is effective and safe.
Alcoholism coding can be done at home or in an inpatient setting.It all depends on the patient's condition and the recommendations of the attending physician.Common alcohol consumption coding methods include:
- Insertion of an implant or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based drugs into the body.The active ingredient blocks liver enzymes that are responsible for breaking down ethanol toxins into water and carbon dioxide, which are completely harmless to humans.If this does not happen, the relapse patient will experience painful symptoms of severe intoxication.The patient's condition deteriorates significantly within a few minutes after even a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibitive therapy because a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He constantly reminds himself that if he dares to drink, he could die.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 that are responsible for the feeling of pleasure when drinking alcohol.If the patient still risks drinking after coding, he simply will not feel anything.For this reason, he will decide to abstain from alcohol, as it is pointless, at least for the duration of the coding phase.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on placing the patient in a state of deep trance.In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases significantly while he is completely aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor will give clear instructions on how to give up alcoholic beverages and maintain a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period is several months to five years.They often decide to code for a period of one year.This time is just 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, psychological rehabilitation in the inpatient department of a drug clinic is necessary.If the previous treatment steps could be organized at home, a hospital stay is now necessary.This is the only way to exclude the possibility of a relapse and protect a person from negative external social influences.
As part of psychological rehabilitation, it is possible to finally eliminate physical and psychological cravings for alcoholic beverages.The following methods are used for this:
- Individual and group psychology courses that help the patient understand his problems, solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique that originally came from the USA.It is based on the realization of helplessness in solving the problem and accepting the help of a higher power (this can be a 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 adopts an observing posture.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his relatives if they develop codependency, and contributes to the restoration of family relationships.
In order to rule out a relapse, every patient receives psychological follow-up care after discharge.