Alcoholism is a familiar problem for many families.Some people are unaware of the dangers of alcohol cravings, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome simply by effort of will.In fact, with the development of psychological and physical alcoholism, only professional narcologists who know how to stop drinking alcohol can help the patient.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.If not treated promptly, it will lead to pathological disorders in the functioning of organs and internal systems, personality deterioration, and an increased likelihood of premature death.
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 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 to drink alcohol at any time.
In fact, by this time physical dependence has had time to develop.Ethanol toxins penetrate into tissues and internal organs and actively participate in metabolism.Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as its levels decrease, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to deal with them is to have another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged bouts of alcoholism, the development of addiction, and the appearance of accompanying chronic diseases.
Getting an alcoholic to quit drinking is not easy, and forced treatment is prohibited.Such a decision can only be made in court.However, providing medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective.Until that person wants to stop drinking alcohol, the possibility of relapse will be very high.
Alternatives to mandatory treatment
To obtain the consent of the alcoholic, relatives should initiate intervention.To do this, every family member must unite and act together:
- Refuse ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help persuade an alcoholic to quit.Instead, the person may become more withdrawn.
- Any help in solving problems caused by alcoholism should be refused until the patient agrees to drug treatment.
- It is recommended to abandon the use of folk remedies and methods.They can only help in the early stages of addiction, and not always.Often the patient's condition can only worsen, and alcoholism will move to the next stage.
- Instead, you need to choose a medical treatment facility in advance.
- Take advantage of a situation where the patient is suffering from withdrawal symptoms.They were in so much pain that most agreed to see a doctor to end their suffering.
Another option is to contact motivational psychologists from a drug treatment clinic.They conduct secret conversations at home and are well aware of the psychological characteristics of alcoholics to achieve results.
Motivation to break free from addiction
In order for an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to go through all stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will help.During that time, relatives will be able to present weighty arguments and motives to convince the person to make this responsible decision.These motives may include:
- Children and family - expecting or planning to have children is incompatible with alcoholism, as is raising children.For some, the deciding factor is the presence of a real and tangible threat of losing their family.
- Health condition when a person begins to develop more and more new diseases, internal organs gradually weaken, systemic malfunctions occur in the body, this becomes clear evidence that a person needs to stop.
- Because of your addiction, your career begins to face many difficulties.The prospect of losing a job, everything previously achieved in the professional field, becomes a good motivation.Over time, drinking alcohol will certainly affect success at work: reduced mental activity, weakened sense of responsibility, poor discipline.
- Fame is usually not the main reason people quit drinking, but it is a possibility.At a minimum, this argument should be used in conjunction with other reasons why alcoholics should give up alcohol.If the patient is chronically addicted, self-esteem loses value due to severe psychological changes and personality deterioration.
- Mental or physical fatigue caused by systematic alcohol consumption.In some cases, it is possible to ensure that a person looks from the outside objectively and realizes the meaninglessness and hopelessness of the situation.The main thing may be that the patient stops enjoying alcohol;There was no longer any trace of the same satisfaction as before.
- Significant changes have occurred in life.In this case, a clear perception of the grayness of current reality and the desire to radically change everything will play a role.
After obtaining free and informed consent for comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, you need to move on 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 will be organized to maintain the level of motivation at an appropriate level.
Where to start addiction treatment?
Patients and their relatives should be prepared for the fact that it will take a long time to overcome alcoholism - on average about a year.To begin with, doctors are doing everything possible to remove the remnants of alcohol and ethanol toxins from the body.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot independently endure a week without drinking alcohol.This is also done when stopping binge drinking.
The patient is given a drip of strong drugs in solution form.There are two reasons why you cannot organize diffusion therapy yourself, even if you read many posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of a quick diagnosis, can determine which drugs should be introduced into the drip and what the dosage should be.
- Most often, when bringing a person out of a hangover and cleansing the body from toxins, strong drugs are used, which can only be purchased at a pharmacy with a doctor's prescription.
The drip is left in place for about two hours.During this time, the narcologist is always next to the alcoholic, monitoring vital organs.When he left, he left medicine for his relatives for the next few days and gave advice on what to do when the patient regained consciousness.
Diagnose
To decide which alcohol addiction treatment method to use, you need to conduct a comprehensive examination.It allows you to accurately diagnose the patient and establish all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examining and questioning the patient, ordering tests.The complexity of these measures allows you to establish:
- stage of dependence;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drinks, what alcoholic drinks he likes;
- if the treatment was not carried out the first time, past experience will clarify, for what reason a relapse occurred;
- comorbid chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reaction;
- intolerance to individual components of the drug;
- the patient's level of motivation, the level of his desire to get rid of addiction.
After evaluating the results obtained, the narcologist, after consulting with the patient and relatives, will discuss a comprehensive treatment program and give recommendations on how to most effectively carry out therapy.
Encryption
The next stage in the fight against alcoholism is coding.Doctors use pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods.Diagnostics help determine which options will be effective and safe.
Alcoholism coding can be done at home or in a residential setting.It all depends on the patient's condition and the recommendations of the attending physician.Common coding methods for drinking alcohol include:
- Implants or other methods of delivering disulfiram-based drugs into the body.The active ingredient blocks the liver enzymes responsible for decomposing the poison ethanol into water and carbon dioxide, which is completely harmless to humans.When this does not happen, the relapsed patient will experience painful symptoms of severe intoxication.The patient's condition worsened after just a few minutes even after drinking only a small amount of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibition therapy, when a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He constantly remembered that he could die if he dared to drink alcohol.The possibility of death is very high if effective antidote is not provided promptly.
- Use naltrexone-based medications.This is another method of drug encryption, but not as thorough as the previous method.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for providing a feeling of pleasure when drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient is still at risk of drinking alcohol after coding, he will not feel anything.Because of this, he will decide to give up alcohol, because it is meaningless, at least during the coding period.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on putting the patient into a deep trance.In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases significantly, and at the same time he is completely aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor will give clear instructions on disliking alcoholic beverages and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the future.
Encryption times range from a few months to five years.Often they choose to code for a period of one year, which is just enough time to stop drinking, giving the patient time to realize the benefits of a sober life and go through the remaining stages of complex therapy.
Psychological recovery
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 facility.If previous stages of treatment could be held at home, now hospitalization will be required.This is the only way to eliminate the possibility of relapse, protecting a person from negative influences from outside society.
During psychological recovery, it is possible to finally eliminate physical and psychological cravings for alcoholic beverages.The following methods are used for this:
- Individual and group psychology classes help patients understand their problems, learn how to solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique that originated in the United States.It is based on the admission of helplessness in solving the problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (this can be religion or a counselor - a former alcoholic successfully recovered thanks to this program).
- The Day Top rehabilitation program is based on self-healing;The doctor has an observational position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic but also his relatives as they develop dependence and helps restore family relationships.
To rule out recurrence, after discharge, each patient receives post-recovery psychological support.