Alcohol dependence is a problem familiar to many families.Some people do not realize the danger of craving alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome with a simple effort of will.Indeed, with the development of psychological and physical dependence on 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, personality degradation and increases the likelihood of premature death.
How to convince someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems that an addict's family faces is how to convince a person of the need to stop drinking.The problem is that after developing an addiction, the person loses the ability to objectively evaluate the reality that surrounds them.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 this point physical dependence has already had 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, a 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 drinking, the development of dependence and the appearance of concomitant chronic diseases.
Getting an alcoholic to give up the habit is not easy and forced therapy is prohibited.Such a decision can only be made in court.However, providing medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective.Until the person himself wants to stop drinking, the probability of relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to forced treatment
To obtain the alcoholic's consent, family members are advised to carry out an intervention.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Refuse ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to give up the habit.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving 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 move to the next stage.
- Instead, you need 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 see a 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 versed in the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics to achieve results.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
In order for an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to go through all the stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will help.During it, family members will be able to present weighty 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 emergence of a real and tangible threat of losing their family.
- A state of health when 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.
- Because of the addiction, his career begins to suffer a lot.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 success at work: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, and discipline is weak.
- Reputation is not always the main reason people stop drinking, but it is a possibility.At the very least, this argument should be used in conjunction with other reasons why an alcoholic should give up alcohol.If the patient has chronic dependence, 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 ensure that a person sees an objective view of himself from the outside and realizes the meaninglessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be that the patient stops liking alcohol;there is no trace of the satisfaction that was there before.
- Significant changes that have occurred in life.In this case, a clear awareness of the obscurity of the current reality and the desire to radically change everything should play a role.
Having obtained voluntary 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 are held with a psychotherapist to maintain the appropriate level of motivation.
Where to start treating addiction?
Patients and their families 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 are doing everything possible to rid the body of the remains of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
To this end, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient simply cannot handle a week without alcohol on their own.This is also done by giving up excessive alcohol consumption.
The patient receives potent medicines in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you won't be able to organize diffuse therapy on your own, even if you read a lot of posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of express diagnosis, can determine which medicines to include in the drip and what dosages should be.
- Mainly, when weaning a person from excessive alcohol consumption and cleansing the body of toxins, potent medicines are used, which can only be purchased at a 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 family members with medication for the next few days and advises on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
Diagnosis
To decide which methods of treating alcohol dependence should be used, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive examination.It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and establish all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examining and questioning the patient, requesting laboratory tests.The complex of these measures makes it possible to establish:
- dependence stage;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drinks alcohol, what alcoholic drinks 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 medicines;
- the patient's level of motivation, how much he wants to get rid of the addiction.
Having evaluated 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 therapy most effectively.
Codification
The next step 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.
Alcoholism coding can be carried out at home or in a hospital setting.It all depends on the patient's condition and the recommendations of the attending physician.Common coding methods for alcohol consumption include:
- Filing an implant or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based drugs into the body.The active substance blocks the 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 presents painful symptoms of severe intoxication.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, as the person develops a stable psychological barrier.He constantly reminds himself 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 drug coding method, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for obtaining the sensation of pleasure when consuming alcohol.As a result, if the patient is still at risk of drinking after coding, he simply will not feel anything.Because of this, he will decide to give up alcohol, as it is useless, at least during the coding period.
- Psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a state of deep trance.In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases greatly, at the same time as he is fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions on avoiding alcoholic beverages and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period varies from several months to five years.They often choose coding 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, it is necessary to complete a psychological rehabilitation course in the inpatient department of a drug treatment clinic.If the previous stages of treatment could be organized at home, hospitalization will now be required.Only in this way is it possible to eliminate the possibility of relapse, protecting the 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 patients understand their problems, learn to resolve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique that originated in the USA.It is based on recognizing helplessness in solving the problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (it can be a 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 assumes an observational position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also their family members when they develop codependency and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapses, after discharge each patient receives post-rehabilitation psychological support.