Alcohol addiction is a problem familiar to many families.Some people do not realize the danger of craving alcohol, viewing it as 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 a patient.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.Without timely treatment, this leads to pathological disorders in the functioning of internal organs and systems, personality degradation and the risk of premature death increases.
How to Convince Someone to Stop Drinking
One of the main problems facing loved ones of a drug 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 assess the surrounding reality.For this reason, he can sincerely believe that everything is going well with him;if necessary, he will independently refuse alcohol at any time.
In fact, at this point, physical dependence has 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 level decreases, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to fix this is to take another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged drinking, addiction develops and concomitant chronic diseases appear.
It is not easy to get an alcoholic to quit smoking, 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 a person wants to stop drinking themselves, the risk of relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to forced treatment
To obtain the consent of the alcoholic, relatives are advised to carry out intervention.To do this, all members of the family must unite and act together:
- Refuse 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scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to give up their addiction.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.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 problems caused by alcoholism until the patient agrees to 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 get worse, and alcoholism moves to the next stage.
- Instead, you should 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 consult 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 in order to achieve results.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
For an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to go through all the stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will be useful.During this, loved ones will be able to present strong arguments and motivations which 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 health condition where 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 one needs to stop.
- Because of addiction, your career begins to suffer greatly.The prospect of losing one's 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, a sense of responsibility weakens, and discipline is lame.
- Reputation isn't often the main reason people stop drinking, but it's a possibility.At a minimum, this argument should be used along with other reasons why an alcoholic should give up alcohol.If the patient suffers from chronic addiction, self-esteem loses its 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 objectively looks at himself from the outside and realizes the uselessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be that the patient stops drinking alcohol;there remains no trace of the satisfaction of before.
- Significant changes in life.In this case, a clear awareness of the grayness of current reality and the desire to radically change everything should play a role.
After obtaining voluntary and informed consent to comprehensive treatment for 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 are organized to maintain the level of motivation at the right level.
Where to start treating addiction?
Patients and their loved ones should be prepared for the fact that it will take a long time to fight alcoholism - on average about a year.To begin with, doctors do everything possible to rid the body of leftover toxins related to alcohol and ethanol.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot simply endure a week without alcohol on his own.This is also done when stopping excessive alcohol consumption.
The patient is placed on a drip with potent 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 articles on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of an express diagnosis, can determine which drugs to include in the drip and what dosages should be.
- Mostly, to eliminate a person from excessive alcohol consumption and cleanse the body of toxins, strong medications are used, which can only be purchased in pharmacies with a doctor's prescription.
The drip is placed for approximately two hours.All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring vital organs.When leaving, he leaves the relatives with medicine for the next few days and gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
Diagnosis
To decide which methods of treating alcohol addiction should be used, you need to conduct a comprehensive examination.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, ordering laboratory tests.All of these measurements make it possible to establish:
- stage of dependence;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drinks alcohol, what alcoholic drinks he prefers;
- if treatment is not carried out for the first time, the past experience is clarified, for what reason the relapse occurred;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of drugs;
- the level of motivation of the patient, how much 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 conduct treatment as effectively as possible.
Coding
The next step in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding.Doctors use medicinal and non-medicinal methods.Diagnostics help 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 attending physician.Common coding methods for alcohol consumption include:
- Implant placement or other methods of introducing disulfiram drugs into the body.The active substance blocks 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 relapsing patient experiences painful symptoms of severe poisoning.The patient's condition deteriorates sharply within a few minutes, even with 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 he might die if he dares to drink.The probability of death is high if an effective antidote is not administered in time.
- Use of naltrexone medications.This is another method of coding drugs, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for obtaining a feeling of pleasure when drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient still risks drinking after coding, he or she simply will not feel anything.As a result, he will decide to give up alcohol, because it is of no use, 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 significantly, while he is fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions on aversion to alcoholic beverages and maintaining 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 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 obtained after coding, it is necessary to complete 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 permanently eliminate physical and psychological cravings for alcoholic beverages.The following methods are used for this:
- Individual and group psychological classes that help the patient understand his problems, learn to solve life difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique originating from the USA.It is based on the recognition of powerlessness to solve the problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (this can be religion or a mentor - an ex-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 not only helps the alcoholic, but also their loved ones when they develop codependency and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapses, after discharge, each patient receives post-rehabilitation psychological support.