Addiction to alcoholic beverages has long been recognized as a serious disease.Alcoholism– a chronic multifactorial pathology, which is often accompanied by mental and physiological disorders. The mechanism of transformation of a bad habit into a dangerous disease is constantly being studied, trying to determine its connection with the genetic characteristics of a person, his lifestyle and character.
According to WHO statistics, approximately 140 million men and women worldwide suffer from alcoholism. The disease knows no age limits. Today, even teenagers and the elderly drink alcohol. Alcohol dependence leads to loss of behavioral control, increased amounts of alcohol, aggression in sudden withdrawal, and prolonged periods of alcohol consumption.Alcoholhe gradually loses his family, friends, career. His connection with society is severed, his circle of interests narrows to drinking, and personal degradation begins.
Not only the drunkard suffers from alcoholism, but also his relatives. The family has to endure the inappropriate behavior of the husband and father, get used to excessive spending on alcohol from the family budget and endure domestic violence. Often a woman becomes addicted to strong drinks. In such cases, treatment will be difficult and long, since the fair sex is more emotionally dependent on alcohol. In any case, a person with alcohol addiction needs urgent drug treatment.
Signs of alcoholism
Alcohol dependence is a progressive condition that leads to serious clinical pictures. Noting the firstsigns of alcoholism, you should not ignore them or expect the alcoholic to stop drinking on his own. Not gonna happen. The disease requires medical intervention: only an experienced narcologist can guide a person on the path to recovery.
The following signs indicate the development of alcoholism:
- any joyful or sad event is a reason to drink;
- the need for alcohol-containing drinks increases every day;
- increases the dose needed to become intoxicated;
- memory lapses appear after drinking libations;
- the protective vomiting reflex, which previously saved the body from intoxication, disappears;
- withdrawal syndrome appears: a healthy person after a party does not feel the desire to have a hangover.
In adolescents, alcohol dependence occurs much more quickly due to physiological immaturity than in adults. Addiction often develops in people who grew up in an alcoholic family and consider this lifestyle normal. Craving for alcohol occurs in conditions of chronic stress, against the background of family or professional problems, loneliness, and in some cases due to too stable and emotionally unsaturated free time.
Drug addicts very often do not admit that they are sick. It seems to him that drinking is a panacea for all problems and does no harm. This is self-deception. It is important for loved ones to know thishow to help an alcoholic, stop the disease before critical consequences appear.
The harm of alcohol
Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages has a negative effect on all internal organs and systems of a person, and also reduces life expectancy. Mainly the central nervous system and the brain are affected. Ethanol and its degradation products lead to the death of neurons. Cells are not restored, the most important neural connections are interrupted. Doctors say alcoholics develop microscopic ulcers and scarring on the surface of the brain. Drinking for a long time leads to deterioration of cognitive functions, loss of short-term memory, auditory and visual hallucinations.
Internal organs suffer from toxic substances. Alcoholics are more likely to be hospitalized for heart attacks and strokes and to die from liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. Men and women have impaired sexual function and are unable to conceive healthy offspring. Alcohol causes a serious blow to the gastrointestinal tract. Varicose veins of the esophagus occur, deformations of the intestinal walls and provoke peptic ulcers and colitis. Selftreatment of alcoholismnot started in a timely manner, the patient is sentenced to death.
How to help an alcoholic realize the problem?
If a person suffers from alcoholism, he needs outside help. It is important for close relatives to understand that there is no need to be a rescuer at this stage. You cannot put moral pressure on an alcoholic, scold him or constantly control him. Instilling guilt for his behavior while he was drunk will not have a positive effect on the situation. There is no need for a drunkard to try to solve his problems. Such relationships are called codependent. This is not the norm.
How to help an alcoholic understand the problem? People from the patient's inner circle need to develop behavioral tactics that allow them to build special relationships. In the process of communication, the alcoholic himself must understand:
- How harmful is it for him to drink alcohol?
- how a drunken lifestyle negatively affects his family and his work;
- how health worsened due to constant intoxication;
- what will happen if he does not stop poisoning the body with ethanol.
The intervention is the only true and effective way to encourage the patient, discreetly and without pressure, to look at himself from the outside. It is often used by narcologists to motivate the patient to come to the clinic to receive appropriate treatment.
How to help an alcoholic quit binge drinking?
Binge drinking is a dangerous condition. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages is fraught with serious intoxication. Ethanol poisons the body, its degradation products do not have time to be eliminated by the liver and excretory system, and toxins accumulate. If one suddenly stops drinking, the alcoholic will experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which in particularly critical cases will lead to the collapse of vital organs.
Relatives of a drunkard should remember that hangovers are difficult to tolerate. During this period, the patient is looking for a new dose. Without receiving it, he falls into a depressed or aggressive state. Cases of physical violence against weaker family members are frequent: wife, elderly mother, children. Any attempt to shame him, to direct him on the path of sobriety, will be met with hostility and provoke indignation.
I do not know,how to help an alcoholic stop drinking? Don't put your health at risk. Contact expert narcologists who will slowly and without stress on the patient's body alleviate his conditions, both physical and psycho-emotional. Only a specialist can, through professional intervention, teach the patient to look at their life from a different perspective. The doctor alone or in tandem with a psychologist will work with the alcoholic. An integrated approach always gives good results. Even if consent to further treatment is not received immediately, the process of accepting the addiction problem has already begun subconsciously. Often after this, the patient voluntarily transfers control of alcohol consumption to the person helping him.
How to help an uncontrolled alcoholic?
The duration of the binge is 4-10 days. In particularly severe cases, an alcoholic is able to drink for a month or more until his body stops responding to ethanol. During this period the patient does not work, does not observe personal hygiene rules and does not eat normally. The consequences of such a long period of drunkenness are critical, as they affect well-being, health and appearance.
How to help an uncontrolled alcoholicand is it even possible to do this? You won't be able to deal with withdrawal symptoms on your own. Drinking plenty of fluids, sedatives and moral support can alleviate the condition, but this is not enough to stop excessive drinking.
In an inpatient hospital or at home, a narcologist will conduct detoxification, prescribe drugs to stabilize the condition, quickly remove toxins and relieve stress on the internal organs. The patient will be under the supervision of medical personnel and will receive emergency treatment if necessary. Narcologists and psychologists know thisAshelp an alcoholic stop drinkingand successfully tackle this difficult task.
How to help an alcoholic at home?
A short binge (less than 3 days of consumption) can be overcome on its own.How to help an alcoholic at home:
- organize a lot to drink - at least 2. 5 liters per day;
- introduce ascorbic acid or fruits rich in vitamin C into the diet;
- organize the intake of sorbents, for example activated carbon or silicon-based preparations;
- give the patient simple sedatives: valerian, sedative drops;
- provide a gentle diet rich in vegetables, grains and proteins.
However, even if your health improves and the alcoholic vows to stop drinking, it is recommended not to miss the opportunity to receive effective treatment in a drug treatment hospital clinic.
How to help an alcoholic?
In some cases, the only effective method iscoding of alcoholism. Turning to narcologists and psychologists will be a real salvation from a sad outcome. Doctors will be able to find the words for the patient to independently understand the severity of the situation and voluntarily decide to undergo treatment. After detoxification, the specialist will select the most suitable coding method and radically change the life of an alcoholic for the better.
Does the patient refuse to visit the clinic? Call a narcologist to your home. A visiting doctor will perform all procedures in a comfortable environment for the alcoholic, ensuring 100% anonymity.