Alcohol addiction is a problem familiar to many families.Some people do not realize the danger of alcohol craving, 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 a patient.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease.Without timely treatment, it leads to pathological disorders in the functioning of internal organs and systems, degradation of personality and increased likelihood of premature death.
How to convince someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems facing relatives 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 evaluate the surrounding reality.For this reason, he may sincerely believe that everything is fine with him;if necessary, he will independently refuse alcohol at any time.
Indeed, at this point physical dependence has 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, 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 prolonged periods of alcohol consumption, the development of addiction and the appearance of concomitant chronic diseases.
Convincing an alcoholic to quit 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 a person himself wants to stop drinking, the probability of relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to forced treatment
To obtain the consent of the alcoholic, relatives are advised to conduct an intervention.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help convince an alcoholic to give up his addiction.Instead, the person may become even more reserved.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving 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 suffers from withdrawal symptoms.They are so painful that most agree to visit 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 acquainted with the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics to achieve results.
Motivation to break free from addiction
In order for an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to undergo all stages of complex therapy, a frank conversation will help.During this, relatives 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 for 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 in which 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.
- Due to addiction, your career starts to suffer a lot.The prospect of losing one's job, everything one had previously achieved in the professional field, becomes a good incentive.Over time, drinking alcohol inevitably affects work success: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, and discipline is weak.
- Reputation is often not the main reason people stop drinking, but it is a possibility.At a minimum, this argument should be used in conjunction with other reasons why an alcoholic should give up alcohol.If the patient has a chronic addiction, self-esteem loses value due to severe 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 takes an objective look at himself from the outside and realizes the senselessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be that the patient stops liking alcohol;no trace of the former satisfaction remains.
- Significant changes that have occurred 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 to the comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, it is necessary 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 held to maintain the level of motivation at the appropriate level.
Where to start treating addiction?
Patients and their relatives 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 are doing everything possible to rid the body of the remnants of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
For this purpose, drug detox is performed if the patient cannot bear a week without alcohol on his own.This is also done when you stop drinking excessively.
The patient is placed on an IV with potent drugs in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you will not be able to organize widespread therapy yourself, even if you read a lot of posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of rapid diagnosis, can determine which drugs to include in the drip and what the dosages should be.
- Mostly, when removing a person from binge drinking and cleansing the body of toxins, powerful drugs are used, which can be purchased in a pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription.
The IV is placed for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring the vital organs.When he leaves, he leaves the drugs for the next few days with the relatives and gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
Diagnostics
To decide which methods of treating alcohol addiction 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.
Diagnostics includes examining and questioning the patient, ordering laboratory tests.The set of these measures allows us 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, 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 patient's level of motivation, how strongly he wants to free himself from 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 carry out the therapy in the most effective way.
Coding
The next stage 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.
Coding for alcoholism 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 drinking alcohol include:
- Presentation of an implant or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based drugs into the body.The active ingredient 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 experiences painful symptoms of severe intoxication.The patient's condition worsens dramatically within a few minutes even with a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of prohibitive therapy, as a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He is constantly reminded that he may 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 drugs.This is another drug coding method, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active ingredient blocks the brain receptors responsible for obtaining a feeling of pleasure from drinking alcohol.Accordingly, if the patient is still likely to drink after coding, he will simply not feel anything.For this reason he will decide to give up alcohol, as it is useless, 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 sober living and go through the remaining stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
To consolidate the effect obtained after coding, it is necessary to undergo 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, now hospitalization will 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 the physical and psychological desire for alcoholic beverages.For this purpose, the following methods are used:
- Individual and group psychological lessons that help the patient understand his problems, learn to solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique originating from the United States.It is based on the recognition of powerlessness in solving the problem, accepting the help of a Higher Power (it can be 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 takes an observer position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his relatives when they develop codependency and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapses, after discharge each patient receives post-rehabilitation psychological support.