Alcoholism can rightfully be considered a problem of humanity. However, not everyone can say exactly when and how this disease may appear. Meanwhile, alcoholism, like any other disease, has several stages.
Altogether there are 4 stages of alcoholism. Not only the duration and effectiveness of the treatment, but also the final result will depend on the degree of neglect and the situation in the patient's environment.
After all, many who have recovered even after a few years return to old habits.
It is not a question of treatment, but of a wrong approach to the main cause of this problem, ignorance of the characteristics of the patient's character, as well as insufficient psycho-emotional support for relatives and friends.
The initial stage of alcoholism: causes and treatment
Read more: what is alcoholism.
The first stage of alcoholism is not always perceived as the beginning of personality degradation and the progression of the disease as such. Treatment and its duration may depend on parameters such as:
- age of the patient;
- Stage of the disease;
- Emotional state and atmosphere in the family;
- Predisposition (inheritance);
- Environment;
- Stability/instability of the human psyche;
- Perception of the problem, as such, not only by the patient, but also by all his friends and relatives;
- Gender of the patient (male or female).
- Doses of alcohol increase gradually;
- Taking strong drinks is also possible for a small reason;
- A person loses control, it is difficult to control movement, thoughts after drinking;
- Aggression towards acquaintances and friends is more often manifested;
- It cannot be stopped even after emptying the stomach from the accumulated alcohol (vomiting);
- He has a severe hangover with a headache;
- So far, he reacts negatively to a hangover (rejection of alcohol);
- Contradiction in actions and words, both when drunk and sober;
- Negative attitude towards alcoholics, does not consider his problem important.
Treatment of the initial stage
Also, do not miss the effect of alcohol on all human organs. Therefore, to understand the problem will help research in:
- Diseases of the liver and pancreas (heaviness, nausea, vomiting, pain and abdominal pain, bloating, indigestion);
- Vegetovascular disease (swelling of veins, heaviness in the legs, swelling and pain after a day);
- Hypertensive diseases (sudden drops in pressure, loss of strength, severe headaches, nausea);
- Nervous disorders (headache, convulsions, swelling, nervousness, sleep disturbance, hand tremors, aggressiveness, nervousness).
How to determine the stage of alcoholism? You cannot figure this out on your own without the help of a qualified specialist. The first signs should warn you. Early diagnosis and treatment is the basis of success in productive treatment.
The second stage of alcoholism: what are the symptoms and methods of treatment
The patient reacts harshly to criticism and remarks from the outside, is aggressive and direct in expression.
The degrees of alcoholism and their treatment vary from case to case. One will need more psychological help, the second will need difficult conditions and boundaries beyond which he will not be able to cross. However, one thing becomes clear: it cannot be done without outside help. The second stage of alcohol dependence is treated through an integrated approach:
- Medicinal cleansing of the body. An important step that allows you to get rid of accumulated toxins. The intoxication of the body in this case is high, and medications allow you to cope not only with the side effects of taking a large amount of alcohol, but also to accelerate the process of decomposition of ethanol in the blood plasma;
- Aversive treatment - drugs are administered intravenously to develop alcohol rejection. Often such drugs do not cause discomfort to a non-drinker. But the simultaneous intake of alcohol and such a drug causes vomiting, nausea, severe headaches and rejection at the subconscious level;
- The help of a psychologist. After all manipulations with the patient's body were performed, the brain was freed from the effects of ethanol, it is time to move on to the main stage of treatment - psychological help and adaptation to normal life.
How long such treatment can last is an individual feature of the patient. At this stage, it is important to identify the main causes of alcohol cravings.
After all, the effect of the medication will not reduce the psycho-emotional dependence on relaxation, which can be obtained by drinking alcohol.
This stage and its effectiveness completely depends on the professionalism of the doctor and the willingness to accept the result of all relatives. Only in this case it is possible to avoid the recurrence of the disease.
The third stage of alcoholism: the problem of society and not only
The third stage of alcoholism is no longer a problem only for the patient's family and close circle. This is a problem of the whole society: a person degrades, violates all existing norms and rules of communication, does not respond to the comments and requests of loved ones, is an "aggravating" factor for the family. Indeed, often the third stage of alcoholism forces a person to refuse work, neglect the wishes of relatives and friends. This means that such a patient is not able to afford the purchase of expensive alcoholic beverages. As a result, funds, expensive equipment and food are stolen from the home. Also, the third stage of alcoholism is associated with such additional characteristics as:
- Distortion of appearance: thin arms and legs, large torso and abdomen, burgundy or gray skin with visible blockages of veins, swelling in any condition in all limbs and under the eyes, loss of teeth, blackness;
- The psyche is disturbed: inadequate reaction to simple things, unwillingness to establish contact, aggression without reason, unwillingness to change anything;
- Alcohol is the basis of the diet, replacing all healthy human foods. How much a person can drink depends in part on their configuration;
- speech distortion;
- Paralysis of certain parts of the body, most often the face, arms, legs;
- Health problems: hepatitis, chronic pancreatitis, cancer, food indigestion, urinary and fecal incontinence;
- Alcohol tolerance (fewer doses, but more often).
Drinking alcohol before and during pregnancy
Treating alcoholism at this stage is a difficult and not always effective task. This is, first of all, due to the complete deformation of the human psyche, the reassessment of his values and priorities in life.
Often such an addict does not set himself any goal, except to expel the rest of the alcohol.
However, the first three stages of alcoholism can only be treated if this issue is treated correctly.
Which stages are difficult to handle?
An important sign of the third stage of alcoholism is the danger to human life: 80% die even after treatment due to long-term intoxication of the body and irreversible processes of changes in internal organs. Heart tissue discharge, vascular deformation, chronic diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas (in women, also the reproductive system) create dangerous conditions for a quality life in the future of the cured. Support for the most affected organs after treatment is the main task.
The last stage of alcoholism: no way
Alcoholism is an insidious disease. It sneaks down just when it seems the whole world is up in arms against you. Often the first stages of an alcoholic disease are overlooked, not perceived as a real problem. And then the progress and speed of development of complications is inevitable. Years can pass from the moment of transition from the first stage to the fourth.
When the first signs are not identified and ignored, the complexity of the cure increases every day. Alcoholism in the stage of development of the fourth degree is rather a sentence. Life is calculated in months and weeks.
The body is completely exhausted and the organs can no longer cope with the basic functions of metabolism. But not a punishment exclusively for the sick.
This is a diagnosis for those who could not help in time, give a helping hand, not perceiving the disease as a problem.
Unfortunately, in the fourth stage, it is no longer possible to help. The patient is not subject to persuasion or hospitalization. Worst of all, the Stage 4 person you are facing bears no relation to the person you once knew.
His brain is so distorted by alcohol that it is impossible to recognize him in a person you used to know. Complete degradation of the subconscious, basic instincts are replaced by new ones (drinking). Even a professional psychologist and hypnosis will not help to get rid of the problem.
Alcoholism is a disease. This is important to remember. Remember and know what can be done to avoid the unenviable fate of an alcoholic, from whom all relatives and friends have left, having previously passed from the world of the living.
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a disease that appears with the systematic abuse of alcohol, characterized by mental addiction to intoxication, somatic and neurological disorders, personality degradation. The disease can also progress with abstinence from alcohol.
In the CIS, 14% of the adult population abuse alcohol and another 80% drink alcohol moderately, which is due to some drinking traditions that have developed in society.
Factors such as conflicts with relatives, unsatisfactory standard of living and inability to realize oneself in life often lead to abuse. At a young age, alcohol is used as a way to feel inner comfort, courage and overcome shyness. In middle age it is used as a way to relieve fatigue, stress and escape from social problems.
Continued use of this relaxation method leads to continued addiction and inability to feel inner comfort without alcohol intoxication. According to the degree of dependence and symptoms, several stages of alcoholism are distinguished.
Stages of alcoholism
The first stage of alcoholism
The first stage of the disease is characterized by an increase in the dosage and frequency of alcohol intake. There is a syndrome of altered reactivity, in which the tolerance to alcohol changes. The body's protective reactions to overdose disappear, in particular, there is no vomiting when drinking large doses of alcohol.
With severe intoxication, palimpsests are observed - memory errors. Psychological dependence is manifested by the feeling of dissatisfaction in a sober state, constant thoughts about alcohol, the elevation of mood before drinking alcohol.
The first phase lasts from 1 to 5 years, while the withdrawal is controllable, since there is no physical dependence syndrome. A person does not degrade and does not lose the ability to work.
Complications in first-stage alcoholism are mainly manifested by the liver, alcoholic fatty degeneration occurs.
Clinically, it is almost not manifested, in some cases there may be a feeling of fullness in the stomach, bloating, diarrhea. A complication can be diagnosed by an increase and dense consistency of the liver.
On palpation, the edge of the liver is rounded, it is somewhat sensitive. With abstinence, these symptoms disappear.
Pancreatic complications are acute and chronic pancreatitis. At the same time, abdominal pain is observed, which is located on the left and radiates to the back, as well as decreased appetite, nausea, bloating and unstable stools.
Often, alcohol abuse leads to alcoholic gastritis, in which there is also no appetite and vomiting, pain in the epigastric region.
Second phase
Second-stage alcoholism has a progression period of 5 to 15 years and is characterized by an increase in the syndrome of altered reactivity.
Tolerance to alcohol reaches its maximum, the so-called pseudo-drinking occurs, their frequency is not associated with the patient's efforts to get rid of alcohol addiction, but with external circumstances, for example, lack of money and inability to get alcohol.
The sedative effect of alcohol is replaced by an activator, memory failures when drinking large amounts of alcohol are replaced by complete amnesia of the end of intoxication. At the same time, daily drunkenness is explained by the presence of a syndrome of mental dependence; in a sober state, the patient loses the ability to work mentally and mental activity is disorganized. There is a syndrome of physical dependence on alcohol, which suppresses all feelings, except the desire for alcohol, which becomes uncontrollable. The patient is depressed, nervous, unable to work, after drinking alcohol, these functions return to their place, but control over the amount of alcohol is lost, which leads to excessive intoxication.
Treatment of alcoholism in the second stage must be carried out in a specialized hospital, a narcologist or a psychiatrist.
A sharp rejection of alcohol causes such somatoneurological symptoms of alcoholism as exophthalmos, mydriasis, hyperemia of the upper part of the body, tremors of the fingers, nausea, vomiting, bowel satisfaction, pain in the heart, liver and headache.
There are mental symptoms of personality degradation, weakening of the intellect, delusional ideas. Often there is anxiety, night anxiety, convulsive seizures, which are the harbingers of acute psychosis - delirium tremens, popularly called delirium tremens.
Complications of second-degree alcoholism on the part of the liver are represented by alcoholic hepatitis, often of a chronic form. The disease is more common in a continuous form than in a progressive form.
Like complications in the first degree, hepatitis rarely manifests itself with clinical symptoms. It is possible to diagnose a complication from gastrointestinal pathology, heaviness appears in the epigastric region of the stomach, right hypochondrium, slight nausea, bloating is observed.
On palpation, the liver is compressed, enlarged and slightly painful.
Alcoholic gastritis in the second stage of alcoholism may have symptoms that are masked as manifestations of withdrawal symptoms, the difference is repeated painful vomiting in the morning, often with an admixture of blood. On palpation, there is pain in the epigastric region.
After prolonged binges, acute alcoholic myopathy develops, weakness, swelling in the muscles of the hips and shoulders appear. Alcoholism most often causes non-ischemic heart disease.
The third stage
Alcoholism of the third stage is significantly different from the previous two, the duration of this stage is 5-10 years. This is the last stage of the disease and, as practice shows, most often ends in death. Tolerance to alcohol decreases, intoxication occurs after small doses of alcohol. Bleeding ends with physical and psychological exhaustion.
In a state of intoxication, emotional instability appears, which presents the symptoms of alcoholism, joy, nervousness, anger unpredictably replace each other.
Degradation of personality, decline in intellectual abilities, inability to work, lead to the fact that an alcoholic, not having money for alcohol, uses substitutes, sells things, steals. Use of substitutes such as denatured alcohol, cologne, polish, etc. , lead to serious complications.
Complications in third-stage alcoholism are most often represented by alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. There are two forms of alcoholic cirrhosis - the compensated and decompensated form.
The first form of the disease is characterized by persistent anorexia nervosa, bloating, fatigue, low apathetic mood. There is a thinning of the skin, white spots and spider veins appear on them.
The liver is enlarged, dense, has a sharp edge.
The patient's appearance changes a lot, there is a sharp drop in weight, hair loss. The decompensated form of liver cirrhosis differs in three types of clinical symptoms.
These include portal hypertension, which leads to hemorrhoidal and esophageal bleeding, ascites - accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. There is often jaundice, in which the liver is greatly enlarged, in severe cases, liver failure occurs, with the development of coma.
The patient has an increased content of melanin, which gives the skin an icteric or earthy hue.
Diagnosis of alcoholism
The diagnosis of alcoholism can be suspected by a person's appearance and behavior. Patients look older than their years, over the years the face becomes hyperemic, skin turgor is lost. The face acquires a special kind of strong-willed promiscuity, due to the relaxation of the circular muscles of the mouth. In many cases there is dirt, carelessness in clothing.
The diagnosis of alcoholism in most cases turns out to be quite accurate, even when analyzing not the patient himself, but his environment. Relatives of a patient with alcoholism have a number of psychosomatic disorders, neuroticism or psychoticism of a spouse who does not drink, and pathology in children.
The most common pathology in children whose parents systematically abuse alcohol is congenital cerebral insufficiency. Often these children have excessive mobility, are not focused, have a desire for destruction and aggressive behavior.
In addition to congenital pathology, the child's development is also influenced by the traumatic situation in the family. Children have logoneurosis, enuresis, night terrors and behavioral disorders.
Children are depressed, prone to suicide attempts, they often have difficulties in learning and communicating with peers.
In many cases, pregnant women who abuse alcohol experience the birth of an alcoholic fetus. Fetal alcohol syndrome is characterized by severe morphological disorders. Most often, fetal pathology consists of irregular head shape, body proportions, deep-set spherical eyes, underdevelopment of jaw bones and shortening of tubular bones.
Treatment of alcoholism
We have already briefly described the treatment of alcoholism depending on its stages. In most cases, relapse can occur after treatment.
This is due to the fact that treatment often aims only to eliminate the most acute manifestations of alcoholism. Without properly conducted psychotherapy, lack of support from loved ones, alcoholism recurs.
But as practice shows, it is psychotherapy that is an important component of treatment.
The first stage of treatment of alcoholism is the elimination of acute and subacute conditions caused by intoxication of the body. First of all, binge eating is stopped and withdrawal disorders are eliminated. In the later stages, the therapy is carried out only under the supervision of medical personnel, since the delirium syndrome that occurs when drinking is stopped requires psychotherapy and a number of sedatives. Relief of acute alcoholic psychosis is to quickly put the patient to sleep with dehydration and support for the cardiovascular system. In cases of severe alcohol intoxication, treatment of alcoholism is carried out only in specialized hospitals or psychiatric departments. In the early stages, anti-alcohol treatment may be sufficient, but more often when alcohol is given up, there is a deficit of neuroendocrine regulation, the disease progresses and leads to organ complications and pathologies.
The second stage of treatment is aimed at establishing remission. A complete diagnosis of the patient and therapy of mental and somatic disorders is made. Therapy in the second stage of treatment can be quite special, its main task is to eliminate somatic disorders, which are essential in the formation of the pathological desire for alcohol.
Non-standard methods of therapy include the Rozhnov technique, which consists of emotional stress therapy. A good prognosis in the medication gives the hypnotic effect and the psychotherapeutic conversations that precede it.
During hypnosis, the patient is instilled with an aversion to alcohol, a nausea-vomiting reaction to the taste and smell of alcohol. The method of aversive verbal therapy is often used.
It consists in setting the psyche by the method of verbal suggestion, responding with a vomiting reaction to drinking alcohol, even in an imaginary situation.
The third stage of treatment involves prolonging remission and returning to a normal lifestyle. This stage can be considered the most important in the successful treatment of alcoholism. After the two previous stages, the person returns to his previous society, to problems, friends, who in most cases are also addicted to alcohol, to family conflicts.
This has a greater effect on the recurrence of the disease. In order for a person to be able to independently eliminate the external causes and symptoms of alcoholism, long-term psychotherapy is required. Autogenic training gives a positive effect, they are widely used for group therapy.
Training consists in normalizing autonomic disorders and removing emotional stress after treatment.
Behavioral therapy is used, the so-called lifestyle correction. A person learns to live in a sober state, to solve his problems, acquiring the ability of self-control. A very important step in restoring normal life is achieving mutual understanding in the family and understanding their problem.
For a successful treatment, it is important to achieve the desire of the patient to get rid of alcohol addiction. Mandatory treatment does not produce the same results as voluntary treatment.
But still, the refusal of treatment requires the local narcologist to forcefully refer the patient to LTP for treatment.
Therapy in the general medical network does not give positive results, since the patient has open access to alcohol, is visited by drunken friends, etc.
In the case when alcohol abuse began in adulthood, an individual approach to the choice of therapy is required. This is due to the fact that the somato-neurological symptoms of alcoholism appear much earlier than the onset of addiction and mental disorders.
Mortality in alcoholism is more often associated with complications. There is a decompensation of vital organs caused by prolonged drinking, states of withdrawal, intercurrent diseases.
20% of elderly patients with alcoholism have signs of epilepsy, acute Gaye-Wernicke syndrome is slightly less common. Attacks of both diseases during intoxication can be fatal.
The presence of alcoholic cardiomyopathy significantly worsens the prognosis. Continuous systematic consumption of alcohol leads to mortality.
Less than 25% of patients with this complication live more than three years after diagnosis. A high percentage of deaths from alcohol intoxication are due to suicide.
This is facilitated by the development of chronic hallucinosis, alcoholic paraphrenia, delusions of jealousy.
The patient is unable to control delusional thoughts and performs unusual actions in a sober state.