Alcohol addiction 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 turning a bad habit into a dangerous disease is constantly being studied, trying to determine its connection with a person's genetic characteristics, lifestyle and character.
According to WHO statistics, about 140 million men and women in the world suffer from alcoholism. The disease knows no age limits. Today, even teenagers and the elderly drink alcohol. Dependence on alcohol leads to a loss of behavioral control, an increase in the amount of drinking, aggression during sudden withdrawal and prolonged periods of drinking.SPIRITgradually loses family, friends, career. His connection with society is severed, his circle of interests narrows to drink, 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 spending too much on alcohol from the family budget, and endure domestic violence. Often a woman becomes addicted to hard drinks. In such cases, the 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 severe clinical manifestations. Noting the firstsigns of alcoholism, you should not ignore them or wait for the alcoholic to stop drinking on his own. It won't 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:
- every happy or sad event is a reason to drink;
- the need for alcoholic beverages increases every day;
- the dose needed to get drunk increases;
- memory deficits appear after drinking libations;
- the protective gag reflex disappears, which previously saved the body from intoxication;
- Withdrawal syndrome appears - a healthy person after a feast does not feel the desire to have a hangover.
In teenagers, alcohol addiction occurs much faster due to physiological immaturity than in adults. Addiction often develops in people who grew up in an alcoholic family and consider this a normal lifestyle. The desire for alcohol occurs under conditions of chronic stress, against the background of family or professional problems, loneliness, and in some cases because of very stable and emotionally insatiable free time.
Alcohol addicts often do not admit that they are sick. It seems to him that drinking is a cure for all problems and does no harm. This is self-deception. It is important that loved ones knowhow to help an alcoholic, stop the disease before critical consequences occur.
Alcohol damage
Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages has a negative effect on all organs and internal systems of a person, and also reduces life expectancy. The central nervous system and the brain are mainly affected. Ethanol and its breakdown products lead to the death of neurons. Cells are not restored, the most important nerve connections are interrupted. Doctors say alcoholics develop microscopic ulcers and sores 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 with heart attacks and strokes and die from cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis. Men and women have impaired sexual functions and are unable to create healthy offspring. Alcohol causes a major shock to the gastrointestinal tract. Varicose veins of the esophagus appear, intestinal walls are deformed and peptic ulcers and colitis are provoked. whethertreatment of alcoholismwithout starting at the right time, the patient is condemned to death.
How to help an alcoholic understand the problem?
If a person suffers from alcoholism, he needs help from the outside. It is important that close relatives understand that at this stage there is no need to play rescuer. You cannot put moral pressure on an alcoholic, scold him or constantly control him. Inserting a sense of guilt for his drunken behavior will not have a positive effect on the situation. There is no need to try to solve his problems for a drunkard. Such relationships are called interdependent. This is not the norm.
How to help an alcoholic understand the problem? People from the patient's close circle must develop behavioral tactics that will allow them to build special relationships. In the process of communication, the alcoholic himself must understand:
- how bad is drinking alcohol for him?
- how a drunken lifestyle negatively affects his family and work;
- how his health deteriorated due to constant drunkenness;
- what will happen if you don't stop poisoning your body with ethanol.
Intervention is the only true and effective way to encourage the patient to look at himself from the outside without distraction or pressure. It is often used by narcologists to motivate the patient to go to the clinic to receive adequate treatment.
How to help an alcoholic quit drinking too much?
Excessive drinking is a dangerous condition. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages is fraught with serious intoxication. Ethanol poisons the body, its breakdown products do not have time to be eliminated by the liver and excretory system, and toxins accumulate. If you suddenly stop drinking, the alcoholic will experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which in particularly critical cases will lead to the failure of vital organs.
Relatives of a drunkard should remember that a hangover is 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. There are frequent cases of physical violence against the weaker members of the family - the wife, the elderly mother, the children. Any attempt to shame him, to direct him to the path of sobriety, will be met with hostility and cause indignation.
I do not know,How to help an alcoholic stop drinking? Do not risk his health. Contact experienced narcologists who will slowly and without stress on the patient's body ease his physical and psycho-emotional condition. Only a specialist, through professional intervention, can teach the patient to look at his life from a different perspective. The doctor alone or together with a psychologist will work with the alcoholic. An integrated approach always gives good results. Even if consent for further treatment is not obtained immediately, the process of accepting the problem of addiction has already begun in the subconscious. Often after this, the patient voluntarily transfers control of alcohol consumption to the helping party.
How to help an excessive alcoholic?
The duration of pleasure is 4-10 days. In particularly severe cases, an alcoholic is able to drink for a month or more until his body stops reacting to ethanol. During this period, the patient does not work, does not respect the rules of personal hygiene and does not eat normally. The consequences of such a long period of intoxication are critical, as they affect well-being, health and appearance.
How to help a binge drinkerand is it possible to do this? You will not be able to cope with withdrawal symptoms on your own. Drinking plenty of fluids, tranquilizers and moral support can ease the condition, but this is not enough when you stop drinking too much.
In an inpatient hospital or at home, a narcologist will carry out detoxification, prescribe medications 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 care if necessary. Narcologists and psychologists knowlikehelp an alcoholic stop drinking, and successfully cope with this difficult task.
How to help an alcoholic at home?
A short binge (less than 3 days of drinking) can be overcome on its own.How to help an alcoholic at home:
- organize a lot of drinks - at least 2. 5 liters per day;
- introduce ascorbic acid or fruits rich in vitamin C into your diet;
- organize the intake of sorbents, for example, activated carbon or silicone-based preparations;
- give the patient simple sedatives - valerian, sedative drops;
- provide a bland diet rich in vegetables, grains and protein.
However, even if your health improves and the person addicted to alcohol vows to stop drinking, it is recommended not to miss the opportunity to receive effective treatment at a hospital drug treatment clinic.
How to help an alcoholic?
In some cases, the only effective method iscoding of alcoholism. Returning to narcologists and psychologists will be a real salvation from a sad result. Doctors will be able to find words so that the patient can independently understand the seriousness of the situation and make a voluntary decision to undergo treatment. After detoxification, the specialist will choose the most suitable coding method and radically change the life of an alcoholic for the better.
The patient refuses to visit the clinic? Call a narcologist to your home. A visiting physician will perform all procedures in a comfortable environment for the alcoholic, guaranteeing 100% anonymity.