Alcohol addiction is a familiar problem for many families.Some people do not understand the danger of craving alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome with a simple effort of will.In fact, with the development of a psychological and physical addiction to 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 faced by relatives of an 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.Because of this, he can honestly believe that everything is fine with him;if necessary, he will independently refuse alcohol at any time.
In fact, at this time physical dependence has time to develop.Ethanol toxins penetrate into tissues and internal organs and take an active part in metabolism.Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the organism, as soon as its level decreases, the person begins to experience painful withdrawal symptoms.The easiest way to cope with them is by taking another dose of alcohol.This leads to prolonged periods of drinking, addiction develops and chronic co-morbidities appear.
It is not easy to leave an alcoholic 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 likelihood of relapse will remain very high.
The alternative to forced treatment
In order to obtain consent from the alcoholic, relatives are advised to intervene.To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals.This will not help to convince an alcoholic to give up his addiction.Instead, the person may become even more withdrawn.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 accept drug treatment.
- The use of legal remedies and folk 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 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 see a doctor to stop the suffering.
Another way is to contact motivational psychologists from a drug treatment clinic.They conduct confidential conversations at home and are aware of the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics to achieve results.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
In order for an alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to undergo all stages of complex therapy, an honest conversation will help.During it, the relatives will be able to present weighty arguments and motives that should convince the person to make this responsible decision.These motives 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 appearance of a real and tangible threat of losing their family.
- A health condition when 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 must be stopped.
- Due to addiction, your career starts to suffer a lot.The prospect of losing one's job, everything that was 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 falters.
- Reputation is not often the main reason people quit drinking, but it is a possibility.At the very least, this argument should be used along with other reasons why an alcoholic should give up alcohol.If the patient has a chronic addiction, self-esteem loses its value due to serious psychological changes and personality degradation.
- Moral or physical fatigue from the systematic consumption of alcohol.In some cases, it is possible to ensure that a person looks at himself objectively from the outside and understands the meaninglessness and hopelessness of such a situation.The main thing may be the fact that the patient stops enjoying alcohol;there is no trace left of the pleasure that was before.
- Important changes that have occurred in life.In this case, a clear awareness of the grays of the current reality and the desire to fundamentally change everything should play a role.
After you have achieved voluntary and informed consent for the comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, you must 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 keep the level of motivation at the right level.
Where to start addiction treatment?
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.For starters, doctors are doing everything possible to rid the body of alcohol and ethanol toxins.
For this purpose, drug detoxification is carried out if the patient cannot afford just one week without alcohol.This is also done when you withdraw from drinking too much.
The patient is placed on a drip with powerful medications in the form of solutions.There are two reasons why you will not be able to organize diffusion therapy yourself, even if you read a lot of posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of express diagnostics, can determine which medications should be included in the drip and what the doses should be.
- Mainly, when removing a person from excessive drinking and cleaning the body of toxins, powerful drugs are used, which can be bought in a pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription.
The drip is set for about two hours.All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring the vital organs.When he leaves, he leaves relatives with medications for the next few days and gives advice on what to do when the patient regains consciousness.
Diagnosing
In order to decide which methods of alcohol addiction treatment should be used, you should do a comprehensive examination.This allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient and determine all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examining and questioning the patient, ordering laboratory tests.The complex of these measures allows you to determine:
- addiction phase;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drinks alcohol, what alcoholic beverages he prefers;
- if the treatment is not carried out for the first time, clarify the past experience, for what reason the relapse occurred;
- accompanying chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of medicines;
- the patient's level of motivation, how strongly he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the obtained results, 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 more effectively.
encryption
The next stage in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding.Doctors use medicinal and non-medicinal methods.Diagnostics helps to 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 attending physician's recommendations.Common methods of coding for alcohol consumption include:
- Registration of an implant or other methods of introducing disulfiram-based 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 relapsed patient experiences painful symptoms of severe intoxication.The patient's condition worsens significantly in just a few minutes from even a small dose of alcohol.This is an effective method of preventive therapy, since a person develops a stable psychological barrier.He is constantly reminded that he may die if he dares to drink.The possibility of death is high if an effective antidote is not given in time.
- Use of naltrexone-based drugs.This is another method of drug coding, but not as radical as the previous one.In this case, the active substance blocks the brain receptors responsible for getting a feeling of pleasure from drinking alcohol.As a result, if the patient still risks drinking after coding, he will simply not feel anything.Because of this, he will decide to give up alcohol, since it is pointless, at least for the duration of the coding period.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a state of deep trance.In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases greatly, while he is fully aware of where he is and what is happening to him.An experienced doctor gives clear instructions about aversion to alcoholic beverages and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period varies from a few months to five years.Often they choose coding for a period of one year, this time is enough to stop drinking, the patient has time to understand the benefits of a sober life and go through the remaining stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
To consolidate the effect achieved after coding, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychological rehabilitation in the hospital department of a drug treatment clinic.If the previous stages of treatment could be arranged at home, now hospitalization will be required.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 eventually 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's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-step rehabilitation program is an effective technique originating in the USA.It is based on the recognition of helplessness in solving the problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (this can be religion or a mentor - a former alcoholic who has successfully recovered thanks to this program).
- The Day Top rehabilitation program is based on the possibility of self-healing;the doctor takes an observation position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his relatives when they develop codependency and helps restore family relationships.
To exclude relapse, after discharge from the hospital each patient receives psychological support after rehabilitation.