Alcohol addiction is a problem that is familiar to many families. Some are unaware of the dangers of cravings for alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be overcome with a simple effort of the will. In fact, with the development of psychological and physical dependence on alcohol, the patient can be helped only by professional drug therapists who know how to stop drinking.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease. Without timely treatment leads to pathological disorders of the internal organs and systems, personality degradation and the likelihood of premature death increases.
How to persuade someone to stop drinking
One of the main problems facing relatives of the addict is how to persuade a person to stop drinking. The problem is that after the formation of one's dependence one loses the ability to evaluate objectively the surrounding reality. Therefore, he can sincerely believe that everything is fine for him, if necessary, he will give up alcohol at any time.
In fact, at this time, physical dependence has time to develop. Ethanol toxins penetrate the tissues and internal organs, are actively involved in metabolism. Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as its level decreases, a person begins to experience painful symptoms of withdrawal. The easiest way to deal with them is to take another dose of alcohol. This leads to prolonged drinking, addiction develops, concomitant chronic diseases appear.
It is not easy to get an alcoholic to give up, and forced therapy is forbidden. Such a decision can only be made in court. However, providing medical care without the patient's consent is ineffective. As long as the person does not want to stop drinking, the likelihood of recurrence will remain very high.
Alternatives to compulsory treatment
In order to obtain the consent of an alcoholic, it is recommended to intervene relatives. To do this, all family members must come together and act together:
- Refuse ultimatums, threats and scandals. This will not help convince the alcoholic to get rid of the addiction. Instead, one can become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help in solving problems provoked by alcoholism, until the patient agrees to take medication.
- The use of folk remedies and methods must be abandoned. They can only help in the early stages of addiction and even then not always. Often the patient's condition can only get worse and the alcoholism will move on to the next stage.
- Instead, you should choose a drug treatment clinic in advance.
- Take advantage of the situation when the patient suffers from withdrawal symptoms. They are so painful that most agree to see a doctor to stop suffering.
Another way is to contact motivational psychologists from the drug treatment clinic. They have confidential conversations at home, they know well the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics in order to achieve results.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
An open conversation will help the alcoholic to make an important choice and agree to go through all stages of complex therapy. During it, relatives will be able to give serious arguments and motives that should convince a person to make this responsible decision. These reasons may include:
- Children and family - Waiting or planning 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 a family.
- Health status, when a person begins to discover new diseases, internal organs gradually fail, systemic failures occur in the body, this becomes clear evidence that it is necessary to stop.
- Careers are suffering greatly from addiction. The prospect of losing a job, everything that needs to be achieved earlier in the professional sphere, becomes a good incentive. Drinking alcohol over time inevitably affects the success of work: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, discipline is lame.
- Reputation is often not the main reason for giving up drinking, but it does exist. At the very least, this argument should be used in conjunction with other motives for the alcoholic to give up alcohol. If the patient is chronically dependent, self-esteem loses value due to severe psychological changes and personality degradation.
- Moral or physical fatigue from systemic alcohol use. In some cases, it is possible to achieve that one looks objectively at oneself from the outside, to realize the futility and hopelessness of such a situation. The main thing may be the fact that the patient ceases to enjoy alcohol, the satisfaction that was before, there is no trace.
- Significant changes in life. In this case, a clear awareness of the stupidity of the current reality and the desire to radically change everything must play a role.
Once you have reached a voluntary and informed agreement on the comprehensive treatment of alcoholism, you need to move on to the stages of therapy. The program is developed individually, taking into account the psychological and physiological characteristics of the patient. Regular meetings with a psychotherapist are held, if necessary, to maintain the level of motivation at the required level.
How to start addiction treatment?
Patients and their loved ones need to be prepared for the fact that the fight against alcoholism will take a long time - on average about a year. To begin with, doctors do everything possible to rid the body of alcohol residues and ethanol toxins.
Therefore, detoxification is performed with drugs, if the patient can not just endure a week without alcohol alone. They also do the same when they withdraw from heavy drinking.
The patient is given a dropper with powerful drugs in the form of solutions. There are two reasons why it is not possible to organize diffuse therapy on your own, even if you read many publications on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of rapid diagnostics, can determine which drugs to include in the dropper, what should be the dosage.
- Especially when removing a person from drinking and cleansing the body of toxins, powerful drugs are used, which can be purchased at a pharmacy only on prescription.
The dropper is placed for about two hours. All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring the performance of vital organs. When leaving, he leaves the medication to his relatives for the next few days, gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
Diagnosis
To decide which methods of treating alcohol dependence should be used, you need to conduct a comprehensive examination. Allows you to accurately diagnose the patient, to identify all existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examination and questioning of the patient, appointment of laboratory tests. The set of these measures allows you to identify:
- stage of addiction;
- 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, the past experience is specified, for what reason there was a relapse;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to certain components of drugs;
- the level of motivation of the patient, how much he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the results obtained, the narcologist during the consultation, together with the patient and his relatives, discusses a comprehensive treatment program, gives recommendations on how to conduct the most effective therapy.
Coding
The next step in the fight against alcohol dependence is coding. Doctors use medical and non-medical methods. Diagnosis simply helps determine which of the options will be effective and safe.
Alcohol coding 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:
- Filing implants or other methods of administering disulfiram-based drugs to the body. The active ingredient blocks the liver enzymes responsible for breaking down ethanolic toxins in water and carbon dioxide, which are completely harmless to humans. When this does not happen, the patient with the disorder experiences excruciating symptoms of severe intoxication. The patient's condition deteriorated sharply in just a few minutes, even with a small dose of alcohol. This is an effective method of illicit therapy, as it forms a stable psychological barrier. He constantly remembers that he could die if he dares to drink. The probability of death is high if an effective antidote is not applied in time.
- Use of drugs based on naltrexone. This is another drug coding technique, but not as dramatic as the previous one. In this case, the active substance blocks the receptors in the brain that are responsible for getting the pleasure of drinking. As a result, if the patient still dares to drink after the coding, he will simply not feel anything. Therefore, he will decide to give up alcohol, as it is meaningless, at least for the time of coding.
- Psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a deep trance. In this position, the patient's suggestibility increases significantly until he is fully aware of where he is, what is happening to him. An experienced doctor gives clear guidelines for alcohol aversion and 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 manages to realize the benefits of sober living, to go through the other stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
In order to consolidate the effect achieved after coding, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychological rehabilitation in an inpatient drug clinic. If the previous stages of treatment could be organized at home, now hospitalization is needed. This is the only way to exclude the possibility of relapse, protecting a person from negative external social influences.
During psychological rehabilitation, it is possible to completely eliminate the physical and psychological desire for alcoholic beverages. The following techniques are used for this:
- Individual and group psychological sessions that help the patient understand his problems, learn to solve life's difficulties and have fun without drinking alcohol.
- The 12-level rehabilitation program is an effective technique originating in the United States. It is based on the recognition of helplessness in solving a problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (it can be a religion or a mentor - a former alcoholic who has been successfully cured thanks to this program).
- The rehabilitation program Day Top is based on the possibility of self-treatment, the doctor takes an observational position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his relatives, when they develop codependence, helps to restore family relationships.
To rule out recurrence, after discharge each patient receives psychological support after rehabilitation.