Alcohol addiction is a familiar problem with many families. Some do not realize the danger of craving for alcohol, considering it a common bad habit that can be addressed with a simple effort of will. Indeed, with the development of psychological and physical addiction to alcohol, the patient can only be helped by professional drug therapists who know how to stop drinking.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease. Without timely treatment, it leads to pathological disorders in the work of internal organs and systems, personality degradation and increases the likelihood of premature death.
How to get someone to stop drinking?
One of the main problems faced by the addict's relatives is how to get a person to stop drinking. The problem is that after the formation of his addiction, a person loses the ability to objectively assess the surrounding reality. Because of this, he can sincerely believe that everything is in order for him, if necessary, he will give up alcohol on his own at any time.
Indeed, at this point, the physical addiction has time to develop. Toxins from ethanol penetrate into internal tissues and 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 excruciating withdrawal symptoms. The easiest way to deal with them is to take another dose of alcohol. This leads to prolonged consumption of alcohol, addiction develops, concomitant chronic diseases appear.
Getting an alcoholic to quit is not easy and coercive therapy is prohibited. 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 relapse will remain very high.
Alternatives to mandatory processing
To obtain consent from an alcoholic, the intervention of relatives is recommended. To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals. This will not help persuade the alcoholic to get rid of the addiction. Instead, a person can become even more withdrawn.
- It is necessary to refuse any help to solve the problems caused by alcoholism until the patient agrees to accept the drug treatment.
- 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 alcoholism will move on to the next stage.
- Instead, it is necessary to choose a drug treatment clinic in advance.
- Take advantage of the situation where the patient is suffering from withdrawal symptoms. They are so excruciating that most agree to see a doctor to stop suffering.
Another way is to contact the psychologist-motivators of the drug addiction treatment clinic. They conduct confidential conversations at home, are well aware of the peculiarities of the psychology of alcoholics to achieve a result.
Motivation to break free from addiction
A frank conversation will help the alcoholic make an important choice and agree to go through all the stages of complex therapy. During it, relatives will be able to give important arguments and reasons that should convince a person to make this responsible decision. These reasons can 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 emergence of a real and tangible threat of losing a family.
- A state of health, when new diseases begin to be detected in a person, internal organs gradually fail, systemic failures occur in the body, this becomes clear evidence that it is necessary to stop.
- Careers start to suffer greatly from addiction. The prospect of losing your job, all to be achieved first in the professional field, becomes a good incentive. Alcohol consumption over time inevitably affects work success: brain activity decreases, the sense of responsibility weakens, discipline is lame.
- Reputation doesn't often become the main reason to quit drinking, but it does exist. At a minimum, this argument should be used in conjunction with other reasons why the alcoholic should 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 the systematic use of alcohol. In some cases, it is possible to get a person to take an objective look at himself from the outside, realizing the senselessness and desperation of such a situation. The main thing may be the fact that the patient stops feeling pleasure from alcohol, from the satisfaction that was before, no trace remains.
- Significant changes in life. In this case, a clear awareness of the dullness of the current reality and a desire to radically change everything should play a role.
After obtaining voluntary and informed consent to the complex treatment of alcoholism, it is necessary to move on to the stages of therapy. The program is developed on an individual basis, taking into account the psychological and physiological characteristics of the patient. If necessary, regular meetings are held with a psychotherapist to keep the level of motivation at the right level.
How to start addiction treatment?
Patients and their relatives should be prepared for the fact that the fight against alcoholism will take a long time - on average, about a year. To begin with, doctors are doing everything possible to rid the body of alcohol residues and ethanol toxins.
For this, drug detox is performed if the patient simply cannot endure an alcohol-free week on his own. They also do the same when they withdraw from alcoholism.
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 widespread therapy yourself, even if you read a lot of posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of the expressed diagnostics, can determine which drugs to include in the dropper, what the dosage should be.
- Mostly, when removing a person from alcoholism and cleansing the body of toxins, powerful drugs are used, which can be bought at a pharmacy only with a prescription.
The dropper is put on for about two hours. All this time, the narcologist is next to the alcoholic, monitoring the indicators of vital organs. On leaving, he leaves the medications to the relatives for the next few days, gives advice on what to do when the patient comes to his senses.
Diagnostics
In order to decide which methods of alcohol addiction treatment should be used, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive examination. It allows you to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient, to establish all the existing risk factors.
Diagnostics include examination and questioning of the patient, the appointment of laboratory tests. The combination of these measures makes it possible to establish:
- stage of addiction;
- physiological and psychological characteristics;
- how long and how often a person drank alcohol, what kind of alcoholic beverages he prefers;
- if the treatment is not carried out for the first time, past experience is specified, why a relapse occurred;
- concomitant chronic diseases and dangerous ailments;
- allergic reactions;
- intolerance to individual components of drugs;
- the patient's level of motivation, how much he wants to free himself from addiction.
After evaluating the results obtained, the narcologist, during the consultation, together with the patient and his relatives, discusses a complete treatment program, gives recommendations on how to carry out the therapy in the most effective way.
coding
The next step in the fight against alcohol addiction is coding. Doctors use pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. Diagnostics only help establish which of the options will be effective and safe.
Alcohol tagging 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:
- Deposition of implants 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 exhaustion sufferer experiences excruciating symptoms of severe intoxication. The patient's condition worsens sharply within minutes, even from a small dose of alcohol. This is an effective method of prohibitive therapy, as a person forms a stable psychological barrier. He constantly remembers that he can die if he dares to drink. The likelihood of death is high if an effective antidote is not given in time.
- Use of naltrexone-based drugs. This is another drug coding technique, but not as dramatic as the previous one. In this case, the active ingredient blocks the receptors in the brain, responsible for obtaining a sense of pleasure from drinking. Consequently, if the patient, after coding, still dares to drink, he will simply feel nothing. For this he will decide to give up alcohol, as it is useless, at least for the duration of the encoding.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on the immersion of the patient in a state of deep trance. In this position, the patient's suggestibility is greatly increased, while he is fully aware of where he is, what is happening to him. An experienced doctor provides clear guidelines for alcohol aversion and a healthy lifestyle in the future.
The coding period varies from several months to five years. Often they choose a coding for a period of one year, this time it is just enough to stop drinking, the patient managed to realize the benefits of a sober life, go through the rest of the stages of complex therapy.
Psychological rehabilitation
To consolidate the effect obtained after coding, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychological rehabilitation in a hospital ward of a narcological clinic. If the previous stages of treatment could have been organized at home, hospitalization is now required. This is the only way to exclude the possibility of relapse, while protecting a person from negative external social influences.
During psychological rehabilitation it is possible to permanently eliminate the physical and psychological craving for alcoholic beverages. For this, the following techniques are used:
- Individual and group psychological sessions that help the patient understand their 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 United States. It is based on the recognition of helplessness in the face of solving a problem, accepting the help of a Higher Power (it can be a religion or a mentor - a former alcoholic who has been successfully treated 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, it helps to restore relationships in the family.
To rule out a relapse, after discharge, each patient receives post-rehabilitation psychological support.