Alcoholism, one of the varieties of drug addiction, was recognized by official medicine as early as 1952 as a serious mental illness, the symptoms of which tend to constantly increase. The disease manifests itself as an uncontrollable desire to drink alcohol. A person begins to drink alcohol uncontrollably, they may have a long binge lasting several days or drink some amount of alcohol every day "out of fatigue", to relieve stress or just to relax.
How to stop drinking and what are the dangers of alcoholism?
Most people who suffer from alcohol dependence are not fully aware of the dangers of this disease. They don't think that just returning to a sober lifestyle can save them from health problems, so they won't stop drinking alcohol. The issue of getting rid of alcoholism often worries family members, who turn to specialists for help.
To understand the danger of chronic alcoholism to health, it is worth remembering the serious illnesses that develop in any alcoholic after several years of persistent alcohol dependence. The main place among them is occupied by:
- from the digestive system: gastritis, ulcers, enterocolitis;
- from the cardiovascular system: cardiomyopathy or cardialgia;
- liver: cirrhosis or hepatitis;
- of the brain: alcoholic pellagra, Morel's disease;
- of the psyche: delirium (delirium tremens) or psychosis.
Among the causes of serious deterioration in health, leading to premature death, we can mention pancreatitis, a disease specific to alcoholics, which can quickly lead to the development of a cancerous tumor in the pancreas. If a person with alcohol dependence, despite the development of the disease, continues to consume alcohol regularly and uncontrollably, he or she will have no more than ten years to live.
A drunk person does not control his actions, which is why drunk drivers and pedestrians often become the culprits of road accidents. Most crimes are committed through the fault of people addicted to alcohol.
Social problems of alcoholics
For a person who begins to drink regularly and uncontrollably, alcohol replaces family, work and hobbies. He gradually turns into something amorphous, his life flows in a vicious circle, from pile to pile, passing through the hangover phase. Chronic alcoholism causes:
- Cessation of development and decline in social status.
- A negative change in ethical and moral character traits, leading to rudeness towards others, vulgarity, negligence.
- Deviation of behavior. People who drink constantly, unable to forget their bad habit, acquire antisocial character traits, often resort to physical and moral humiliation of loved ones, stealing money and valuables from home.
Active alcoholization, which has been occurring in recent years in our society, leads not only to health problems among drinkers and a deterioration in the quality of life of society as a whole, but also to high mortality among young people.
How to convince an alcoholic to give up?
Due to the negative effect of ethanol on the brain, a drinker can only perceive any information unilaterally: he hears and sees what he wants and ignores everything else. Only information that is not capable of harming friendship with the "Green Serpent" penetrates his consciousness. An alcoholic not only does not think about stopping alcohol abuse, but also does not categorically recognize the existence of such a disease as alcoholism.
It is impossible to force an addict to stop drinking for any reason by hanging posters on the walls about the harm of alcoholism. If it is easier to familiarize the addict with the dangerous facts of the harm that alcohol causes, he will probably begin to think about how to give up the habit that is causing irreparable damage to his health in order to return to a sober life. Facts that can help an alcoholic get back on the path to sobriety include:
- To "win" cirrhosis, a person who drinks regularly only needs 10 to 20 years;
- having forgotten about alcohol at the stage of damage to internal organs, an alcoholic can live for about 10 more years, but if he does not stop abusing, death will occur much earlier;
- a person who becomes an alcoholic before turning thirty will certainly end up in a grave by his fiftieth birthday.
Yes, these facts can affect an uncontrollable drinker and make him give up, but it is better that the motivation for alcoholism treatment is provided by an experienced psychologist. Neoplus drug treatment clinic in Yekaterinburg offers an intervention service. A qualified psychologist goes to the home of an alcoholic who refuses to undergo hospital treatment, at the request of his family. Then, a motivational talk is held. The result of professional motivation in 98% of cases is the emergence in the addict of a desire to give up the addiction, and he makes a voluntary decision to undergo treatment.
Is it dangerous to treat alcoholism alone?
Unfortunately, the question of how to give up alcohol abuse concerns not people addicted to alcohol, but their loved ones. It is the family members of alcoholics, exhausted by regular alcohol consumption and realizing the futility of persuasion to undergo treatment, who seek information on how to stop drinking. It must be said right away that self-medication for alcoholism, a practice that is quite common in our modern society, poses a serious threat not only to health, but also to human life, and is also completely useless.
An addict cannot stop drinking alcohol until he realizes the danger of his habit and wants to give it up, and self-medication of alcoholism, especially without the patient's knowledge, is dangerous because:
- The use of medications that eliminate the desire to consume alcohol regularly, or that cause negative somatic reactions to alcohol, not only its taste, but also its smell, without the prescription of a qualified narcologist, represents a serious threat to health and safety. life of the alcoholic. By secretly giving the patient independently selected medications, loved ones expose him to the danger of developing serious somatic diseases and exacerbation of chronic diseases.
- Folk remedies with which it is impossible to drink alcohol due to immediate vomiting can cause an acute allergic reaction in the form of suffocation. Dysfunction of the respiratory system quickly leads to asphyxiation and most often ends in premature death, as the ambulance does not have time to arrive due to the immediate increase in clinical symptoms.
Furthermore, such treatment, without medical supervision, can lead to the following irreversible consequences:
- worsening of mental problems;
- cause harm to people around you or yourself;
- the emergence of suicidal tendencies and suicide.
To avoid such consequences, you need to convince your loved one, who has started drinking a lot, to look for a specialized clinic. This should be done as early as possible, when the first signs appear that a relative is developing alcohol dependence. It must be remembered that a person with chronic dependence can only stop drinking alcohol after completing a full course of rehabilitation. Delaying this can be fatal.
Professional methods of treating alcoholism in a private clinic
The question of how to return to sobriety with the help of professionals interests many. It is often asked online. To fully understand how to forget about alcohol if you cannot do it yourself, it is worth considering the methods of treating alcoholism used in our clinic. After the alcoholic is admitted to the hospital, a full diagnostic examination is prescribed. During the process, it is revealed:
- general condition of the patient;
- stage of development of addiction;
- the presence of damage caused by alcohol to internal organs and the psyche.
Based on the results obtained, each patient is assigned an individual treatment regimen, but all selected measures are included in several general steps.
Cleansing the body
Without this step, it is impossible to begin complete treatment for alcoholism. Detoxification is carried out through the infusion of absorption solutions (binding toxins). To these are added medications prescribed individually to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms present in a given alcoholic. If necessary, non-drug detoxification can be carried out - plasmapheresis, hemosorption, hemodialysis.
Regenerative drug therapy
Patients with alcohol dependence admitted for treatment to our hospital are also prescribed a course of restorative and restorative therapy. The medicines, individually selected by specialists collaborating with the Neoplus clinic, quickly allow you to:
- restore internal organs damaged by the decomposition products of psychoactive substances;
- normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous and digestive systems.
If a person who cannot stop drinking is diagnosed with serious illnesses, hepatitis, HIV infection, borderline mental states, psychoses, epilepsy, etc. , specialist specialists who collaborate with our clinic prescribe additional therapy aimed at treating it or maintaining it in a state of remission.
Psychological rehabilitation
The main and longest stage in the treatment of alcoholism, without which it is impossible to cope with this disease, which forces a person to constantly consume alcohol. The psychotherapeutic treatment protocol includes:
- group psychological training;
- individual classes, conversations and consultations with a psychologist;
- The 12 Step program has long proven its high degree of effectiveness.
In addition, our psychologists carry out free work with codependent family members of patients, aiming to prevent a possible breakdown after discharge from the clinic.
Resocialization
This stage consists of reestablishing the links with society lost during the time the addict consumed alcohol, which is an effective prevention of relapses after treatment and a guarantee that the person will be able to stop consuming alcohol forever. Therapeutic programs used in this phase include:
- detailed analysis of problems and irritants that lead to breakdowns;
- simulation study of situations that can cause disease relapse.
Our social workers and psychologists help patients change unfavorable behavior patterns, break away from their previous environment, restore everyday or professional skills and, if necessary, acquire a new profession.
How to stop drinking forever, advice from a narcologist
There are no ex-alcoholics. If an addict has stopped abusing, it does not mean they have managed to stop for good. There is no advice on how to give up alcohol on your own. The only way out for an alcoholic to stop drinking is to consult an experienced narcologist and complete treatment at an inpatient drug treatment clinic. Help from experts can make a person want to consciously stop drinking alcohol. The success of treatment depends on how strong the patient's desire to give up alcohol is.
The following will help you forget about alcohol:advice:
- refuse any offer of a drink;
- always control the amount of alcohol consumed;
- Avoid companies where people drink a lot.
To stop abusing alcohol, you must learn to relax using non-alcoholic methods: find a hobby, play sports, etc. If you are worried about insomnia and anxiety, see a psychotherapist at the clinic.
If there are signs of alcohol dependence, you should contact a professional drug treatment clinic, which will advise you on alcoholism treatment free of charge and anonymously at any time of the day.