Alcoholism is a familiar problem for many families. Some don't realize the dangers of cravings, seeing it as a common bad habit that can be tackled with a simple effort of will. In fact, with the psychological and physical development of alcoholism, patients can only be helped by professional drug therapists who know how to quit drinking.
Alcoholism is a dangerous chronic disease. Without timely treatment, it leads to pathological disorders in the work of organs and internal systems, deterioration of personality and an increased likelihood of premature death.
How to convince someone to stop drinking?
One of the main problems faced by loved ones of addicts is how to convince a person to quit drinking. The problem is that after forming his addiction, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate the surrounding reality. Because of that, he can sincerely trust that everything is his, and if necessary, he will quit drinking on his own at any time.
In fact, by this time, physical dependence has had time to develop. Toxic ethanol penetrates into tissues and internal organs, takes an active part in metabolism. Alcohol becomes necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as soon as its levels drop, a person begins to experience severe withdrawal symptoms. The easiest way to deal with them is to take another dose of alcohol. This leads to prolonged drinking, developmental dependence, and the emergence of chronic diseases.
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 quit drinking, the possibility of relapse will be very high.
Mandatory treatment alternatives
To get the consent of the alcoholic, the relative should intervene. To do this, all family members must unite and act together:
- Reject ultimatums, threats and scandals. This will not help convince the alcoholic to quit. Instead, a person may become more withdrawn into himself.
- Any help with problems caused by alcoholism should be withheld until the patient has agreed to accept 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 worsen, and alcoholism moves to the next stage.
- Instead, you need to pre-select a drug treatment clinic.
- Take advantage of situations when the patient is experiencing withdrawal symptoms. They were in so much pain that most agreed to see a doctor to end their suffering.
Another way is to contact psycho-motivators from a drug therapy clinic. They conduct secret conversations at home, they are well aware of the psychological peculiarities of alcoholics in order to achieve an outcome.
Motivation to get rid of addiction
A frank conversation will help the alcoholic make important choices and agree to go through all the stages of complex therapy. Meanwhile, relatives will be able to give important arguments and motives to convince a person to make this responsible decision. These motives may include:
- Children and Families - Waiting or planning to have children is not appropriate for alcoholism, nor is it for raising young children. For some, the deciding factor is the emergence of a real and tangible threat of loss of family.
- A health condition, when diseases are just beginning to be detected in a person, internal organs are gradually damaged, systemic organs occur in the body, which becomes clear evidence that it is necessary tomust stop.
- Occupation began to suffer greatly due to addiction. The prospect of job loss, all achieved earlier in the professional field, becomes a good motivator. Drinking alcohol over time inevitably affects success at work: reduced brain activity, weakened sense of responsibility, loose discipline.
- Fame doesn't usually become the main reason to quit drinking, but it does. At a minimum, this argument should be used in conjunction with other incentives for alcoholics to give up alcohol. If the patient is chronically addicted, self-esteem loses value due to severe psychological changes and personality deterioration.
- Mental or physical fatigue due to systemic alcohol use. In some cases, it can be achieved that a person has an objective view of himself from the outside, realizing the meaninglessness and hopelessness of the situation. The main thing can be the fact that the patient no longer derives pleasure from alcohol, from the previous satisfaction, no trace remains.
- Significant changes in life. In this case, a clear awareness of the opacity of current reality and a desire to radically change things should play a role.
After obtaining voluntary and informed consent to complex alcoholism treatment, you need to move on to the treatment stages. The program is developed on an individual basis, taking into account the psychological and physiological characteristics of the patient. Regular meetings with a psychotherapist are organized, if necessary, to maintain an appropriate level of motivation.
How to start addiction treatment?
Patients and their loved ones should prepare for a battle against alcoholism that will take a long time - about a year on average. First, doctors are doing everything they can to free the body from alcohol residue and ethanol toxins.
For this, drug withdrawal is done if the patient cannot simply endure a week without alcohol. They do the same when they withdraw from drinking.
The patient is given a dropper with strong medicines in the form of a solution. There are two reasons why you may not be able to organize your own diffuse therapy, even if you read many posts on the Internet:
- Only an experienced doctor, based on the results of an expedited diagnosis, can determine which drug should be put into the dropper, what dose should be taken.
- Mostly, when getting rid of an alcoholic and cleansing the body of toxins, people use strong drugs, which can only be purchased at a pharmacy with a doctor's prescription.
The dropper is placed for about two hours. All this time, the narrator is at the side of the alcoholic, monitoring the indicators of vital organs. Leaving home, he left medicine for relatives a few days later, advising what to do when the patient regained consciousness.
Diagnose
To decide which method of alcohol withdrawal to use, you need to conduct a comprehensive examination. It allows you to accurately diagnose the patient, establishing all the existing risk factors.
Diagnosis includes examination and questioning of the patient, appointment of laboratory tests. The combination of these measures allows you to set:
- addiction stage;
- psychophysiological characteristics;
- How long a person has been drinking and how often, what type of alcoholic beverage he prefers;
- if the first treatment is not indicated past experience, for whatever reason there is a relapse;
- co-existing chronic diseases and dangerous disorders;
- allergic reaction;
- intolerance to the individual components of the drug;
- the patient's level of motivation, the degree to which he wants to get rid of the addiction.
After evaluating the results obtained, during consultation, the therapist will discuss with the patient and family a comprehensive treatment program, making recommendations on how to implement effective therapy. most fruitful.
Encode
The next step in the fight against alcoholism is coding. Doctors use pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Diagnostics only helps determine which options will be effective and safe.
Coding alcohol can be done at home or in a hospital. It all depends on the patient's condition and the recommendations of the attending physician. Common encryption methods for drinking include:
- Implants or other methods of delivering drugs based on disulfiram into the body. The active ingredient that blocks the liver enzymes responsible for breaking down ethanol toxins into water and carbon dioxide is completely harmless to humans. When this does not happen, the depressed patient will experience severe symptoms of intoxication. The patient's condition deteriorated markedly in just a few minutes, even after drinking only a small amount of alcohol. This is an effective method of prohibition therapy, since a person forms a stable psychological barrier. He constantly remembered that he could die if he dared to drink alcohol. The possibility of death is high if an effective antidote is not given 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 ingredient blocks receptors in the brain, which are responsible for creating a feeling of euphoria when drinking alcohol. As a result, if the patient, after coding, still dares to drink, he simply won't feel anything. Because of this, he will decide to give up alcohol, as it is pointless, at least for the duration of coding.
- A psychotherapeutic technique based on immersing the patient in a state of deep hypnosis. In this position, the patient's ability to suggest is greatly increased, while he is fully aware of where he is, what is happening to him. An experienced doctor offers clear guidelines on alcohol aversion and healthy lifestyle in the future.
Coding time ranges from a few months to five years. Often they choose a coding period of one year, which is just enough time to stop drinking, the patient has managed to realize the benefits of a sober life, going through the remaining phases of the therapy. complex law.
Psychological recovery
To consolidate the effect achieved after coding, it is necessary to undergo a psychological rehabilitation course in the inpatient department of a narcolepsy clinic. If previous stages of treatment could be held at home, hospitalization is now required. This is the only way to eliminate the possibility of relapse, to protect a person from negative social influences from the outside.
During psychological recovery, it is possible to eventually eliminate physical and psychological cravings for alcohol. For this, the following techniques are used:
- Individual and group psychotherapy sessions help patients understand their problems, learn to deal with life's difficulties, and be happy without alcohol.
- The 12-Step Rehabilitation Program is an effective technique that originated in the United States. It is based on acknowledging helplessness in the face of solving a problem, accepting help from a Higher Power (it could be a religion or a mentor - an alcoholic who hassuccessfully cured by this program).
- The Day Top Rehabilitation Program is based on self-healing, the doctor has a viewing position.
- Family psychotherapy helps not only the alcoholic, but also his loved ones, when they develop dependence, helps to restore relationships in the family.
To exclude recurrence, after discharge, each patient received post-rehabilitation psychological support.