Alcoholism, one of the varieties of drug addiction, was recognized by official medicine in 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, may suffer from prolonged binges lasting several days, or drink a certain amount of alcohol every day "out of fatigue", to relieve stress or simply to relax.
How to stop drinking and what are the dangers of alcoholism?
Most people suffering from alcohol addiction are not fully aware of the dangers of this disease. They don't believe that just returning to a sober lifestyle can save them from health problems, so they aren't going to stop drinking alcohol. The question of how to get rid of alcoholism often worries their relatives, who turn to specialists for help.
To understand the danger of chronic alcoholism for health, it is worth remembering the serious diseases that develop in any alcoholic after several years of persistent alcohol addiction. The main place among them is occupied by:
- from the digestive system: gastritis, ulcer, enterocolitis;
- from the cardiovascular system: cardiomyopathy or cardialgia;
- from the liver: cirrhosis or hepatitis;
- of the brain: alcoholic pellagra, Morel's disease;
- of the psyche: delirium (delirium tremens) or psychosis.
Among the causes of a serious deterioration in health leading to premature death, one can name pancreatitis, a specific disease of alcoholics, which can quickly lead to the development of a cancerous tumor in the pancreas. If a person with alcohol addiction, despite the developing disease, continues to drink alcohol regularly and uncontrollably, he will have no more than ten years to live.
A person who is drunk does not control his actions, which is why drunk drivers and pedestrians are often to blame for traffic accidents. Most crimes are committed by people addicted to alcohol.
Social problems of alcoholics.
For a person who begins to drink regularly and uncontrollably, alcohol replaces family, work and hobbies. Gradually becoming amorphous, his life flows in a vicious circle, from pile to pile through the hangover stage. 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 and laxity.
- Behavioral deviation. People who drink constantly, unable to forget their bad habit, acquire asocial character traits, often resort to physical and moral humiliation of their loved ones, stealing money and valuables from their home.
Active alcoholization, which has been occurring in recent years in our society, not only causes health problems among drinkers and a deterioration in the quality of life of society as a whole, but also high mortality among young people.
How to convince an alcoholic to stop smoking?
Due to the negative effect of ethanol on the brain, a drinker can perceive any information only unilaterally: he hears and sees what he wants, and ignores everything else. Only information penetrates into his consciousness that is not capable of damaging the friendship with the "Green Snake". An alcoholic not only does not think about stopping abusing alcohol, but also does not categorically recognize the existence of a disease such as alcoholism.
It is impossible to force an addict to stop drinking for any reason by hanging posters on the walls about the harm alcoholism causes. It is easier to familiarize the addict with the dangerous facts of the harm that alcohol causes, then he will probably begin to think about how to quit the habit that is causing irreparable damage to her health in order to return to a sober life. Facts that can help an alcoholic get back on the path to sobriety include:
- To "earn" cirrhosis, a person who drinks regularly only needs between 10 and 20 years;
- having forgotten about alcohol at the stage of damage to internal organs, an alcoholic can live about 10 more years, but if he does not stop abusing, death will come much earlier;
- A person who becomes an alcoholic before turning thirty is guaranteed that she will end up in a grave when she turns fifty.
Yes, these facts can affect an uncontrollable drinker and force him to quit, but it is better if the motivation for alcoholism treatment is carried out by an experienced psychologist. The 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 her family. Then a motivational conversation takes place. The result of professional motivation in 98% of cases is the emergence in the addict of the desire to give up his addiction and he makes the voluntary decision to undergo treatment.
Is it dangerous to treat alcoholism on your own?
Unfortunately, the question of how to quit alcohol abuse does not concern people addicted to alcohol, but their loved ones. It is the relatives of alcoholics, exhausted by their habitual alcohol consumption and aware of the futility of persuading them to undergo treatment, who seek information on how to stop drinking. It should be said right away that self-medication for alcoholism, which is a fairly common practice in our modern society, represents 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 quit, and self-medication of alcoholism, especially without the patient's knowledge, is dangerous because:
- The use of medications that eliminate the desire to drink alcohol regularly, or that cause negative somatic reactions to alcohol, not only in its taste, but also in its smell, without the prescription of a qualified narcologist, represents a serious threat to health. and the life of the alcoholic. By secretly giving the patient medications selected at his expense, his loved ones expose him to the danger of developing serious somatic diseases and exacerbating chronic diseases.
- Folk remedies with which it is impossible to drink alcohol due to immediate vomiting can provoke an acute allergic reaction in the form of suffocation. Dysfunction of the respiratory system quickly leads to asphyxiation and, in most cases, ends in premature death, since the ambulance does not have time to arrive due to the immediate increase in clinical symptoms.
In addition, such treatment, not supervised by a doctor, can have the following irreversible consequences:
- worsening mental problems;
- cause injury to people around him or himself;
- the emergence of suicidal tendencies and suicide.
To avoid such consequences, you need to convince your loved one, who has begun to drink heavily, to go to a specialized clinic. This should be done as soon as possible, when the first signs appear that a family member is developing an addiction to alcohol. It must be remembered that a person with a chronic addiction can stop drinking alcohol only after completing a full rehabilitation course. Delaying it could be fatal.
Professional methods for treating alcoholism in a private clinic.
The question of how to get sober with the help of professionals is of interest to 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 that are used in our clinic. After the alcoholic is admitted to the hospital, he is prescribed a full diagnostic examination. During the process it is revealed:
- general condition of the patient;
- stage of addiction development;
- the presence of damage caused to internal organs and psyche by alcohol.
Based on the results obtained, each patient is assigned an individual treatment regimen, but all selected measures are included in several general stages.
Cleansing the body
Without this stage it is impossible to start complete alcoholism treatment. Detoxification is carried out by infusing absorption solutions (binding toxins). These are added to individually prescribed medications to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms present in a particular alcoholic. If necessary, non-drug detoxification can be performed: plasmapheresis, hemosorption, hemodialysis.
Regenerative drug therapy
Patients with alcohol dependence admitted for treatment in our hospital are additionally prescribed a course of restorative and restorative therapy. Medicines, individually selected by specialists collaborating with the Neoplus clinic, will quickly allow you to:
- restore internal organs damaged by the breakdown 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, psychosis, epilepsy, etc. , specialized specialists who collaborate with our clinic prescribe additional therapies aimed at treating them or maintaining them in a state of remission. .
Psychological rehabilitation
The main and longest stage of alcoholism treatment, without which it is not possible to cope with this disease, which forces a person to constantly drink alcohol. The psychotherapeutic treatment protocol includes:
- group psychological training;
- individual lessons, conversations and consultations with a psychologist;
- The 12 Step program has long demonstrated its high degree of effectiveness.
In addition, our psychologists carry out free work with codependent relatives of patients, aimed at preventing a possible nervous breakdown after discharge from the clinic.
Resocialization
This stage consists of reestablishing connections with society lost during the time the addict consumed alcohol, which is effective prevention of relapse after treatment and a guarantee that the person will be able to stop drinking alcohol forever. Therapeutic programs used at this stage include:
- detailed analysis of problems and irritants that lead to breakdowns;
- Simulation study of situations that can cause a relapse of the disease.
Our social workers and psychologists help patients change unfavorable behavior patterns, break away from their previous environment, regain 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, this does not mean that she has managed to quit forever. There is no advice on how to quit alcohol on your own. The only way out for an alcoholic to stop drinking is a consultation with an experienced narcologist and full treatment in an inpatient drug treatment clinic. Help from specialists can make a person consciously want to stop drinking alcohol. The success of treatment depends on how strong the patient's desire to quit 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 should learn to relax using non-alcoholic methods: find a hobby, play sports, etc. If you are worried about insomnia and anxiety, you should consult a psychotherapist in 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.