Alcohol addiction has long been recognized as a serious disease.Alcoholism– multifactorial chronic pathology often accompanied by mental and physiological disorders. The mechanism of turning a bad habit into a dangerous disease is constantly being studied, trying to determine its connection with the genetic characteristics, lifestyle and character of a person.
According to WHO statistics, about 140 million men and women suffer from alcoholism in the world. The disease knows no age limit. Today, even teenagers and old people drink alcohol. Alcohol addiction causes loss of behavioral control, increased drinking, aggression during sudden withdrawal, and prolonged bouts of drinking.Alcoholiche gradually loses his family, friends, and career. His contact with society is cut off, his interest narrows down to drinking, personal degradation begins.
Not only the alcoholic suffers from alcoholism, but also his relatives. The family has to endure the inappropriate behavior of the husband and father, get used to spending too much of the family budget on alcohol, and endure domestic violence. Often a woman is addicted to strong drinks. In such cases, treatment will be difficult and long, because the fair sex is more emotionally dependent on alcohol. In any case, a person with alcohol addiction needs urgent drug treatment.
Signs of alcoholism
Alcohol addiction is a progressive condition that causes severe clinical symptoms. Focusing on the firstsigns of alcoholism, you should not ignore them or expect the alcohol to stop drinking on its own. It won't happen. The disease requires medical intervention - only an experienced narcologist can guide a person on the path to recovery.
The following signs indicate the development of alcoholism:
- any happy or sad event is a reason to drink;
- the need for alcoholic beverages increases every day;
- the dose required to get drunk increases;
- memory disturbances appear after drinking libations;
- the protective gag reflex, which previously saved the body from intoxication, disappears;
- withdrawal syndrome appears - after a party, a healthy person does not feel the desire to be hungover.
Alcohol addiction in teenagers occurs faster than in adults due to physiological immaturity. Addiction often occurs in people who grew up in an alcoholic family and consider this lifestyle normal. Alcohol cravings occur against the background of chronic stress, family or professional problems, loneliness, and in some cases very stable and emotionally unsatisfied leisure time.
Alcoholics often do not admit that they are sick. It seems to him that alcohol is the source of all problems and does no harm. This is self-deception. It is important that your loved ones knowhow to help an alcoholic, stop the disease before critical results appear.
Harm of alcohol
Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages negatively affects all internal organs and systems of a person, and at the same time reduces life. The central nervous system and the brain are primarily affected. Ethanol and its breakdown products cause neuronal death. Cells do not regenerate, the most important nerve connections are disrupted. Doctors say that alcoholics develop microscopic ulcers and scars on the brain surface. Long-term drinking causes deterioration of cognitive functions, loss of short-term memory, auditory and visual hallucinations.
Internal organs suffer from toxic substances. Alcoholics are more likely to be hospitalized with heart attacks and strokes, and die of liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. In men and women, the sexual function is disturbed and they cannot give birth to a healthy child. Alcohol has a big impact on the gastrointestinal tract. Varicose veins of the esophagus are formed, intestinal walls are deformed, gastric ulcer and colitis are provoked. Ifalcoholism treatmentif it does not start in time, the patient is doomed to die.
How to help an alcoholic to understand the problem?
If a person suffers from alcoholism, he needs help from the outside. It is important that close relatives understand that there is no need to play rescuer at this stage. You cannot put moral pressure on an alcoholic, scold him or keep him under constant control. Instilling guilt for drunken behavior will not have a positive effect on the situation. There is no need to try to solve a drunkard's problems. Such relationships are called mutual dependence. This is not the norm.
How to help an alcoholic understand the problem? People close to the patient should develop behavioral tactics that will allow them to establish special relationships. In the process of communication, the alcoholic himself must understand:
- how bad is drinking alcohol for him?
- how his drunken lifestyle negatively affects his family and work;
- how health deteriorates due to constant intoxication;
- what will happen if you do not stop poisoning the body with ethanol.
The intervention is the only true and effective way for the patient to look at himself from the outside without being gratuitous and oppressive. It is often used by narcologists to encourage the patient to go to the clinic for adequate treatment.
How to help an alcoholic to get rid of alcohol?
Drinking too much is a dangerous situation. Long-term use of alcoholic beverages is fraught with serious intoxication. Ethanol poisons the body, its decomposition products do not have time to be removed by the liver and excretory system, and toxins accumulate. If you stop drinking suddenly, the alcoholic will experience severe withdrawal symptoms that can lead to vital organ failure, especially in critical cases.
Relatives of drunkards should remember that hangovers are hard to bear. During this period, the patient is looking for a new dose. Without acceptance, he becomes depressed or aggressive. There are often cases of physical violence against weaker family members - wives, old mothers, children. An attempt to shame him, to direct him to the path of sobriety, will be met with hostility and will cause anger.
not knowinghow to help stop drinking alcohol? Do not risk his health. Contact experienced narcologists who will ease the patient's condition, both physically and psycho-emotionally, slowly and without stress. Only a specialist can teach a patient to look at his life from a different angle through professional intervention. The doctor will work with the alcoholic alone or together with a psychologist. An integrated approach always gives good results. Even if consent to further treatment is not obtained immediately, the process of accepting the problem of addiction has already begun subconsciously. Often after that, the patient voluntarily transfers control of alcohol consumption to the helping party.
How to help a person who drinks?
The duration of the binge is 4-10 days. In particularly severe cases, an alcoholic may drink for a month or more before his body stops responding to ethanol. During this period, the patient does not work, does not follow the rules of personal hygiene, does not eat normally. The consequences of such long-term intoxication are critical, as they affect well-being, health and appearance.
How to help an alcoholicand is it even possible to do that? You won't be able to cope with withdrawal symptoms on your own. Drinking plenty of fluids, sedatives, and moral support can alleviate the situation, but this is not enough when giving up excessive drinking.
In a hospital hospital or at home, a narcologist will conduct detoxification, prescribe drugs to stabilize the condition, quickly remove toxins and relieve stress on the internal organs. The patient will be under the supervision of medical personnel and, if necessary, emergency care will be provided. Narcologists and psychologists knowHowhelp you stop drinking alcohol, and successfully copes with this difficult task.
How to help an alcoholic at home?
A short drinking session (drinking less than 3 days) can be eliminated on its own.How to help an alcoholic at home:
- drink plenty of water - at least 2. 5 liters per day;
- include fruits high in ascorbic acid or vitamin C in your diet;
- organize the intake of sorbents, for example, activated carbon or silicone-based preparations;
- give the patient simple sedatives - valerian, sedative drops;
- provide a bland diet rich in vegetables, grains and protein.
However, even if your health improves and the alcoholic swears to stop drinking, it is recommended not to miss the opportunity to receive effective treatment at an inpatient drug clinic.
How to help an alcoholic?
In some cases, it is the only effective methodCoding of alcoholism. Turning to narcologists and psychologists will be a real salvation from a sad outcome. Doctors will be able to find words so that the patient independently understands the seriousness of the situation and makes a voluntary decision for treatment. After detoxification, the specialist will choose the most suitable coding method and radically change the alcoholic's life for the better.
Does the patient refuse to visit the clinic? Call a narcologist to your home. The referring doctor will perform all procedures in comfortable conditions for the alcoholic, guaranteeing 100% anonymity.