In Hungary, literally every third family knows on their own skin how terrible alcoholism is when a close and kind husband becomes addicted. Thousands of women are wondering how to get their husbands to stop drinking, especially when someone is unaware of the problem and is not trying to fight the disease on their own. Let’s talk about what techniques you can use to save yourself and your spouse from alcoholism.
What is alcoholism?
There is an opinion that alcoholism can be cured by a simple voluntary decision, and if a person is drinking, they simply do not want to change anything. First, we question this theory because alcoholism is the most real disease. Addiction can be characterized as both physical and psychological.
Physiologically, the body is exposed to toxic substances, as a result of which the metabolism is upset and all internal organs suffer. It breaks down the brain and with it the central nervous system. The alcoholic suffers from poor health between alcohol consumption, does not perceive reality properly, suffers from memory loss.
From a psychological point of view, the alcoholic "swamp" is no less dangerous - the alcoholic who drinks every day gets used to the carelessness, euphoria he feels at the moment of taking ethanol, his sense of responsibility is erased. Addicted people often lose their faces and moral character, after which the people around them turn away from them. The many drunks who could not be healed or saved - dirt, the same alcoholics and death in the future.
Obviously, no one wants your life to become such a nightmare. So alcoholism is a disease! If your husband is an alcoholic and you love him, be patient and help him cope with the disease.
The inner strength to quit alcohol
Let’s go back to the theory that any alcoholic, independently and without help, can stop drinking forever, all it takes is willpower and character. The statement is only partially true in cases where the addiction is purely psychological in nature and has not yet elicited physiological changes in the body.
At home, a husband can only be weaned from alcohol and drunkenness if alcohol consumption has not degenerated into uncontrolled, systematic villages without which one feels ill and is ready to sell his soul for a strong drink. When alcoholism has evolved into a physical attachment, people usually don’t want to fight it. Alcohol gives them back euphoria and moral satisfaction, eliminates poor health, and falsely normalizes blood pressure, heart rate, and mental cleanliness. As soon as the ethanol begins to be depleted from the body, the malaise returns and the drunk reaches for the cherished fluid again and drinks alcohol. In such cases, the intervention of professionals is necessary for a person to stop drinking.
So can an alcoholic stop drinking?
Not if the drinking was in the form of alcoholism and does not consist of normal, frequent household alcohol consumption.
What kind of psychological help can be effective
If you decide to save your husband from drunkenness, first think about what made her drunk. As a general rule, only those who are deeply unhappy and experience their fears and problems in silence, inside, are intoxicated. To convince your husband to stop drinking in the future, you need to understand the root of the problem and try to eliminate it:
- Try to dedicate more time to your loved one and don’t hide how much it means to you. Invent common activities and think about what your husband was addicted to before the addiction.
- Under no circumstances should you blame your husband, blackmail, threaten or shout - you will only have the opposite effect and the person will become even more introverted. Don’t think about how to teach your husband a lesson about drunkenness, but think about how to help your spouse.
- Try to speak from the heart and tell me how happy you would be if your spouse chose a sober lifestyle again.
A person who feels important and useful is more likely to want to quit alcohol.
If we talk about the need for professional help, she still has to figure out how to get her husband to stop drinking because it is almost impossible to force a man to change without her consent. In rare cases, the alcoholic himself agrees to the treatment because it means the disease is obvious and completely dominates the drunk. Your success will become more real if you are patient and gather good words and support for your husband.
Suppose she convinced her husband to seek professional help. Let’s talk about what methods are considered effective and practiced in the fight against alcoholism.
Hypnotherapy
Surely everyone has heard of coding alcoholics with hypnosis. The essence of the procedure is to put a dependent person in a trance state and suggest additional programs. With the help of real hypnosis, an experienced, trained doctor can do many things: get rid of fears and insecurities, block depression, get deep into the root cause of alcoholism.
If you have chosen hypnotherapy, be sure to find a good, trained professional who has made a name for yourself in this field. Keep in mind that there are scammers among doctors who can not only help but also harm your husband.
Read more about this direction in the article "Coding with Hypnosis from Alcoholism. "
Consider the most effective and popular hypnosis techniques:
- Autogenous training.
- Hypnosuggestion therapy.
- Anchor method.
Each one deserves attention and is famous for its effectiveness.
Autogenous training
This type of training is based on the processes of self-hypnosis, as there is tremendous potential and tremendous energy power in every personality. The method requires minimal psychotherapist intervention - the doctor will only teach the alcoholic the basics of self-hypnosis. Its job is to give impetus and steer the patient’s thinking in the right direction.
After mastering the basic techniques, the outcome of the treatment depends solely on the alcoholic himself and his desire to heal. Autogenic intervention is effective only in the early stages of alcoholism or after more serious psychological and medical assistance.
Hypnosuggestion therapy
The following technique is based on treatment during hypnotic trans or so-called hypnosis sleep. In this case, it is very important that the alcoholic is aware of the problem, sincerely wants to get rid of it, and trust the professional.
The session consists of several stages.
- Above all, it is important to build a relationship of trust between the alcoholic and the professional, because to get into a trance, one has to relax, not resist.
- After the usual conversation, the practitioner resorted to psychological techniques designed to distract the patient. At the same time, it is essential to continue the conversation. One or two techniques are enough to put one to sleep.
- Once an alcoholic enters a trance, the doctor begins to introduce certain programs to quit alcoholism.
The effectiveness of this method is individual and depends on the professionalism of the physician and the degree of patient recommendation. Relatives of some alcoholics noted that the effect began to manifest itself after the first session, when others needed a course of 3 to 6 visits.
Anchor method
This technique differs in that one does not have to immerse oneself in hypnotic sleep.
The therapist’s goal is to find and program the alcoholic’s consciousness into certain "causal" unconscious actions. Simply put, we can say a simple example: an anchor is programmed into a word or memory when the alcoholic experiences certain emotions during a "collision". Positive feelings prompt the patient to perform certain actions, negative anchors cause negative feelings, and act as a kind of stop signal.
The anchor method is effective in combination with medication and only if the alcoholic interacts and trusts the practitioner.
Group psychotherapy
Another way to stop a husband from drinking alcohol is to send him to group psychotherapy sessions, known around the world as the Alcoholics Anonymous Society.
The principle of operation of such groups is simple - in the group of patients with one disease, the classes show the alcoholic that he is not alone and many people have the same problem. "If they cope, I can, " the addict thinks, and the ice moves. Alcoholics communicate with each other, share their experiences and problems, support each other. Being in such a society is beneficial for maintaining self-examination and self-esteem.
The therapist uses play techniques to help alcoholics feel like a member of a team, which is also an important part of recovery.
The course of psychotherapy lasts for several years, the optimal number in a group is 5-10 people. The method is lengthy but very effective.
Family therapy
No less effective are family groups that aim to get rid of drunkenness through care and attention, and to teach the wives of drinking husbands to support and understand their soul mates.
Families of addicts and alcoholics gather in small groups and spend time together, which is especially valuable at a time when a person has just undergone a drug treatment and has a very hard time "recovering" themselves in society. Therapy is initially accompanied by a permanent presence, who teaches wives to support and re-evaluate their husbands, as well as various anxiety-reducing trainings. It is important to clearly remember the advice of the psychologist and show understanding. Another advantage of this method is the interaction with other families with the same problem: boththe alcoholic husband and both his wife see that they are not alone in the abyss, feel their belonging to society, become looser, more purposeful, and friendlier.
All of the techniques listed apply to psychological assistance, but often therapy cannot completely eliminate the problem of alcoholism and is used only in combination with medications.
Medication for alcoholism
Let’s talk about how to deal with your husband’s drunkenness if he doesn’t want and is willing to turn to "brainstorming" voluntarily.
Wives of alcoholics often complain that their drinking husbands categorically do not want to be treated and do not think they are sick at all. In such cases, there can be no question of professional psychological help, because even if it is possible to agree with an alcoholic husband to go to a psychotherapist, it still does a favor and is not reinforced by feedback and a desire for healing.
The solution to such situations is taking medication and inpatient treatment.
Consider in more detail the general methods of such treatment:
- Encoding. The principle of coding is to learn in the alcoholic the information that alcohol consumption can lead to poor health and even death. This involves injections, tablets and alcohol blockers, as well as electrical impulse therapy. The method is effective in any, even the most severe stage of alcoholism. The wives have a new arm - they try to scare the husband, constantly reminding them that ethanol leads to torture and death. Some people try to cure their husband of alcoholism by adding medicine to the food without her knowledge. This cannot be done categorically because allergic reactions are possible. See "Coding Alcoholism" for more information.
- Vitamin therapy. The fact that the body suffers poisoning during eating eats useful substances and enzymes. If you give the body what it needs again, the pain of withdrawal from alcohol will be significantly weakened and a person will be given new strength to fight addiction. Medicines offered to alcoholics contain large amounts of vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, C, PP - they have a tonic effect and improve the well-being of the alcoholic.
- Acupuncture is another effective treatment for alcoholism. After diagnosing the stage of the disease, the practitioner acts with acupuncture needles at different points in the body. Thus, the process of cleansing the body is activated, psychological dependence is weakened. Detailed information is provided in the article "Acupuncture for Alcoholism".
- Plasmapheresis is a device therapy that works by purifying the blood plasma. The blood is passed through a special filter and returned to the alcoholic’s body. The method is not in great demand as many are afraid to fight the disease so radically.
All of these methods are suitable for mandatory treatment that is negotiated and planned without the husband’s knowledge. It is important that the alcoholic is constantly monitored by professionals and that treatment is performed by professionals only.
Alternative treatments for alcoholism by non-traditional methods
It is essential to mention the fight against alcoholism with folk remedies. These include all kinds of tinctures and decoctions from different herbs. Here are some of them:
- Centaury
- Lovage root.
- Lavrushka.
- Apple.
- Honey.
- Rift root.
- Soda.
- Plants with vomiting effect.
Folk remedies such as extracts and infusions of worms and insects are also popular.
Psychological advice and literature to combat alcoholism
If her husband finds out she is an alcoholic and is willing to make an effort against her, the battle is considered won. Medical and psychological professionals offer books to alcoholics to help them overcome any addiction in which alcoholism comes first.
There are also a number of private offices where you can get professional help.
We looked at what to do to get the husband to stop drinking. The prognosis for recovery depends not only on the individual characteristics of your alcoholic body and your desire to heal, but also on your support and participation. Under no circumstances should you try to give your husband a lesson in rudeness and anger about drunkenness, because it will be the opposite, and the drunk will only make sure they are not loved and understood.
How can you get your husband to stop drinking? Admit that you are sick, convince your husband of this, and prove to him that you are not indifferent to his fate.