Signs of alcohol addiction

The signs of alcohol addiction have been well studied and are no secret.

We tried to briefly describe all the signs of alcohol addiction and answer the basic questions.

How to tell if a person just likes to drink or if there are signs of alcohol addiction?Is there a line between "recreational" alcohol consumption and alcohol addiction?

What are the signs of alcohol addiction?

1. Craving for alcohol.This can be manifested by the appearance of reasons that were not observed before.Waiting for a drink improves the mood, one is excited and full of enthusiasm.Beer, wine and vodka sets may appear at home.
2. Everything related to the consumption of alcoholic beverages is jealously guarded and protected.Alcoholic friends gain authority and respect.A list of excuses for your own drunkenness will appear.Life values change, moral principles are transformed.Criticism of his behavior disappears.
3. Loss of control over the amount of alcohol.An alcoholic cannot limit his alcohol consumption;unable to stop at small doses.Once he starts drinking, he drinks to the last drop (or until he passes out).
4. Do not vomit if you drink large amounts of alcohol.The gag reflex is the body's defense against alcohol poisoning.This reflex disappears when drunk.
5. Change in tolerance (sensitivity) to alcohol.In the first stage of alcoholism, it increases (a person drinks a lot and does not drink enough), it falls over time, and the alcoholic becomes intoxicated from smaller doses of strong drinks.
6. Regular drinking.It is believed that if a person rarely drinks, he is not an alcoholic.Meanwhile, drinking beer, wine, cognac or vodka regularly, even once a week, is a cause for concern.If this happens more often, then we can talk about alcoholism.

How can you identify the signs of alcohol addiction in yourself?

• Try to answer some questions honestly.
• Have you started drinking more often?Do you drink alone?Do you drink in secret from everyone?
• Are you excited about upcoming holidays or weekends when you can consume alcohol?
• Does your character change when you are sober and when you are drunk (you can ask your relatives and friends)?
• Does disorientation in time and space occur while drinking alcohol?Do you experience memory problems in the mornings after a feast?
• Have you ever had withdrawal symptoms?
• Does the thought of giving up alcohol make you angry?
• Can you reduce the amount of drink you consume?
• Have you ever had a drink?
• Have you ever had problems at home or at work because of drinking?
• Has your appearance changed recently?Do you pay attention to your clothes, your hairstyle, your appearance?
• Are you worried about your heart, liver, stomach?

Positive answers to the above questions indicate that you should seriously think about solving the problem of alcoholism.

Reasons for alcohol consumption

You've probably heard the phrase "let's have a drink and warm up" many times.In everyday life, it is believed that alcohol is a good means of warming up the body.Alcohol is called "strong drinks" for a reason.Doctors, on the contrary, believe that ulcer patients should not drink alcohol.Where is the truth?After all, a small dose of alcohol really stimulates the appetite.Or another common belief among people: alcohol excites, invigorates, improves the mood and well-being, makes the conversation more lively and interesting, which is important for a young group.It is not for nothing that they drink alcohol "against fatigue", in case of feeling unwell and at almost every celebration.At one medical congress, a resolution was passed on the dangers of alcohol: "...there is not a single organ in the human body that is not exposed to the destructive effects of alcohol; alcohol has no effect that other, more useful, safer and more reliable drugs cannot achieve; there is no painful condition for which alcohol should be prescribed for a longer period of time."So talking about the benefits of alcohol is a fairly common misconception.Take, for example, the obvious fact - the stimulation of appetite after a glass of vodka or wine.But this is only for a short time, while the alcohol causes the "igniting juice".In the future, drinking alcohol, including beer, will only harm digestion.

Alcohol

Alcohol paralyzes the functioning of important organs such as the liver and pancreas.The need for alcohol is not one of the natural needs of human life, such as the need for oxygen or food, so alcohol itself has no motivating force for humans.This need, like other human "needs" (such as smoking), arises because society produces this product on the one hand, and on the other hand "reproduces" the habits, forms, customs and prejudices related to its consumption.Of course, these habits are not the same for everyone.

The effect of alcohol on the human body

Alcohol from the stomach enters the bloodstream two minutes after consumption.The blood carries it to all the cells of the body.The cells of the cerebral hemispheres are primarily affected.A person's conditioned reflex activity deteriorates, the development of complex movements slows down, and the ratio of excitation and inhibition processes in the central nervous system changes.Under the influence of alcohol, voluntary movements are impaired, a person loses the ability to self-control.

Effects of alcohol on the nervous system

The signs of alcohol addiction begin to develop due to the peculiarities of its effect on the nervous system.The penetration of alcohol into the cells of the frontal lobe of the cortex releases a person's emotions, unreasonable joy, foolish laughter and easy judgment appear.After the increasing excitation of the cerebral cortex, a sharp weakening of the inhibitory processes occurs.The cortex no longer controls the work of the lower parts of the brain.A person loses his restraint and modesty, says and does things that he would never say or do in his right mind.Each new dose of alcohol increasingly paralyzes the higher nerve centers, as if connecting them and not allowing them to interfere with the activity of the lower parts of the brain: the coordination of movements is interrupted, for example, eye movement (objects begin to double), and an uncomfortable, startling gait appears.In case of any alcohol consumption, disruption of the nervous system and internal organs can be observed: single, episodic and systematic.

Where does drunkenness begin?

The need for alcohol is not one of the natural needs of human life, such as the need for water or food, so alcohol itself does not motivate a person.So what is the cause of alcohol consumption?

Before the age of 11, the first acquaintance with alcohol happens either by accident, or it is given to "appetite", it is "treated" with wine, or the child tries alcohol himself out of curiosity (a motive mainly typical for boys).At an older age, traditional reasons first become the motive for alcohol consumption: "holiday", "family holiday", "guests", etc.

From the age of 14-15, reasons such as "it was inconvenient to be behind the boys", "friends talked me into it", "company", "courage", etc. appear.Boys are characterized by these motives for their first acquaintance with alcohol.For girls, the second, "traditional" group of motifs is mainly typical.This is usually what happens, so to speak, an "innocent" drink in honor of a birthday or other celebration.And although this is done with the consent of the parents, it is still dangerous to introduce children to wine in the family circle.After all, once alcohol is touched, the psychological barrier is removed, and the teenager considers himself entitled to drink with friends or even alone if the opportunity arises.No wonder people say, "Rivers begin with the stream, and drunkenness begins with a glass."

Alcohol is a common topic for those who don't know.A group gathered, everyone somewhat restrained.They've been drinking - you see, they're already laughing, dancing, getting to know each other, having fun.Gradually, alcohol becomes an indispensable attribute of communication.Alcohol quickly and easily creates the illusion of psychological safety and a problem-free existence.A person gets used to this illusory way of solving problems, and turns from real actions more and more to withdrawing into an alcoholic haze.

Where is the limit?

An alcoholic is a person who suffers from alcoholism.The development of the disease is usually preceded by more or less prolonged periodic alcohol consumption.This period is called the period of alcoholism in medicine.The beginning of the disease is considered to be the transition to systematic, daily alcohol consumption.The answers to the following questions will help you determine the extent of your tendency to alcoholism.Try to answer them honestly.

1. Have I tried to limit my alcohol consumption more than once?
2. Do I feel guilty because I drink?
3. Do I drink alcohol in the morning to relieve a hangover?
4. Do I find it difficult to tolerate my coworkers and loved ones criticizing my drinking?

If you answered yes to at least two questions, you are at risk and should take appropriate action as soon as possible.

Signs of alcohol addiction is a disease

There is a reasonable question that is easy to ask when looking at an alcoholic person from the outside: "If you have signs of alcohol dependence and have a problem with alcohol, then why don't you stop drinking? Stop - that's all."The first obvious answer: "No willpower" is incorrect.It is not only weak-willed people who suffer from alcoholism and cannot stop, but also those who achieve success, know how to deal with problems and know how to win.The point is not that the will is weak, but that the enemy is strong.Alcoholism is a serious chronic disease, and in most cases it is difficult to cure.It develops on the basis of regular and long-term alcohol consumption and is characterized by a specific pathological state of the body: uncontrollable craving for alcohol, changes in tolerance and personality degradation.Alcoholism develops according to the following scheme:

Initial phase: poisoning with memory loss, "eclipse".A person constantly thinks about alcohol, it seems to him that he has not drunk enough, he drinks for later use, and he develops a craving for alcohol.However, he remains conscious of his guilt and avoids talking about his cravings for alcohol.

Critical phase: loss of self-control after the first sip of alcohol.The desire to find an excuse to drink is a resistance to any attempt to prevent your desire to drink.Arrogance and aggressiveness develop in a person.He blames others for his troubles.He starts drinking and becomes friends with random drinking buddies.He is forced to leave his permanent job and loses interest in everything that has nothing to do with alcohol.

Chronic phase: daily hangovers, personality disintegration, memory loss, thought disorder.People drink alcohol substitutes, technical fluids and cologne.He develops unfounded fears, delirium tremens and other alcoholic psychoses.One of the typical complications of excessive drinking is delirium tremens.Delirium tremens is the most common alcoholic psychosis.It usually occurs in a hangover state, when the drunk develops inexplicable fear, insomnia, trembling hands, nightmares (chases, attacks, etc.), auditory and visual illusions in the form of noises, bells, and the movement of shadows.Symptoms of delirium tremens occur especially at night.The patient begins to experience vivid experiences of a frightening nature.The Drunk, for example, seems to have a conspiracy against him.Seeing no way out of this situation, he may commit suicide.

Alcohol and people

The signs of alcohol addiction and the effect of alcohol on a person are immediately noticeable.And if you ask drinkers how often they drink, most will say it's not regular.However, people have a restless night even after consuming alcohol once, and in the morning they wake up broken, with a swollen face and a headache.The working day is usually ruined, and if a person's work is related to machines, such as machine tools or cars, then note that the risk of an accident or even a disaster increases significantly on this day.In the case of intellectual workers, after consuming alcohol, their thinking process deteriorates significantly, the speed and accuracy of calculations decreases, and, as they say, their work falls out of their hands.So, even after irregular, accidental alcohol consumption, serious problems arise in the body, which indicates serious poisoning.If alcohol consumption becomes systematic, a person drinks at any time, looking for any reason to get drunk, then this is already called household drunkenness.To a drunkard, the meaning of the festive event does not matter;he doesn't care if others approve of his behavior.At this stage of initiation into alcohol, the drinker's attitude towards others and the generally accepted and acceptable norms of behavior changes significantly.Signs of alcohol addiction are actively developing.For a drunkard, his closest people are his drinking buddies, even if they are meeting at a table for the first time.The time, place and environment in which people drink are less important.Thus, the difference between occasional drinking and drunkenness lies not only in the amount consumed at once, but also in the psychological attitude of the drinker.In the first case, a person is celebrating some solemn or significant event, and in the second, he drinks just to get drunk.Preventing someone from drinking in time prevents them from falling and developing alcoholism.

What does it mean to suffer from a chronic disease?

This means that it is difficult to reverse the signs of alcohol addiction and the metabolic changes caused by systematic alcohol consumption in the body.Those.for the rest of your life, the body is "ready" to restore the whole picture the first time you drink alcohol.Signs of alcohol dependence return quickly, even if this occurs many years or even decades after cessation of alcohol consumption.

Can alcoholism be cured?

Yes and no.No - in that it will never be possible to start "cultural drinking" again.The brain's metabolic processes are disrupted and the normal response to alcohol is never restored.Any consumption of alcohol will inevitably lead to malfunction, either immediately or after a while.If metabolic disorders occur, consider that your barrel or container is drunk.Even many years of abstinence does not allow him to count on the fact that "the body is cleansed" and he will be able to drink civilly.

Yes - in the sense that complete and indefinite long-term abstinence from alcohol is possible even in the case of severe alcoholism.Man is not just a physical body.And his psyche consists not only of what the disease has brought, but also contains untapped resources.A person is characterized by higher moral feelings - the desire for love, beauty and harmony.Having done long and hard work on yourself (with help, of course), developed psychologically and spiritually, a person is able to change his attitude to alcohol and give it up forever.But of course we can only talk about absolute sobriety.To drink or not to drink - alcoholism leaves no third option.With their own unwavering determination, with medical help, even very serious patients can achieve amazing results.

What should be done if the patient does not agree to the treatment?

If there are signs of alcohol dependence, it is imperative to constantly try to convince the patient of the need for therapy.This requires the joint effort of all those interested and important to the patient (relatives, friends, spouses, employees, teachers, etc.).There is a specially developed method of encouraging an alcoholic to seek help, which is called "intervention".All of the participants in the intervention (parents, spouse, child, boss) try to help the patient recognize the presence of the problem, reporting on the changes that have occurred in him and the changes in his life caused by alcohol consumption.When the desired result is achieved, they offer a solution - treatment in a specific medical institution, a rehabilitation program.This method often requires the assistance of a psychotherapist to coordinate and dose the efforts of the actors.

Is it possible to treat without the patient's consent?

In our country, assistance to patients suffering from alcoholism is regulated by our country's law "On psychiatric care of the population and the rights of citizens in its care".According to the law, the treatment of a patient who is a drug addict, drug user or alcoholic is based on his voluntary consent.Treatment without the patient's consent is carried out only with a court order, if the citizen is held criminally liable.

As mentioned earlier, alcoholism is a disease and, like any disease, requires thorough and long-term treatment.For the dubious "specialists" who treat alcoholism "with the help of a photograph" "without the patient's knowledge", it is a waste of time on the one hand, and on the other hand, it instills in the patient a belief in the incurability of the disease.

What does it mean to help the patient overcome?

Such assistance consists of several stages.First, the patient needs help during the "abstinence" period.This problem is usually solved by doctors, preferably with medication or in a psychiatric hospital.After 5-10 days, the so-called post-withdrawal period begins, which lasts up to 1.5 months.There are two approaches to treating patients at this stage.

The first is the continuation of the patient's drug treatment in order to stabilize his mental and physical condition: improving mood, restoring sleep, reducing the severity of the desire for alcohol (so-called craving) and correcting behavioral disorders.It is recommended that during this period the patient is isolated from his usual environment and stays in a hospital environment.

Another approach to treating patients in the post-abstinence period is psychotherapeutically focused and involves immediately enrolling the patient in a psychotherapeutically managed rehabilitation program, either in a hospital setting or a rehabilitation center.

The third stage is rehabilitation.It is usually done on an outpatient basis.Patients continue to work on the chosen program, attend psychotherapy groups or self-help groups.The goal of rehabilitation is to teach the patient suffering from alcoholism to live without alcohol.

Is it possible to quit drinking at home?

It is preferable to treat the patient during the alcohol withdrawal phase in a medical hospital under round-the-clock medical supervision.Home care only worsens the course of the disease.The disease not only worsens, but serious accompanying diseases also develop.In addition, it will be much more difficult to convince the patient to carry out full-fledged therapy.

How to "code"?

As already mentioned, the power of alcohol addiction is very great.The attraction to its use often exceeds even the fear of mortal danger.Coding doesn't help everyone last a while.It cannot be considered as an independent method in the treatment of patients suffering from alcoholism.Rather, it gives some patients time to start working on themselves, develop psychologically and spiritually, and join one or another rehabilitation program.The method has a very important negative side - it is the substitution of one's own will and responsibility for abstinence from alcohol and behavior in general with an artificially imposed attitude.

What are the results of treating patients with alcoholism?

The effectiveness of helping people suffering from alcoholism is the same worldwide.Help limited to the first stage ("withdrawal from binge drinking" or "coding") produces very low results.But completing a rehabilitation program for patients increases the efficiency of care almost tenfold.

After how long can we talk about the reliability of the achieved result?

Experts dealing with the problem of alcoholism agree that the process of psychological and social recovery takes about 5 years.It is very important that the recovering person does not stop his psychological and spiritual development in the future.

Chemical protection methods

"Torpedo".It is one of the most famous and widespread radical methods of treating alcoholism.A group of drugs is administered intravenously and deposited in the patient's tissues.The method does not have a negative effect on the body, it only reduces the desire for alcohol, but when it comes into contact with alcohol, it forms a strong toxin that can cause serious health problems or even death.

"Neurophysical blockade" is a treatment method that uses a weak pulse current to specific parts of the brain.In this way, it achieves a normalizing effect on the state of the central nervous system and a regulatory effect on other systems of the body.As a result of the treatment, cravings for alcohol are suppressed, irritability, anger and aggression are reduced.

"Acupuncture" is one of the most ancient and proven methods of treating alcohol, drug and nicotine addiction.Selection of points, method of influencing them (needles, electromagnetic waves, laser).

"Biological Coding".The most reliable method of radical treatment of alcohol addiction.After the intravenous administration of the medicine, it is recommended to drink a small amount of alcohol to check the effectiveness, i.e. the incompatibility between alcohol and the administered medicine can be demonstrated.This method makes it possible to dispel doubts and give the patient confidence in the high efficiency and reliability of the anti-alcohol drug.Coding is done only in an intensive care unit or intensive care unit;It is forbidden to consume food and liquids 3 hours before the procedure.

Intramuscular administration of a long-acting anti-alcohol drug that suppresses the desire for alcohol.In addition, the drug is an extremely effective therapeutic agent (increases human immunity, improves the functioning of the liver and brain).Within 3 days, the medicine adapts to the person.After that, the drug is "released" into the blood at a frequency depending on the patient's biorhythm, for a period determined by the patient.

Implantation of the drug is a reliable method of treating alcoholism that has been proven for decades.In 1996, France restarted the production of a medicine that reacts more strongly and for a longer time to alcohol with new, advanced technology.The operation is performed in hospital conditions using asepsis and antisepsis.After anesthesia with novocaine, the drug is introduced through the skin incision and the incision is sutured.