Alcoholism is one of the most discussed topics. It threatens family relationships and society as a whole. It is not surprising that after some time the patient's relatives are wondering how to get the person to stop drinking?
Reasons for alcohol addiction
Before you figure out how to help a person stop drinking, you need to understand why they drink. By isolating the root cause, you have a better chance of curing the person's persuasion. More often, the onset of alcoholism is psychological dependence, so it is important to help the person understand that this is an addiction, not a habit. In most cases, there are four reasons why people start drinking:
- for company;
- relieving stress;
- boredom;
- out of habit.
A popular reason why a person begins to suffer from alcoholism is drinking for the company. Being the only teetotaler among friends, it is difficult to maintain an adamant attitude. For some, especially teenagers, it is a matter of honor to support the company in an endeavor.
When a person is not surrounded by a rosy atmosphere, and constant problems at work, he begins to drink alcohol in order to relieve this stressful pressure. When drinking strong feelings, negative emotions, it may seem for a second that the problem does not exist. In fact, it will not disappear anywhere if you do not make a decision on it. As a result, a possible way out in such a situation has to be looped. As soon as the intoxication passes, the person again plunges into negative emotions, concluding that in order to avoid them, one must not stop drinking.
Drinking out of boredom is a loose concept. This is not about a short-term situation when a person has nothing to do. We are talking about a long period of time during which a person is faced with a situation that does not allow him to use force, to focus on something specific. More often in this state, a mechanism is triggered that helps to come to terms with oneself.
The most dangerous reason for which it is difficult to answer the question of how to help an alcoholic stop drinking is habitual alcoholism. In this case, it is difficult for a person not to drink, since the habit has become everyday for him and it is already difficult to imagine his life without it. In this case, the motivation to quit drinking must be very serious, otherwise it is almost impossible to convince a person to quit drinking alcohol.
It is often very difficult to single out any one reason for the origin of addiction. All this is closely intertwined and works in conjunction with each other. When alcoholism reaches its final stage, then we are talking about a physical craving for alcohol. In this case, help for alcoholism without medication is impossible. If a person himself wants to get rid of the disease, this will be of great help in further treatment.
Do persuasion work?
How to get an alcoholic to be treated? In fact, there are many ways to discourage a person from drinking. The most popular way is to persuade and persuade the person to stop drinking alcohol. This is a softer way to help him.
You can make an alcoholic quit in more radical ways - this is a nervous shock after drinking. This segment also includes intimidation of the patient. The third sector of assistance is the addition of various medicines or folk remedies to food. Before you understand how to help a drinking person to quit drinking, it is worth figuring out what form of alcoholism is going to lie down, what exactly made the person addicted.
Since adding some medicinal or folk remedies to food is a very radical method that requires caution and prior consultation with a doctor, it is worth starting with milder methods, in particular, you need to help the alcoholic with conversations.
During these conversations, it is worth trying to get the person to stop drinking alcohol. The most effective ways of persuading an alcoholic to be treated will be at the first stage of alcoholism, when a person has not yet lost the ability to critically perceive reality.
Before starting a conversation, think about the facts that you will give to the alcoholic. If he sees how awful it looks from the side while drunk, perhaps this will push him to radical decisions. Perhaps he already wants to quit himself, but willpower does not allow due to the lack of a "really important" reason.
How to convince an alcoholic of the harmfulness of his habit? It is best to gather family or friendly advice. In the circle in this conversation there should be only the closest people whom the person trusts. At the first stage, it is easy to wean a person from alcohol. It is enough to tell him about his drunken behavior, show him a tape from a recent party. If a person has not yet lost the ability to adequately think, he will be frightened and ashamed of his behavior, putting an end to drinking.
It would be nice to remind you of a hangover, especially when it does not allow you to spend time with your family or in the way the sick person likes. It is important that any habit must be maintained, which means spending money on it. Make calculations by expressing them in movie trips, rides for children, and other activities.
It is important to prepare in advance for the fact that your attempts to figure out how to make you quit drinking will be perceived with hostility, with resentment and quarrels. In this case, it is very important to remember the answer to the question. Is it possible to break into a cry or, conversely, freely agree to the conditions put forward by the patient? In no case. It is better to explain in a calm voice that no one will force anyone, but why not pay attention to the available alternatives.
If you managed to move away from the theory of how to convince a person to be treated for specific results, in no case do not abandon him in such a situation. Continue to support, perhaps he himself does not know how to wean himself from addiction. Not everyone can quit drinking at home. Find a suitable clinic, make an appointment with a doctor, help the person get to it. A person who quits drinking needs help more than ever.
Other options
One of the undesirable options to use is intimidation, if you are thinking about how to help, quitting drinking is so difficult, and there is also additional stress. It must be understood that this technique of work can lead to the opposite effect.
This method is suitable only for those patients who correspond to a certain psychotype. Some may perceive this behavior with aggression, which is clearly not the best reaction.
Not always any persuasion, arguments, intimidation work. Sometimes this is not enough if alcoholism has already passed into a deeper stage. In this case, you need to use special medicines. These can be ordinary medicines or something from folk recipes.
With the help of drugs of industrial pharmacology, it is possible to form a feeling of aversion to alcohol in a drinking person. Such methods are available even if a person does not know that he accepts them, although the desire to get rid of addiction directly helps to achieve more.
Drugs are added to alcohol or food. This often leads to a deterioration in health immediately after drinking. After a couple of such cases, the alcoholic begins to associate the bad condition with alcohol and think about stopping drinking.
The drugs used for such purposes contain disulfiram or cyanamide. As a result, the body is unable to process ethyl alcohol normally. There is an accumulation of decay products in the blood, which becomes the cause of persistent intoxication.
During this therapy, as soon as you notice the effect of the medication, it is a good idea to have another conversation, asking the alcoholic to go for treatment. It is important to describe the advantages of inpatient treatment:
- relapse prevention;
- psychological help;
- constant monitoring of the state of health;
- restoration of internal damage.
The best way to get rid of addiction is treatment in a hospital, where the patient will be constantly monitored by a narcologist. The smallest number of relapses is observed with this treatment.
Stages of alcoholism
Alcoholism is usually divided into three stages, for each of which special symptoms and a number of health consequences are assumed. The first stage is more difficult in terms of identifying the problem by the person's appearance. Unbeknownst to himself and those around him, a person gradually increases the dose of what he drinks, since a certain experience is acquired that does not allow him to achieve the desired degree of intoxication with the same doses of alcohol.
Already in this state, a person is not able to stop and stop drinking, unless he is pointed out to him about the corresponding problem. After a person drinks, he begins to suffer from nausea and vomiting. Very often the patient has memory lapses, he cannot remember what he did last night. Memory loss is partial.
As a result, after the first stage of alcoholism, a person is faced with a constant increase in alcohol consumption. At the same time, a booze can be repeated two or three times a week. The problem in this case is the lack of care for a loved one, and as a result, the aggravation of addiction.
When a person moves to the second stage of alcoholism, the external signs become more noticeable. The first drinking binges that appear, when a person unrestrainedly consumes alcohol even for two or three days, speak of the formation of alcoholism of the second degree. At this moment, a physical form of addiction begins to form.
The person starts to get hungover, as this is the only way to relieve the condition. Such symptoms are clear signs of the second stage of the disease. In addition, a person suffers from constant weakness, headache, dizziness, nausea, sweating. An unpleasant tremor begins to permeate the whole body, first of all it is expressed on the hands. The second stage can last for years, up to two decades, but can be limited to two years. At the final stage of the second stage, a person no longer has the opportunity to cope with the problem on his own, only a doctor will help.
The last stage is the third. When it is formed, everyone is able to see an alcoholic in a person. Appearance begins to change. A person has a constantly swollen face, from him a kilometer away reeks of alcohol. By this time, many chronic diseases are formed, psychoses in severe form and other problems are manifested. In this state, people, as a rule, are already left without a family or are surrounded by people in the same state. In the third stage of alcoholism, a person loses his social position, the ability to think critically. A return to normal life is unlikely in this case.