Signs of alcohol addiction

The signs of alcohol dependence are well studied and are no secret.

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

How can you tell if a person just likes to drink or if he has signs of alcohol addiction?Is there a line between drinking alcohol “for recreation” and alcohol addiction?

What are the signs of alcohol addiction?

1. Craving for alcohol.This may be manifested by the emergence of reasons to drink that were not previously observed.In anticipation of a drink, the mood improves, the person is excited and full of enthusiasm.Stocks of beer, wine, and vodka may appear at home.
2. Everything related to drinking alcoholic beverages is jealously defended and defended.Alcoholic friends gain authority and respect.A list of excuses for your own drunkenness appears.Life values are changing, moral principles are being restructured.Criticality about one's behavior disappears.
3. Loss of control over the dose of alcohol.An alcoholic cannot limit his intake of alcohol; he is unable to stop at small doses.Once he starts drinking, he drinks every last drop (or until he loses consciousness).
4. No vomiting when drinking large amounts of alcohol.The gag reflex is the body's defense against alcohol poisoning.In drunkards this reflex disappears.
5. Changes in tolerance (susceptibility) to alcohol.In the first stages of alcoholism, it grows (the person drinks a lot and does not get drunk), over time it falls, and the alcoholic becomes drunk from smaller doses of strong drinks.
6. Regular drinking.It is believed that if a person drinks rarely, then he is not an alcoholic.Meanwhile, regular drinking of beer, wine, cognac or vodka, even once a week, is already a cause for concern.If this happens more often, we can talk about alcoholism.

How to identify signs of alcohol addiction in yourself?

• Try to answer a few questions honestly.
• Have you started drinking more often?Drinking alone?Do you drink secretly from everyone?
• Are you excited about the upcoming holidays or weekends when you can drink alcohol?
• Does your character change when you are sober and when you are intoxicated (you can ask your relatives and friends)?
• Do cases of disorientation in time and space occur while drinking alcohol?Do you experience memory lapses in the morning after a feast?
• Have you ever had withdrawal symptoms?
• Does the thought of having to give up alcohol make you angry?
• Are you able to reduce the amount you drink?
• Have you ever had a drinking binge?
• Have you ever had problems at home or at work because of drinking?
• Has your appearance changed recently?Do you take care of your clothes, hairstyle, appearance?
• Are you worried about your heart, liver, stomach?

Positive answers to the above questions are a signal that you need to seriously think about solving the problem of alcoholism.

Reasons for drinking alcohol

You have probably heard the expression more than once: “let’s have a drink and warm ourselves up.”It is believed in everyday life that alcohol is a good way to warm the body.It’s not for nothing that alcohol is often called “strong drinks.”Doctors, on the contrary, believe that an ulcer patient should absolutely not drink alcohol.Where is the truth?After all, small doses of alcohol really stimulate the appetite.Or another popular belief among people: alcohol excites, invigorates, improves mood, well-being, makes conversation more lively and interesting, which is important for a group of young people.It is not for nothing that alcohol is taken “against fatigue”, when feeling unwell, and at almost all celebrations.One of the congresses of doctors adopted a resolution on the dangers of alcohol: “... there is not a single organ in the human body that is not subject to the destructive effects of alcohol;alcohol does not have any such effect that could not be achieved by another medicinal agent that acts more usefully, safer and more reliably; there is no such painful condition in which it is necessary to prescribe alcohol for any long 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 “ignition juice”.In the future, drinking alcohol, including beer, only harms digestion.

Alcohol

Alcohol paralyzes the action of such important organs as the liver and pancreas.The need for alcohol is not one of the natural life needs of a person, such as the need for oxygen or food, and therefore alcohol itself does not have a motivating force for a person.This need, like some other human “needs” (for example, smoking) appears because society, firstly, produces this product and, secondly, “reproduces” the customs, forms, habits and prejudices associated with its consumption.Of course, these habits are not inherent to everyone to the same extent.

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 cells of the body.The cells of the cerebral hemispheres are primarily affected.The conditioned reflex activity of a person worsens, the formation 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, and a person loses the ability to control himself.

The effect of alcohol on the nervous system

Signs of alcohol dependence begin to form 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 liberates a person’s emotions, unjustified joy, stupid laughter, and ease of judgment appear.Following increasing excitation in the cerebral cortex, a sharp weakening of inhibition processes occurs.The cortex ceases to control the work of the lower parts of the brain.A person loses restraint, modesty, he says and does things that he would never say or do if he were sober.Each new portion 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: coordination of movements is disrupted, for example, eye movement (objects begin to double), and an awkward, staggering gait appears.Disruption of the nervous system and internal organs is observed with any alcohol consumption: one-time, episodic and systematic.

Where does drunkenness begin?

The need for alcohol is not one of the natural life needs of a person, such as the need for water or food, and therefore alcohol itself does not have a motivating force for a person.So what is the reason for drinking alcohol?

Before the age of 11, the first acquaintance with alcohol occurs either by chance, or it is given “for appetite”, “treated” with wine, or the child himself tries alcohol out of curiosity (a motive mainly characteristic of boys).At an older age, traditional reasons become the motives for drinking alcohol for the first time: “holiday”, “family celebration”, “guests”, etc.

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

Alcohol is a common topic for people who are unfamiliar with it.A company has gathered, everyone is somewhat constrained.They drank - you see, they are 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 security and problem-free existence.A person gets used to this illusory way of solving problems, and increasingly switches from real actions to retreating into an alcoholic fog.

Where is the line?

An alcoholic is a person who suffers from alcoholism.Before the disease develops, there is usually a more or less prolonged period of episodic alcohol use.This period in medicine is called the period of alcoholization.The onset of the disease is considered to be the transition to systematic, daily alcohol consumption.The answers to the questions below will help you determine the degree of predisposition to alcoholism.Try to answer them honestly.

1. Have I already tried to limit my alcohol consumption several times?
2. Do I feel remorse because I drink?
3. Do I drink alcohol in the morning to relieve a hangover?
4. Do I have a hard time tolerating criticism from my workmates and loved ones about 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 alcohol-dependent person from the outside: “If you have signs of alcohol dependence and a problem with alcohol, then why don’t you just stop drinking?Stop – that’s all.”The first obvious answer: “There is no willpower” is incorrect.Not only weak-willed, weak-willed people suffer from alcoholism and cannot stop, but also those who achieve success, know how to cope 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, in most cases difficult to cure.It develops on the basis of regular and long-term use of alcohol and is characterized by a special pathological state of the body: an uncontrollable craving for alcohol, a change in the degree of its tolerance and personality degradation.Alcoholism develops according to this pattern:

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

Critical phase: loss of self-control after the first sip of alcohol.The desire to find an excuse for his drinking, resistance to all attempts to prevent his desire to drink.A person develops arrogance and aggressiveness.He blames others for his troubles.He starts drinking, and random drinking buddies become his friends.He is forced to leave his permanent job and loses interest in everything that has nothing to do with alcohol.

Chronic phase: daily hangover, personality disintegration, memory loss, confusion of thought.A person drinks alcohol substitutes, technical liquids, and cologne.He develops groundless fears, delirium tremens, and other alcoholic psychoses.One of the characteristic complications during binge drinking is delirium tremens.Delirium tremens is the most common alcoholic psychosis.It usually occurs in a state of hangover, when the drunkard develops unaccountable fear, insomnia, trembling hands, nightmares (chases, attacks, etc.), auditory and visual deceptions in the form of noises, bells, and the movement of shadows.Symptoms of delirium tremens are especially pronounced at night.The patient begins to experience vivid experiences of a frightening nature.About the Drunkard, for example, it seems that there is a conspiracy against him.Seeing no way out of this situation, he may commit suicide.

Alcohol and people

Signs of alcohol dependence and the effects of alcohol on a person are immediately noticeable.And if you ask people who drink how often they drink, most will answer that it is not regular.However, even after drinking alcohol once, people have a restless night, and in the morning they get up broken, with a swollen face and a sore head.The working day, as a rule, turns out to be ruined, and if a person’s work is associated with machinery, for example with a machine tool or a car, consider that on this day he has a sharply increased risk of an accident or even a catastrophe.For mental workers, after drinking alcohol, their thinking processes are significantly impaired, the speed and accuracy of calculations decreases, and, as they say, their work falls out of their hands.So, even after irregular, accidental consumption of alcohol, serious problems occur in the body, indicating severe poisoning.If the use of alcohol becomes systematic, a person drinks on any occasion, looking for any reason to get drunk, then this is already called household drunkenness.For a drunkard, the meaning of the festive event does not matter; he does not care whether others approve of his behavior.At this stage of initiation into alcohol, the drinker’s attitude towards others, towards generally accepted and acceptable norms of behavior changes significantly.Signs of alcohol dependence are actively forming.For a drunkard, his closest people are his drinking buddies, even if this is the first time they have found themselves at the same table.The time, place and environment in which people drink become less important.Thus, the difference between occasional drinking and drunkenness lies not only in the amount drunk at one time, but also in the psychological attitude of the drinker.In the first case, a person celebrates some solemn or significant event, and in the second, he drinks only to intoxicate himself.If you keep a person from drinking in time, this prevents him from falling and developing alcoholism.

What does it mean to have a chronic disease?

This means that the signs of alcohol dependence and the changes in metabolism that systematic alcohol consumption brings to the body are difficult to reversible.Those.for the rest of your life, the body remains “ready” to resume the whole picture at the first intake of alcohol in the body. Signs of alcohol dependence quickly return, even if this happens many years and even decades after stopping drinking alcohol.

Can alcoholism be cured?

Yes and no.No - in the aspect that it will never be possible to resume “cultural drinking”.The metabolic processes of the brain are disrupted, and the normal reaction to alcohol will never be restored.Any consumption of alcohol will inevitably lead to a breakdown, immediately or some time later.If metabolic disturbances occur, consider that your barrel or tank is drunk.Even many years of abstinence do not allow you to count on the fact that “the body has been cleansed” and you will be able to drink culturally.

Yes - in the sense that even with severe alcoholism, complete and indefinitely long abstinence from alcohol is possible.A person is not only a physical body.And his psyche does not consist only of what the disease brought, but contains untapped resources.Man is characterized by higher moral feelings - love, the desire for beauty and harmony.Having done long and difficult work on oneself (with help, of course), developing psychologically and spiritually, a person is able to change his attitude towards 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 seriously ill patients can achieve amazing results.

What to do if the patient does not agree to be treated?

If there are signs of alcohol dependence, it is imperative to make constant attempts to convince the patient of the need for therapy.It requires the combined efforts of all interested and significant people for the patient (relatives, friends, spouses, employees, teachers, etc.).There is a specially developed method of encouraging an alcoholic to seek help, which is called an “intervention.”Each of the participants in the intervention (parents, spouse, child, boss) tries to help the patient realize the presence of a problem by reporting the changes in him and the changes in their lives that are 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 participation of a psychotherapist to coordinate and dose the efforts of the actors.

Is it possible to treat a patient without his consent?

In our country, assistance to patients with alcoholism is regulated by the Law of our country “On psychiatric care to the population and the rights of citizens in its provision.”According to the law, treatment of a patient with drug addiction, substance abuse or alcoholism is carried out on the basis of his voluntary consent.Treatment without the patient’s consent is carried out only by court order when the citizen is brought to criminal liability.

As mentioned earlier, alcoholism is a disease, and like any disease it requires thorough and long-term treatment.Appeals to dubious “specialists” who treat alcoholism “by photograph”, “without the knowledge of the patient”, firstly, is a waste of time, and secondly, it instills in the patient a belief in the incurability of this disease.

What does helping a patient overcome involve?

Such assistance consists of several stages.Firstly, the patient needs help during the “abstinence” period.This problem is usually solved by doctors, preferably in a drug treatment or 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 managing patients at this stage.

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

Another approach to the management of patients in the post-abstinence period has a psychotherapeutic focus and immediately involves the inclusion of the patient in one or another rehabilitation program with psychotherapeutic management, also in a hospital setting or a rehabilitation center.

The third stage is rehabilitation.It usually takes place on an outpatient basis.Patients continue to work on the chosen program, attending psychotherapeutic groups or self-help groups.The goal of rehabilitation is to teach a patient with alcoholism to live without alcohol.

Is it possible to stop drinking at home?

It is preferable to treat the patient at the stage of alcohol withdrawal in a medical hospital under round-the-clock medical supervision.Home care only worsens the course of the disease.The disease not only gets stronger, but also severe concomitant diseases develop.In addition, it becomes much more difficult to convince the patient to undergo full-fledged therapy.

How can you “encode”?

As already noted, the power of dependence on alcohol is very great.The attraction to its use often exceeds even the fear of mortal danger.Coding doesn't help everyone stick around for a while.It cannot be considered an independent method of treating patients with alcoholism.Rather, it gives some patients a gain in time when they can start working on themselves, developing psychologically and spiritually, and joining one or another rehabilitation program.The method has a very important negative side - it is the replacement of one’s own will and responsibility for abstaining from alcohol and behavior in general with an artificially imposed attitude.

What are the results of treating patients with alcoholism?

All over the world, the effectiveness of helping people with alcoholism is the same.Help limited to only the first stage (“withdrawal from binge drinking” or “coding”) gives a very low result.But completing a rehabilitation program for patients increases the effectiveness of care by almost 10 times.

After what time 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 lasts about 5 years.It is very important that in the future the recovering person does not stop in his psychological and spiritual growth.

Chemical protection methods

"Torpedo".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, but only reduces the craving for alcohol, but when interacting with alcohol it forms a strong toxin (poison) that can cause severe health problems, even death.

“Neurophysical blockade” is a treatment method that uses weak pulsed currents to certain parts of the brain.This achieves the effect of normalizing the state of the central nervous system and its regulatory effect on other systems of the body.As a result of treatment, the craving for alcohol is suppressed, irritability, anger, and aggression are reduced.

"Acupuncture"One of the most ancient, 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 intravenous administration of the drug, to check its effectiveness, it is suggested to take a small amount of alcohol, i.e.the incompatibility of alcohol and the administered drug is demonstrated.This method allows you to dispel doubts and instill confidence in the patient in the high effectiveness and reliability of the anti-alcohol drug.Coding is carried out only in an intensive care ward or resuscitation department; food and liquid intake is prohibited 3 hours before the procedure.

Intramuscular administration of a long-acting anti-alcohol drug that suppresses cravings for alcohol.In addition, the drug is also a highly effective therapeutic agent (increases human immunity, improves liver and brain function).Within 3 days, the drug adapts to humans.Subsequently, the drug is “released” into the blood with frequency, depending on the patient’s biorhythm, for a period determined by the patient himself.

Implantation of the drug is a reliable and decades-tested method of treating alcoholism.In 1996, production of a drug that reacts stronger and longer to alcohol was resumed in France using a new advanced technology.The operation is performed in a hospital setting using asepsis and antisepsis.After anesthesia with novocaine, the drug is inserted through the skin incision and the incision is sutured.