Signs of Alcohol Addiction

The signs of alcohol dependence are well-researched and are no secret.

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

How to tell if a person just enjoys drinking or has signs of alcohol addiction?Is there a line between drinking "for fun" and binge drinking?

What are the signs of alcohol addiction?

1. Craving alcohol.This may manifest as the emergence of previously unobserved causes of drinking.Expect that when you drink, your mood will improve and you will be excited and enthusiastic.There may be stocks of beer, wine and vodka at home.
2. Everything related to the consumption of alcoholic beverages is jealously guarded and guarded.Alcoholic friends gain authority and respect.Come up with a list of excuses for your own alcoholism.Life values are changing and moral principles are being reconstructed.Criticism of one's behavior disappears.
3. Loss of control over alcohol dosage.An alcoholic cannot limit his alcohol intake; in small doses he cannot stop.Once he starts drinking, he drinks to the last drop (or until he loses consciousness).
4. No vomiting when drinking large amounts of alcohol.The gag reflex is the body's defense mechanism against alcohol poisoning.This reflex disappears in drunk people.
5. Changes in tolerance (sensitivity) to alcohol.In the first stages of alcoholism, the level of alcoholism increases (the person drinks a lot but does not get drunk), and over time, the level of alcoholism decreases and the alcoholic becomes drunk from a small amount of hard liquor.
6. Drink alcohol regularly.It is believed that if a person rarely drinks alcohol, then he is not an alcoholic.Meanwhile, drinking beer, wine, brandy or vodka regularly, even once a week, has caused concern.If this happens often, we can discuss alcoholism.

How do you recognize the signs of alcohol addiction in yourself?

• Try to answer a few questions honestly.
• Have you started drinking more frequently?Drinking alone?Do you secretly drink with everyone?
• Are you excited for an upcoming holiday or weekend where you can drink?
• Does your personality change when you are sober and when you are drunk (ask your relatives and friends)?
• Do you get lost in time and space when drinking?Do you experience memory loss in the morning after eating?
• Have you ever experienced withdrawal symptoms?
• Does the thought of having to stop drinking make you angry?
• Can you reduce the amount of alcohol you drink?
• Have you ever experienced alcoholism?
• Have you ever had problems at home or work because of your drinking?
• Has your appearance changed recently?Do you take care of your clothes, hairstyle, and appearance?
• Are you worried about your heart, liver, or stomach?

A positive answer to the above question is a sign that you need to seriously consider addressing your alcohol abuse problem.

Reasons for drinking

You may have heard this statement more than once: "Let's have a drink and warm ourselves up." In daily life, people believe that alcohol is a good way to warm up the body.Alcohol is often called a "hard drink," and not without reason.In contrast, doctors believe that ulcer patients should never drink alcohol.Where is the truth?After all, alcohol does stimulate appetite in small doses.Or another popular belief among people: alcohol can excite, invigorate, improve mood, happiness, make conversations more lively and interesting, which is important for a group of young people.It's not unreasonable to drink alcohol to "fight fatigue" when you're not feeling well, and during almost all celebrations.A doctor's congress passed a resolution on the dangers of alcohol: "... there is not an organ in the human body that is not immune to the destructive effects of alcohol; alcohol has effects that cannot be achieved by another more effective, safer, and more reliable drug; there is no painful condition that requires long-term use of alcohol." Therefore, talking about the benefits of alcohol is a fairly common misunderstanding.Take an obvious fact - drinking a glass of vodka or wine stimulates your appetite.But this is only for a short time while the alcohol creates "ignition juice."Drinking alcohol in the future, including beer, will only damage digestion.

Alcohol

Alcohol paralyzes the function of vital organs such as the liver and pancreas.The need for alcohol is not one of man's natural life needs, such as the need for oxygen or food, so alcohol itself is not motivating for people.This need, like some other human "needs" (such as smoking), arises because society first produces the product and secondly "reproduces" the customs, forms, habits and prejudices associated with its consumption.Of course, these habits are not innate to everyone.

Effects of alcohol on the human body

Two minutes after drinking, the alcohol in your stomach enters your bloodstream.The blood carries it to all cells in the body.Cells in the cerebral hemispheres are mainly affected.Human conditioned reflex activity deteriorates, the formation of complex movements slows down, and the ratio of excitatory and inhibitory 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.

Alcohol's effects on the nervous system

Due to the specific effects of alcohol on the nervous system, signs of alcohol dependence begin to develop.After alcohol penetrates into the frontal lobe cells of the cerebral cortex, people's emotions are liberated, and irrational joy, stupid laughter, and easy judgment appear.As cortical excitation increases, inhibitory processes weaken dramatically.The cortex no longer controls the workings of the lower parts of the brain.A person loses restraint and humility and will say and do things that he would never say or do while sober.Each new glass of alcohol gradually paralyzes the higher nerve centers, as if connecting them, not allowing them to interfere with the activity of the lower parts of the brain: the coordination of movements, for example, of the eyeballs begins to double (objects begin to double), and an awkward, shaky gait appears.Any alcohol consumption can cause damage to the nervous system and internal organs: one-time, intermittent, and systemic.

Where does drunkenness begin?

The need for alcohol is not one of people's natural life needs, such as the need for water or food, so alcohol itself has no motivation for people.So what is the reason for drinking?

Before the age of 11, the first exposure to alcohol is either by chance or "for the sake of appetite", "treatment" with alcohol, or the child himself tries to drink out of curiosity (this is the main characteristic of boys).As you get older, traditional reasons become motivations for drinking for the first time: "festivals", "family celebrations", "guests", etc.

Starting from the age of 14-15, reasons such as "it's inconvenient to lag behind boys", "my friends persuade me", "for companionship", "for courage" and other reasons appear.All of these motivations characterize boys when they first encounter alcohol.For girls, the second set of "traditional" motivations is primarily typical.Often this happens, so to speak, with an "innocent" drink in honor of a birthday or other celebration.Although this occurs with parental consent, within the family circle, exposing children to wine can still be dangerous.After all, once exposed to alcohol, psychological barriers are removed and teenagers feel entitled to drink with friends or even alone (if given the opportunity).No wonder people say: "A river begins with a stream, and drunkenness begins with a cup."

Alcohol is a common topic for those who are new to it.A company gathered, and everyone was a little restrained.They had been drinking - you see, they had laughed, danced, gotten to know each other and had a great time.Gradually, alcohol became an indispensable attribute in communication.Alcohol can quickly and easily create the illusion of psychological safety and carefreeness.A person accustomed to this illusory way of solving problems increasingly turns away from actual action and retreats into an alcoholic haze.

Where is the line?

An alcoholic is a person who suffers from alcoholism.The onset of the disease is usually preceded by a more or less long period of intermittent drinking.This period is medically called the alcoholization period.The onset of the disease is thought to be a transition to systemic daily drinking.The answers to the following questions will help you determine the extent of your tendency to drink alcohol.Try to answer them honestly.

1. Have I tried too many times to limit my drinking?
2. Do I feel regret for drinking?
3. Will drinking alcohol in the morning help relieve my hangover?
4. Do I have a hard time enduring criticism from colleagues 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.

Alcohol addiction is a sign of a disease

When looking at someone with alcohol dependence on the outside, there's a legitimate question that's easy to ask: "If you show signs of alcohol dependence and have an alcohol problem, then why don't you just stop drinking? Stop - that's it." The first obvious answer is: "No willpower" is wrong.Not only do weak-willed, weak-willed people become alcoholics and unable to quit, but so do people who are successful, who know how to deal with problems, and who know how to win.The problem is not weakness of will, but strength of the enemy.Alcoholism is a serious, chronic disease that in most cases is difficult to treat.It develops on the basis of regular, long-term alcohol consumption and is characterized by a special pathological state of the body: uncontrollable craving for alcohol, changes in alcohol tolerance and deterioration of personality.Alcoholism develops according to the following pattern:

Initial stage: intoxication and memory loss, "solar eclipse".When a person keeps thinking about wine, he feels that he has not drunk enough. Drinking is for future use, so he develops a desire for wine.However, he remains aware of his guilt and avoids talking about his craving for alcohol.

Critical stage: Losing self-control after the first sip of alcohol.Eager to find excuses for his drinking and resisting all attempts to thwart his desire to drink.A person develops arrogance and aggression.He blames others for his troubles.He started drinking, and random drinking buddies became his friends.He was forced to quit his regular job and lost interest in anything that didn't involve alcohol.

Chronic phase: daily hangovers, depersonalization, memory loss, and confusion.People drink alcohol substitutes, industrial liquids and colognes.He developed unfounded fears, delirium tremens, and other alcoholic psychoses.One of the typical 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 drunk suffers from unexplained fears, insomnia, hand tremors, nightmares (chases, attacks, etc.), auditory and visual deception in the form of noises, ringing, and moving shadows.Symptoms of delirium tremens are particularly noticeable at night.The patient begins to experience frighteningly vivid experiences.For example, regarding the drunkard, there seems to be a conspiracy against him.Seeing no way out of this situation, he might commit suicide.

wine and people

The signs of alcohol dependence and the effects of alcohol on a person are immediately obvious.If you ask people who drink alcohol how often they drink, most will answer irregularly.However, even after drinking alcohol once, people will have a restless night, have a nervous breakdown, have a swollen face, and have a headache when they get up in the morning.As a rule, the working day is ruined, and if a person's work is mechanically related, for example, with machine tools or cars, then considering that on this day his risk of accidents or even disasters increases dramatically.For mental workers, after drinking alcohol, their thinking processes are severely impaired, the speed and accuracy of calculations are reduced, and, as they say, their work becomes out of control.Therefore, even irregular, accidental drinking can cause serious problems in the body, indicating severe intoxication.If drinking becomes systematic, drinking on any occasion and looking for any reason to get drunk, it is already called family drunkenness.To the drunkard, the meaning of the holiday is not important;He doesn't care whether others approve of his actions.At this stage in the onset of alcoholism, there are significant changes in the drinker's attitudes toward other people and toward generally accepted and acceptable norms of behavior.Signs of alcohol dependence are actively developing.For an alcoholic, the closest people to him are his drinking buddies, even if this is the first time they sit together.The time, place and circumstances in which people drink become less important.It can be seen that the difference between occasional drinking and drunkenness lies not only in the amount of alcohol consumed at one time, but also in the psychological attitude of the drinker.In the first case, a person celebrates some solemn or momentous event, while in the second case, he drinks just to get himself intoxicated.If you stop a person from drinking in time, you can prevent him from falling and becoming drunk.

What does it mean to have a chronic disease?

This means that signs of alcohol dependence and the metabolic changes that systemic drinking brings to the body are difficult to reverse.Those ones.For the rest of your life, your body is always "ready" to return to the exact same state it was in when you first consumed alcohol.Signs of alcohol dependence return quickly, even if this occurs years or even decades after stopping drinking.

Can alcoholism be cured?

Yes and no.No, in the sense that "cultural drinking" can never be restored.The brain's metabolic processes are disrupted and normal responses to alcohol will never be restored.Any drinking will inevitably lead to a breakdown, either immediately or over time.If a metabolic disorder occurs, consider your bucket or tank drunk.Even if you have been abstinent for many years, you cannot expect that "your body has been purified" and you can drink in a civilized way.

Yes - there is a sense in which complete and indefinite long-term abstinence from alcohol is possible, even with severe alcoholism.A person is more than just a physical body.His mind contains not only what the illness brings but also untapped resources.Man is characterized by higher moral emotions - love, the desire for beauty and harmony.After long and hard work of self-transformation (with help, of course), psychological and spiritual development, a person is able to change his attitude towards alcohol and quit it for good.But, of course, we can only talk about absolute sobriety.To drink or not to drink – there is no third option to alcoholism.With sheer determination and medical help, even very sick patients can achieve amazing results.

What if the patient does not agree to treatment?

If signs of alcohol dependence appear, constant attempts must be made to convince the patient that treatment is needed.It requires the joint efforts of all those who are interested and important to the patient (relatives, friends, spouses, employees, teachers, etc.).There is a specially developed method to encourage alcoholics to seek help called "intervention".Each participant in the intervention (parent, spouse, child, boss) attempts to help the patient recognize the problem by reporting on the patient themselves and the changes in their life caused by drinking.When the desired result is achieved, they offer solutions - treatment in specific medical institutions, rehabilitation programs.This approach often requires the involvement of a psychotherapist to coordinate and tailor the actor's efforts.

Can a patient be treated without his or her consent?

In our country, assistance to patients with alcoholism is governed by our law on the rights of citizens in psychiatric care of the population and its provision.By law, treatment of patients suffering from drug, drug or alcohol abuse must be based on their voluntary consent.Treatment without the patient's consent can only be ordered by a court if the citizen is held criminally responsible.

As mentioned before, alcoholism is a disease, and like any disease, it requires thorough, long-term treatment.Asking for help from dubious "experts" who treat alcoholism "through photos" without the patient's knowledge is first of all a waste of time and, secondly, it instills in the patient the belief that this disease is incurable.

What is involved in helping patients overcome difficulties?

This assistance consists of several stages.First, patients need help during their “abstinence” period.This problem is usually addressed by a doctor, preferably in a medical or psychiatric hospital.After 5-10 days, the so-called withdrawal phase begins and lasts up to 1.5 months.There are currently two approaches to managing patients.

The first involves ongoing pharmacological treatment of the patient to stabilize his mental and physical condition: improve mood, restore sleep, reduce the severity of alcohol cravings (so-called cravings) and correct behavioral disorders.It is recommended that patients be isolated from their usual surroundings and remain in the hospital environment during this period.

Another approach to post-withdrawal patient management focuses on psychotherapy and immediately enrolling the patient in one or another rehabilitation program with psychotherapeutic management, which can also be done in a hospital setting or rehabilitation center.

The third stage is the recovery stage.It is usually performed on an outpatient basis.The patient remains in the chosen program, attending a psychotherapy group or a self-help group.The goal of rehabilitation is to teach the alcoholic patient to live sober.

Can I stop drinking at home?

It is best for patients in the abstinence stage to be treated in a hospital under round-the-clock medical supervision.Home care will only worsen the course of the disease.Not only does the disease become more severe, but it also develops serious accompanying medical conditions.In addition, convincing patients to undergo comprehensive treatment becomes more difficult.

How to "code"?

As already pointed out, the power of dependence on alcohol is very powerful.The attraction to using it often outweighs the fear of mortal danger.Coding doesn't help everyone stick with it for a while.It cannot be considered a stand-alone method of treating patients with alcoholism.Rather, it gives some patients time to begin working on themselves, to develop psychologically and spiritually, and to join one or another recovery program.This approach has a very important negative effect - it replaces one's own willingness and responsibility to stop drinking and general behavior with an artificially imposed attitude.

What are the outcomes of treating patients with alcoholism?

The effectiveness of helping alcoholics is the same around the world.Outcomes for help limited to the first phase ("getting off alcohol" or "coding") were very low.But by completing a patient rehabilitation program, care can be nearly 10 times more effective.

When can we talk about the reliability of the results obtained?

Experts who deal with alcoholism agree that the process of psychological and social recovery takes about five years.It is very important that the psychological and spiritual growth of future recovered persons does not stop.

chemical protection methods

"torpedo".One of the most well-known and widespread radical methods of treating alcoholism.A group of drugs is injected intravenously and deposited in the patient's tissues.This method does not have a negative impact on the body other than reducing the desire for alcohol, but when interacting with alcohol it can form strong toxins (poisons) that can cause serious health problems and even death.

"Neurophysical blockade" is a treatment that uses weak pulses of electrical current to act on certain parts of the brain.Thereby achieving the effect of normalizing the state of the central nervous system and regulating other systems of the body.As a result of treatment, cravings for alcohol are suppressed and irritability, anger, and aggression are reduced.

"Acupuncture" is one of the oldest and proven methods of treating alcohol, drug and nicotine addiction.Choice of points, method of influencing them (needle, electromagnetic waves, laser).

"Biological coding".The most reliable way to cure alcohol addiction.After intravenous administration of the drug, in order to check its effectiveness, it is recommended to take a small amount of alcohol, which proves that alcohol is incompatible with the drug used.This approach removes doubts and gives patients confidence in the effectiveness and reliability of anti-alcohol medications.Coding occurs only in the intensive care unit or resuscitation department; food and liquids are prohibited 3 hours before surgery.

Long-acting anti-alcohol drugs are injected intramuscularly to suppress cravings for alcohol.In addition, the drug is a highly effective therapeutic agent (increases the body's immunity, improves liver and brain function).Within three days, the drug was adapted to humans.The drug is then "released" into the blood at a frequency based on the patient's biological rhythm, for a duration determined by the patient.

Medication implants are a reliable and decades-tested treatment for alcoholism.In 1996, France resumed production of a drug that was more responsive to alcohol and lasted longer, using new advanced technology.The procedure is performed in a hospital setting using sterility and antiseptics.After anesthesia with Novocaine, the drug is inserted through the skin incision and the incision is sutured.