About Alcohol Information

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Treatment for Alcoholism

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Analogous to other diseases, alcohol dependency can be overcome with competent alcohol addiction treatment, increased research efforts, and prevention. That is to say, as menacing as alcoholism is, fortunately it can be treated.

Treatment for alcohol addiction, as a general rule, includes a mixture of doctor prescribed alcoholism medications, education, counseling, and support to help an individual stop drinking and start on the road to alcoholism recovery.

Treatment for Alcoholism: What is Alcoholism?

image: doctor talking to alcoholic about treatment Alcoholism, also known as alcohol addiction and alcohol dependence, is a progressive debilitating disease that can in characterized by the following four symptoms:

Physical dependence: withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, anxiety, nausea, "the shakes," and headaches when abruptly refraining from alcohol.
Craving: having a persuasive urge or need to drink.
Tolerance: the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to get "high" or to experience a buzz.
Loss of control: an inability to quit drinking after the first drink.

Treatment for Alcoholism: An Essential Outline

Similar to other illnesses and health problems, alcohol dependency can be overcome with increased research efforts, prevention, and proper alcohol addiction treatment.

image: empty hospital bed for alcoholism patient By giving more people access to quality, competent alcoholic treatment, the emotional, financial, and the physical load that alcohol addiction places on families as well as the costly drain it places on society can be considerably reduced.

If truth be told, research studies display strong data that effectual alcohol dependency treatment programs and alcohol addiction prevention efforts lead to major reductions in HIV, child abuse, strokes, unwanted pregnancy, crime, cancer, hearth disease, and traffic fatalities.

Similarly, effective, top-shelf treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse improves an individual's quality of life, health, and job performance while at the same time minimizing drug use, involvement with the law, and dysfunctional relationships.

As perilous as alcohol addiction is, fortunately it can be treated. Treatment for alcoholism frequently involves a combination of intensive counseling and therapy and doctor-administered medications to help a person stop drinking. Although most people who are dependent on alcohol need help to recover from their disease, substance abuse research has verified that with support and competent treatment for alcohol addiction, numerous individuals are able to abstain from drinking and re-establish their lives.

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Even individuals who are determined to stay sober may suffer one or several “slips,” or relapses, before achieving long-term sobriety. Relapses are very common and do not mean that a person has failed or cannot recover from alcoholism.

Treatment for Alcoholism: Withdrawal Symptoms

When a chronic abuser of alcohol suddenly quits drinking, he or she typically experiences mild, to moderate, to severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Special techniques exist for treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms. While some of these therapies use medications, a number of alcoholism therapeutic methodologies do not.

In point of fact, according to the current alcohol dependency research literature, the safest way to treat mild withdrawal symptoms is without drugs. Such non-drug detox efforts make use of wide-extending social support and screening throughout the entire alcohol withdrawal procedure. Other non-drug detoxification methods, moreover, use vitamin therapy (particularly thiamin) and proper nutrition for treating mild withdrawal symptoms.

The most dangerous stage of alcohol withdrawal is called delirium tremens (DTs). About 5% of people withdrawing from alcohol experience DTs. This condition occurs about 48-72 hours after drinking stops.

Mild to Moderate Withdrawal Symptoms

image: doctor listening to story of alcoholic in treatment The following epitomizes mild to moderate physical withdrawal symptoms that often take place within 6 to 48 hours after the alcohol has consumed his or her last alcoholic drink:

Nausea
Pulsating headaches
Vomiting
Tremor of the hands
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Rapid heart rate
Sweating (especially on the palms of the hands or on the face)
Looking pale
Abnormal movements
Sleeping difficulties
Enlarged or dilated pupils
Clammy skin
Involuntary movements of the eyelids

People in distress, whether it is from alcohol, drugs, depression, gambling or eating disorders usually display poor coping skills. These poor coping skills are often negatively impacting them and concerned people around them.

Severe Withdrawal Symptoms

The following is a list of severe symptoms that regularly happen within 48 to 96 hours after the last alcoholic drink has been ingested:

Black outs
Fever
Seizures
Delirium tremens (DTs)
Visual hallucinations
Convulsions
Severe autonomic nervous system overactivity
Muscle tremors

Screening for problem drinking and alcoholism needs to become an integral part of the routine health screening questionnaire for adolescents and all adults, particularly women of child-bearing age, because of the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Treatment for Alcoholism: Traditional Methods

image: lab technician checking blood work for alcohol detox patient There are numerous orthodox alcohol treatment options that are considered "conventional" alcoholism therapies. The following alcohol addiction treatment methods and therapies are considered to be "mainstream" alcoholism approaches: Behavioral Treatment, Detoxification, Outpatient alcohol dependency Treatment and Counseling, Therapeutic Medications, and Family and Marital Counseling, and Residential Alcoholism Treatment and Inpatient Alcohol Rehab.

Due to the fact that the "Therapeutic Medications" approach has gained momentum and is fast becoming a "preferred" treatment methodology, it will be discussed in greater detail below.

image: female ad for alcohol and drug rehab

Depression is a common cause of alcoholism as the depressed person seeks a way out of their problems or a relief from insomnia. Unfortunately, alcohol is itself a depressant, so the problem is only compounded.

Therapeutic Medications

In this treatment approach, the alcoholic takes doctor-prescribed medications to help him or her deal more effectively with alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Along these lines, alcoholism researchers have recently found that the benzodiazepines are the medications most likely to produce productive and beneficial outcomes when treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Examples include the longer-acting benzodiazepines such as Valium and Librium and the shorter-acting benzodiazepines such as Serax and Ativan.

Many people only think of a "skid-row bum" when they think of someone with an alcohol problem. This is the end stage of alcohol problems, when a person has lost his or her family, job and health because of alcohol abuse. You don't reach this stage overnight.

Intermediate To Short Half-Life Benzodiazepines

From a historical standpoint, when medical doctors have used benzodiazepines for withdrawal treatment, they have employed a gradual dosage reduction during the overall withdrawal process. Due to this ability to monitor the exact dosage that is given and also because the shorter-acting benzodiazepines do not stay in the addict's blood for an excessive amount of time, many alcohol addiction practitioners have determined that intermediate to short half-life benzodiazepines should be used when treating withdrawal symptoms, especially those that are severe.

Medications To Prevent Alcohol Relapse

image: nurse checking pulse of elderly alcoholic man Another aspect of alcohol addiction treatment with therapeutic medications focuses on different drugs such as disulfiram (Antabuse) or naltrexone (ReViaT that are prescribed by a healthcare professional to help prevent the person from returning to drinking after he or she has experienced a relapse.

For instance, antabuse produces negative effects such as vomiting, dizziness, flushing, and/or nausea if the alcoholic ingests alcohol. Without question, antabuse is "effective" to a great extent because it is such a strong deterrent. Naltrexone (ReViaT), conversely, is effective because it targets the brain's reward circuits and reduces the craving the alcoholic has for alcohol.

To help prevent alcohol abuse in children, it's a good idea to begin discussing alcohol use and abuse with kids at an early age and to continue openly communicating about it as they grow older.

Treatment for Alcoholism: Alternative Therapies

Even though the research findings are not final, there are numerous atypical treatment strategies for alcohol abuse and alcoholism that are becoming more researched, more accepted, and more available. Examples include the following therapies that have been proposed as "natural" kinds of alcoholism treatment: the naturalistic and holistic techniques utilized by Traditional Chinese Medicine, various vitamin and supplement therapies, and "Drumming out Drugs" (a form of therapy that centers on the use of drumming by patients). As encouraging as these nontraditional methods are, more research, nevertheless, is needed in order to evaluate their effectiveness and to come to a decision regarding their long-term success.

Without adequate attention to the mental health needs of a person with alcohol dependence, little progress will be made. Often alcoholism remains unsuspected even by the doctor, and it may come to light only when medical tests are done for other reasons.

Treatment for Alcoholism: Conclusion

Although a cure for alcohol dependency does not currently exist, multiple drug and alcohol therapeutic methodologies and alcohol image: man in an alcoholic-induced rage dependency treatment approaches, nonetheless, exist that help alcoholics recover from their alcohol dependency. Due to the fact that there is so much alcoholism treatment information that is available, some individuals are bound to ask the following question about treating alcohol dependency: "What is the most effective type of treatment for alcoholism"? Like any chronic sickness or illness, alcohol addiction treatment presents different levels and degrees of success.

For example, some alcoholics, after treatment, quit drinking and remain sober. Other alcohol dependent individuals, quite the contrary, experience comparatively long periods of sobriety after receiving treatment, and then suffer a drinking relapse. And still other alcoholics cannot stay away from drinking for any sustainable period of time no matter what type of treatment they have undertaken. It is, however, interesting to point out that all of these treatment outcomes happen with every known type of alcohol treatment methodology. Be that as it may, regarding alcohol addiction treatment, however, one thing is undeniable: the longer an individual remains alcohol-free, the more likely he or she will be able to remain sober and avoid alcoholism treatment.

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Although not traditionally thought of as a medical problem, a 2000 review of studies found that hangovers have significant consequences that include changes in liver function, hormonal balance, and mental functioning and an increased risk for depression and cardiac events. Hangovers can impair job performance, increasing the risk for mistakes and accidents.

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