Signs of alcohol addiction

The symptoms of alcohol addiction are well-studied and not a mystery.

We tried to briefly describe all the symptoms of alcohol addiction and answer the main questions.

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

What are the symptoms of alcohol addiction?

1. Craving for alcohol.This can be manifested by the emergence of previously unobserved reasons for drinking.When waiting for a drink, the mood improves, a person is excited and full of enthusiasm.Stocks of beer, wine and vodka can be seen in the house.
2. Anything related to drinking alcoholic beverages is jealous and defensive.Alcoholic friends gain authority and respect.A list of excuses for his drunkenness appears.Life values change, moral principles are reestablished.Criticism of his behavior disappears.
3. Loss of control over alcohol intake.Alcohol cannot limit alcohol intake;Can't stand a small dose.After he starts drinking, he drinks every last drop (or until he passes out).
4. There is no vomiting when drinking large amounts of alcohol.The GAG reflex is the body's defense against alcohol poisoning.This reflex disappears in drunks.
5. Tolerance (sensitivity) to alcohol varies.In the first stages of alcoholism, it grows (a person drinks a lot and does not get drunk), over time, he gets drunk from small doses of alcohol and strong alcoholic beverages.
6. Drink regularly.If a person rarely drinks, he is not an alcoholic, then he is not an alcoholic.At the same time, drinking beer, wine, brandy or vodka once a week already causes anxiety.If it is more, we can talk about alcoholism.

How to identify the signs of alcohol addiction yourself?

• Try to answer a few questions honestly.
• Have you started drinking more often?Drinking alone?Are you a secret drinker?
• Are you excited about the upcoming vacation or weekends when you can drink alcohol?
• Does your personality change when you are sober and when you are drunk (you can ask your relatives and friends)?
• Do spatial and temporal localization phenomena occur while drinking alcohol?Experiencing breakfast after the holiday?
• Have you ever had withdrawal symptoms?
• Does the thought of giving up alcohol make you nervous?
• Are you able to reduce the amount you drink?
• Ever had a drinking binge?
• Are you having 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 should seriously think about solving the problem of alcoholism.

Reasons for drinking alcohol

You have probably heard the expression more than once: "Let's drink and warm ourselves."In everyday life, it is believed that alcohol is a good way to warm the body.It's not that alcohol isn't often called "hard liquor."Doctors, on the contrary, believe that an ulcer patient should not drink alcohol at all.Where is the truth?After all, small doses of alcohol actually stimulate the appetite.Or another popular belief among people: Alcohol excites, invigorates, improves mood, makes the conversation, which is important for a group of young people, more lively and interesting.Not that alcohol is not taken "anti-fatigue" and "anti-fatigue" in almost all celebrations.One of the congresses of doctors made a decision about the dangers of alcohol: "... there is not an organ in the human body that is not exposed to the destructive effects of alcohol; It is a very common misconception to talk about the benefits of alcohol. For example, the obvious fact is the stimulation of appetite after a glass of vodka or wine. But this is only for a short time, alcohol causes "flaming water". In the future, drinking alcoholic beverages, including beer, only harms digestion.

Alcohol

Alcohol paralyzes the movement of such important organs as the liver and pancreas.The need for alcohol is not one of the natural life needs of a person, like the need for oxygen or food, and therefore alcohol itself is not a motivating force for a person.This need, like the "need" of other people (for example, smoking), firstly produces this product, and secondly, the customs, forms, habits and prejudices associated with its consumption "proliferate".Of course, these habits are not the same for everyone.

The effect of alcohol on the human body

From the stomach, alcohol enters the bloodstream two minutes after consumption.Blood carries it to all cells of the body.The cells of the cerebral hemispheres are primarily affected.Conditioned reflex activity of a person slows down the formation of complex movements and changes the ratio of excitation and inhibition processes in the central nervous system.Under the influence of alcohol, voluntary actions become invalid and a person loses the ability to control himself.

Effects of alcohol on the nervous system

Symptoms of alcohol addiction begin to appear due to the characteristics of its effect on the nervous system.The penetration of alcohol into the cells of the frontal lobe of the cortex, a person's emotions, unreasonable joy, silly laughter and judgmental ease appear.After excitation in the Cerebral Cortex, there is a sharp weakening of inhibition processes.The cortex stops controlling the work of the lower parts of the brain.A person loses self-control, modesty, says and does things that he was never sober or did.Each new part of alcohol increases the higher nerve centers more and more, as if it closes them and does not allow to interfere with the activity of the lower parts of the brain, for example, eye movement (objects double) and an awkward, amazing gait appears.Disruption of the nervous system and internal organs is observed with any alcohol consumption: one-time, episodic and systemic.

Where does drunkenness begin?

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

The first acquaintance with alcohol before the age of 11 is either accidental, "appetizing", "appetizing", "treating", or the child himself seeks alcohol out of curiosity (mainly characteristic of boys).At an older age, traditional reasons become motives for drinking alcohol for the first time: "holiday", "family celebration", "guests", etc.

From the age of 14-15, "it was inconvenient to stay late behind the children", "friends convinced me", "Courage", etc. It appears. Boys are characterized by all these groups of motives for their first acquaintance with alcohol. For girls, the second, "traditional" group of motives is mostly typical. Usually it is an "innocent" drink in honor of a birthday or other celebration. Although this happens with the consent of parents, children in the family circleto introduce wine is still dangerous. After all, after touching alcohol, the psychological barrier is removed, and the teenager considers himself only alone or even alone, only alone or even alone. No wonder people say: "Rivers begin with a stream and drunkenness begins with a bottle."

Alcohol is a common topic for strangers.A company has gathered, everyone is somewhat limited.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 safety and a problem-free existence.A person gets used to this imaginary way of solving problems and more and more switches from real actions to retreat into the alcohol haze.

Where is the line?

An alcoholic is a person suffering from alcoholism.Before the development of the disease, there is usually a more or less long period of episodic alcohol use.In medicine, this period is called the period of alcoholism.The onset of the disease is considered to be a transition to systematic, daily alcohol consumption.The answers to the following questions will help determine the degree of alcoholism.Try to answer them honestly.

1. Have I already tried to limit my alcohol consumption several times?
2. Do I regret drinking?
3. Do I drink alcohol in the morning to get rid of a hangover?
4. Do I have trouble handling criticism about my drinking from coworkers and loved ones?

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

The symptoms of alcohol addiction are a disease

When looking at an alcoholic person from the outside, there is a reasonable question that is easy to ask: "If you have an alcohol addiction and an alcohol problem, why don't you just stop drinking?"The first obvious answer: "No irafower" is wrong.Not only weak-willed, weak-willed people suffer from alcoholism and cannot stop, but also successful people know how to overcome problems and win.The point is that the will is weak, but the enemy is strong.Alcoholism is a serious chronic disease, in most cases it is difficult to treat.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 desire for alcohol, a change in the degree of its tolerance and personality degradation.Alcoholism develops according to this pattern:

Initial stage: Intoxication with memory loss, "eclipse".A person constantly thinks about alcohol, because he is not drunk enough, he drinks for future use and develops a craving for alcohol.However, he remains conscious of his guilt and speaks of his desire for alcohol.

Critical stage: loss of self-control after the first sip of alcohol.Drinking, the desire to find an excuse against all attempts to prevent the urge to drink.Man develops arrogance and aggressiveness.He blames others for his troubles.He starts drinking and random drinking buddies become his friends.He is forced to quit his regular job and loses interest in everything that has nothing to do with alcohol.

Chronic stage: Daily hangovers, dissociation, memory loss, confusion.A person drinks alcohol substitutes, technical liquids and cologne.Groundless fears, delirium shakes and other alcoholic psychoses develop.One of the characteristic complications during binge drinking is delirium trepidation.Delirium trepidation is the most common alcoholic psychosis.Usually, in a drunken state, Drunkenness, insomnia, trembling hands, trembling hands, nightmares (persecutions, attacks, etc.), construction and visual illusions in the form of movement of bells and shadows occur when preparing.Symptoms of delirium tremors are especially pronounced at night.The patient begins to experience vivid experiences of a frightening nature.About drunkenness, for example, there seems to be a conspiracy against him.Seeing no way out of this situation, he may commit suicide.

Alcohol and people

Alcohol addiction and the effect of alcohol on a person is immediately noticeable.If you ask people how often they drink, most will answer that it is not regular.But even after drinking alcohol once, people have a restless night and wake up in the morning with a swollen face and a sore head.As a rule, as a rule, if a person's work is related to the work of something, for example, a machine or a car, today there is a risk of an accident or even a disaster.For mental workers, after drinking alcohol, their thought processes are significantly impaired, the speed and accuracy of calculations decrease, and, as they say, their work falls out of their hands.Thus, irregular, random consumption of alcohol, serious problems that indicate serious poisoning, serious problems are experienced.If the use of alcohol is systematic, a person uses any reason to get drunk, this is already called domestic drunkenness.The meaning of a drunken, festive event is not important;He doesn't care if others approve of his behavior.At this stage of the initiation of alcohol, the attitude of the alcoholic to others, the relationship towards generally accepted and acceptable norms of behavior changes significantly.Symptoms of alcohol addiction are actively formed.For a drunk, the closest people are his drinking buddies, even if this is the first time they meet at the same table.There is less time, place and environment where people drink.Thus, the difference between casual drinking and drunkenness is not only in the moment of intoxication, but also in the psychological attitude of the drinker.In the first case, a person celebrates some solemn or significant event, in the second, he drinks only to get drunk.You prevent a person from drinking in time, this prevents him from falling and developing alcoholism.

What does it mean to have a chronic illness?

This means that alcohol dependence and changes in metabolism caused by systemic alcohol consumption can be reversed.These are.For the rest of your life, the body remains "ready" to restore all the images in the body completely in alcohol intake.The symptoms of alcohol addiction can be many years, even decades, even decades after drinking alcohol.

Can alcoholism be treated?

Yes and no.No - in the sense that it will never be possible to continue the "cultural drink".The metabolic processes of the brain are disrupted, and the normal response to alcohol will never be restored.Alcohol consumption will inevitably lead to an accident, immediately or after some time.If metabolic disturbances occur, consider your barrel or tank drunk.Even for many years, sensitivity has been "cleansed from the body" and culturally does not allow you to drink.

Yes - even severe alcoholism, in the sense that it is possible for an indefinite period of time from alcohol, completely and indefinitely.A person is not just a physical body.And his psyche consists not only of the things from which the disease was brought, but also contains unused resources.Man is characterized by the desire for higher spiritual feelings - love, beauty and harmony.On his own and by doing a difficult job (with help, of course), developing psychologically and spiritually, a person can change his attitude to alcohol and give it up forever.But, of course, we can only talk about absolute strength.There is no third choice for drink or drink-alcoholism.With medical help and self-willed determination, even the most seriously ill patients can achieve incredible results.

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

If there are signs of alcohol dependence, it is important to constantly try to convince the patient that he needs therapy.It requires the combined efforts of all interesting and important people for the patient (relatives, friends, spouses, teachers, teachers, etc.).There is a specially designed method of promoting an alcoholic, which is called "interference".Each of the interventions (parents, spouse, child, boss) helps the patient to recognize the existence of a problem by reporting changes in him and alcohol consumption.When the desired result is achieved, it offers a solution - treatment in a certain medical institution, a rehabilitation program.This method often requires the presence of a psychotherapist to coordinate and dose the actors' efforts.

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 "by the psychiatric care of the population and the rights of citizens in relation to sustenance".According to the law, the treatment of a patient with drug addiction, drug addiction or alcoholism is carried out on the basis of his voluntary consent.Treatment without the patient's consent is carried out by a court decision only when the citizen is criminally liable.

As mentioned earlier, alcoholism is a disease and, like any disease, requires comprehensive and long-term treatment.Doubtful "specialists" who treat alcoholism "taking photos", "without knowledge of the patient", "without knowing about the patient" are, firstly, a waste of time, and secondly, they instill confidence in the patient's recovery from this disease.

What helps a patient to overcome?

Such assistance consists of several stages.First, the patient needs help during the period of "neutrality".This problem is usually solved by doctors, preferably in a drug treatment 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 managing patients at this stage.

First, he continues the patient's drug treatment to stabilize his mental and physical condition: improving mood, reducing the severity of alcohol cravings, and correcting and correcting behavioral disorders.It is recommended that during this period the patient is isolated from his usual environment and should be hospitalized.

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

Third stage rehabilitation.It usually occurs on an outpatient basis.Patients continue to work on the selected program, participate in psychotherapeutic groups or self-help groups.The goal of rehab is to teach an alcoholic to live without alcohol.

Is it possible to stop drinking at home?

It is preferable to treat the patient in the phase 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 does not intensify, but also develops a severe infectious diseases.In addition, it is more difficult to convince the patient to undergo full-fledged therapy.

How can you "coupe"?

As already mentioned, the power of alcohol addiction is very great.The attraction to its use is often greater than the fear of death.Coding doesn't help everyone stick around for a while.Treating patients with alcoholism cannot be considered an independent method.On the contrary, some patients get a profit in time when they can work on themselves, develop psychologically and spiritually, and join 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 abstinence from alcohol and behavior with an artificially imposed attitude.

What are the results of alcoholism treatment for patients?

The effectiveness of helping people with alcoholism is the same all over the world.Help to limit yourself to only the first stage ("Withdrawal from Binge Drinking" or "coding") gives very low results.But completing a rehabilitation program for patients increases the efficiency of care almost 10 times.

After what time can we talk about the reliability of the obtained result?

Experts dealing with the problem of alcoholism agree that the psychological and social bearing process lasts about 5 years.In the future, it is very important that the recovering person does not stop in his psychological and spiritual growth.

Chemical protection methods

"Torpedo".One of the most popular and widespread radical methods of alcoholism.A group of narcotics are placed in the patient's tissues.The method does not have a negative effect on the body, but it reduces the desire for alcohol, but when it interacts with alcohol, it forms a strong toxin (poison) that can cause health problems and even death.

"Neurophysical blockade" is a treatment that uses weak pulsatile currents to specific parts of the brain.This is achieved by normalizing the state of the central nervous system and regulating other systems of the body.As a result of the treatment, the desire for alcohol, irritability, irritability, anger and aggression are reduced.

"Acupuncture" is one of the oldest, proven methods of 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, it is suggested to take a small amount of alcohol to check its effectiveness, that is, the incompatibility of alcohol and controlled drugs has been demonstrated.This method makes it possible to remove doubts and instill confidence in the patient in the high efficiency and reliability of anti-alcohol drugs.Coding is performed only in the intensive care unit or intensive care unit;Non-liquid intake is prohibited 3 hours before the procedure.

Intramuscular administration of a long-term anti-acting 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 people.Subsequently, for a period determined by the patient himself, the drug is "released" into the blood with a frequency depending on the patient's biorhythm.

Drug implantation is a reliable and decades-tested method of treating alcoholism.In 1996, using a newly developed technology, the production of a drug with a stronger and stronger reaction was resumed in France.The operation is performed in a hospital setting using Asepsis and Antisepsis.After anesthesia with Novocaine, the drug is inserted through skin incisions and the incision is sutured.