Alcohol addiction suffers about 3.5% of the population of Russia - This is both men and women.
Pathology develops gradually, often the person himself does not notice how he becomes an alcoholic.
Doctors believe that alcoholism cannot be cured, but can you handle him. This requires the desire of the patient and the support of loved ones. Equally important is the qualified assistance of specialists.
Alcohol addiction - what is it?
Alcohol addiction the most common of all.
It is expressed in the increased burden of hot drinks, the inability to control the amount of alcohol consumed, the gradual degradation of the individual.
Dependency occurs not only on the psychological, but also on the physical level. The body simply cannot exist without a certain dose of ethanol, which is why it is difficult for a person to cope with the problem on his own.
Mental addiction develops due to the influence of alcohol on the nervous system. The drunk person is in euphoria, problems go into the background, life seems more fun.
In the future, an alcoholic drinks to re-feel this feeling. Without doping in the form of alcohol, he can neither relax nor enjoy other things.
Stages of flow
In its development, alcohol dependence goes through several stages:
At the first stage the need for frequent drinking is increasing, for example, after a hard day of work, after a conflict or in moments of joy. At this stage, a person can still control himself if drinking is not possible.
Characteristic symptoms:
- lack of gag reflex, even with a large amount of drunk;
- unreasonable flashes of aggression, irritability;
- not recognizing one’s dependence;
- desire to hang out in the morning.
In the second stage a person needs much more alcohol to feel intoxicated. He cannot stop and drinks until he falls.
Frequently periods of hard drinking, withdrawal syndrome with a sharp cessation of drunkenness. White fever may develop. The alcoholic begins tachycardia, hypertension, trembling hands, memory lapses.
AT third period such dependence develops, which is very difficult to cope with. Personality degrades, cognitive functions are impaired, internal organs are affected.
The length of binge drinking increasesSome people are constantly drunk. If they have to quit drinking sharply, then delirium tremens begins, which can lead to death.
When you need to think about giving up alcohol?
Almost every person periodically consumes alcohol, sometimes in large quantities. But this does not mean the onset of dependence. Think about what develops alcoholism, should in the presence of the following symptoms:
- The body requires increasing doses feverish, since a small amount no longer causes euphoria.
- Alcoholic unable to stop libations. He drinks until the alcohol runs out or until he falls.
- Person denies its addiction angry if someone tries to tell him about it.
- The patient amnesia occurs. He does not remember in the morning what was the day before.
- The desire to drink is always present, with daily libations, saturation does not occur.
- Gag reflex atrophied, that is, the body is not protected and does not reject ethanol.
- Present in the morning a strong desire to hang onto get rid of discomfort.
How to stop drinking?
I want to quit drinking: how to do it? If a person seriously decided to get rid of alcohol addiction, he should prepare for a long struggle.
The first step is to cleanse the body of toxins. This can be done in the hospital with the help of infusion therapy.
You can also cook at home detoxification teas. Excellent helps decoction of oats, which take a glass up to 6 times a day.
Sure to remove all liquor from home.
Have to break off relationships with friends who are constantly invited to feasts.
If the state of health deteriorates sharply, the heartbeat, pressure increases, hallucinations or panic attacks occur, then consult a doctor.
Required condition - this is a psychological attitude. The majority breaks down in the very first days, as they feel depression and havoc. It is necessary to find those things which could fill the vital space occupied earlier by drunkenness.
For example, take up a hobby, sports, spend more time with family, children. It is necessary to sleep more, eat fully, spend a lot of time in the fresh air.
If you can not handle the usual ways, you can resort to coding. It is medicinal or psychotherapeutic.
What way to choose is the person himself decides. It all depends on the state of health, the stage of the disease, the presence of good coding specialists.
In this way, alcohol rejection occurs in three stages:
- drug treatment of addiction;
- consolidation of results by psychotherapeutic methods;
- rehabilitation period.
Strategy
For the correct refusal of alcohol must adhere to a certain strategy:
- If you can not immediately stop drinking, then you need gradually reduce the dosage. Unfortunately, this method does not work in chronic alcoholism.
- Acknowledge your problem. Many can not stop drinking, because they do not consider themselves to be alcoholics.
- Recall feelingwhen alcohol caused vomiting and deterioration of health.
- To eat well. After a hearty lunch, the desire to drink will be weaker at times.
- Change the mode of the day. If the desire to drink occurs after work, then at this time you need to plan other activities: walking, playing sports, etc.
- Take vitamins especially vitamin b1.
- Learn to enjoy other things: watching movies, talking with children, fishing.
- Calculate how much money goes for alcohol and what could be bought for them.
- Communicate with those who was able to overcome addiction.
- Do not be afraid to ask for help. to psychotherapists and narcologists.
- Enlist the support of loved ones. They must constantly monitor the patient and praise for his achievements.
Alcoholics Tips
How to completely stop drinking alcohol? Overcome addicts know best on how to do this. They give the following tips:
- Examine the symptoms of withdrawal. If the alcoholic knows them, he will be able to overcome it more easily. After all, withdrawal syndrome is the main obstacle to the fight against addiction.
- Learn to recognize the approach of failure in time.: anxiety, depression, longing for former friends. Keeping up with this will help keeping a diary. Transferring your feelings on paper, you can notice the approach of a breakdown and stop it.
- Give up other addictions. This is a radical but effective way to change your life for the better.
Other addictions also prevent the cure of alcoholism: gambling, overeating, smoking.
- Make friends with the sport. Most positively affected: swimming, yoga, slow running. You should also take a long walk in the fresh air.
- Eat regularly and regularly.. Hunger causes stress and desire to drink. Food should be high-calorie, balanced in vitamins and minerals.
- Fully relax. To combat the pathology takes a lot of physical and moral strength. Therefore, you can not deny yourself a daytime sleep.
- Get a four-legged friend. Animals help to cope with stress, require attention and care, distract from negative thoughts.
- Do not succumb to the "persuasion" of feelings and reason. They will constantly "throw up" tricks, to convince that you need to drink. For example, there will be a feeling of anxiety, panic, a person will think that you can drink only one small glass in order to feel better.
- The most difficult thing is to go through the period of weaning. Having overcome it, you can take the path of sobriety forever. During the period of disaccustoming, it will seem that such bad state of health will be constant, therefore it is better to return to the old road.
- Find a new social circle. It is necessary to interact with non-drinkers. You may even have to change your job or place of residence in order not to annoy the old companions.
- Daily work on their new life in sobriety. Just stop drinking is not enough, you need to learn how to live in sobriety.
This means that you need to solve problems without alcohol, to maintain a balance in all spheres of life, to cope with stress, to feel the pleasure of the absence of feverish.
- Declare sobriety the center of your life.
Symptoms of Weaning
The main reason many people can't stop drinking is withdrawal syndrome. Few who manage to pass it without consequences. But, having overcome this period, a person passes the point of no return and has every chance of becoming a sober.
What happens if you stop drinking alcohol? After a complete rejection of alcohol, the addict experiences the following the symptoms:
- anxiety, anxiety;
- panic attacks;
- spasms in the heart;
- an irresistible urge to drink.
These symptoms cannot be alleviated or removed. You can put up with them, realizing that this is a temporary phenomenon. You can escape from feeling unwell, doing some business.
Weaning goes on increasing, that is, the patient's condition worsens, reaches a high point, after which he is recovering. This happens within a few days.
Often it seems to an alcoholic that this state will last forever, but it is not. Here you need to collect the will into a fist and just wait.
After improvement of state of health begins a long period of withdrawal. The crisis is over, but some echoes will bother for a year. Withdrawing is non-linear.
This means that the period of improvement may be replaced by some of its deterioration, and then it gets better again. In any case, the intensity of dependence is reduced.
Symptom buildup always occurs. with mental and physical stresstherefore, they should be avoided. However, they can occur without a reason. The most frequent risk factors are:
- fatigue after work;
- quarrel with loved ones;
- poor nutrition;
- lack of sleep;
- being in a noisy and polluted place;
- meeting with former drinking buddies.
However, this just a provoking factor the reason lies in the dependency itself.
If a person is aware of this problem, then the likelihood of failure is reduced to zero.
Doctors believe that alcoholism is incurable. A person gets this diagnosis for life. But, choosing the right tactics, you can achieve a long remission, which will last until the end of life. It is important not to break down and stick to the chosen sober path all the time.
About the symptoms of withdrawal in this video:
