Simply recognizing alcoholism is already a very difficult step for someone with this disorder. Moreover, the cessation of consumption is long (important: it should not be stopped unless there is medical monitoring due to the possible emergence of potentially fatal withdrawal syndromes, such as delirium tremens) and complex, having to treat different aspects, both behavioral and cognitive. Social and environmental support is a good prognostic factor and a stimulus to progress in treatment.
Encourage Him To Attend Support Groups.
Alcoholics Anonymous is an association created to serve as a support group in order to solve problems of alcoholism and generate a recovery while allowing the subject to meet others who have gone through the same situation. In these meetings, the person can freely express those elements and aspects that he does not want or can tell us about his experience and compare his experience with that of others.
Pleasant Activities Incompatible With Drinking
One way to help a loved one stop drinking, or to maintain changes with treatment, is to explore and use enjoyable activities with him or her that are enjoyable and not compatible with alcohol use. It is about learning to have fun without needing to be drunk.
Prevention Of Relapses
It is a fundamental aspect of all addictions. Treatment can be successful, but the existence of different stressors or situations can lead to a relapse into alcoholism. That is why, as is already done in therapy, we consider the need to work on its prevention with elements such as those of the two previous points.
And From Therapy?
The preceding refers to ways to help the alcoholic from the family with social support for withdrawal from alcohol being one of the most important elements to maintain and generate perception and motivation for change. Nevertheless, also in psychological therapy, different methods are used to help the alcoholic to stop drinking alcohol, in addition to controlling the craving or craving for consumption. It is important to be able to attend therapy, given how much is at stake.
Therapy focuses first on acquiring awareness of the problem in cases where this does not exist, to subsequently make people reflect on the pros and cons of drinking behavior, reinforce motivation to change and act through various technical programs (including the community reinforcement approach, marital and couples therapy, cue exposure therapy with response prevention, contingency management, training in coping and social skills, controlled drinking programs) and finally maintain said changes with relapse prevention programs. Departures.
During the treatment, techniques from very different theoretical aspects can be used, the most common being cognitive-behavioral, systemic, and humanistic. It is also common for substances such as disulfiram to be used during treatment, which generates unpleasant effects on the body by interacting with alcohol so that its consumption acquires an aversive redness.
Therapy For Alcohol Issues: Searching For Obtaining Help
This guide has been prepared for those individuals, and their families and friends, who are seeking options to address problems related to alcohol use. It was intended as a resource for understanding the available treatment options and what to consider when choosing between them.
Do The Treatments Work?
The good news is that no matter how serious the Cause may seem, most people with an alcohol use disorder can profit from some form of treatment.
Research shows that about one-third of people who receive treatment for alcohol use problems no longer have symptoms one year later. Many others radically cut back on drinking and report fewer alcohol-related problems.