Posts Tagged ‘alcohol treatment’

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When Hazardous and Heavy Drinking Leads to Serious Health Problems

Monday, August 24th, 2009

For a number of years alcohol dependency exploration has revealed the fact that there is strong correlation between alcoholism and life-threatening health conditions.

For instance, in 2005, scientific investigation demonstrated the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion per year. It can be emphasized that this very large alcohol-related expense was significantly more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is important to underline these facts, it is also noteworthy to highlight the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.

More specifically, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.

Without a doubt, substance abuse examination has revealed that alcohol addiction can amplify the risk for different types of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Abusive and recurring drinking can also lead to immune system issues and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.

Hazardous and Abusive Drinking Destabilizes the Person’s Systems and Organs

Additionally, if alcohol addiction continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will probably be affected in an unsafe manner. For instance, repeated, abusive drinking is especially injurious to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Unwarranted amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical circumstance results in a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and possibly incurable disease.

Heavy, long-term drinking not only can result in dangerous liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be unalterable and may, in turn, lead to severe disease or premature death.

The Importance of Alcohol Treatment

It is vital, therefore, to know how to identify the different alcoholism signs and symptoms so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol treatment he or she needs.

Alcohol Dependency and Sophisticated Brain Exploration

Fortuitously, scientific examination is persistently discovering novel and significant information. Recent alcoholism research offers a good illustration. More precisely, for approximately the last ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and recurring abusive drinking transforms the constitution of the brain to a great extent, consequently resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perhaps as long as the person exists.

More exactly, medical research has demonstrated that people who have been drinking in an excessive manner for a sizeable length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and serious transformations in the brain.

This type of damage may be directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain, to severe liver disease, or might be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health.

Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Excessive Drinking

As a final example of different health problems that are substantially associated with alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that according to scientific research, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a condition that diminishes the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

This form of organ malfunctioning is correlated with malnutrition and to an array of critical mental and neurological syndromes including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is a long lasting incapacitating medical condition that is exemplified by incessant learning and memory difficulties.

Conclusion

It is plain to see that continued, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a variety of severe medical problems that can and do lead to dangerous ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society so that a massive amount of individuals will be able to abstain from excessive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehabilitation they require.

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A Young Woman Makes an Honest Effort to Abstain From Drinking, Experiences Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms, Establishes the Fact That She is an Alcohol Dependent Person, and Comes to a Decision to Obtain Alcohol Counseling

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Jennifer is a twenty-eight-year-old controller who has been consuming alcohol quite extensively since she and her boyfriend broke up. Indeed, for the past ten months she has been drinking just about one-and-a-half bottles of wine every night, and on the weekends she also has been drinking several cans of beer all the way through the day.

After feeling dejected because she was beginning to forget about the importance of her health, Jennifer at last told herself that enough is enough, that it’s time to quit the self pity party, that it’s time to quit the excessive drinking, and time to move on with her life. So the next Saturday morning at 8:00 AM, she came to a decision that she would quit drinking completely and suddenly without preparation or planning.

When She Stopped Drinking She Felt Sick, She Vomited Numerous Times, Her Head Was Throbbing, She Started to Sweat Profusely, She Had Absolutely No Appetite, and She Was Extremely Restless and Moody

When Jennifer quit drinking, she reasoned that she would most likely be tempted to have a drink or two, but she never expected to feel so horrific. More exactly, approximately an hour-and-a-half after she quit drinking, she had absolutely no appetite, she vomited a number of times, she was extremely moody and tense, she started to sweat profusely, and her head was pounding.

When she called her best girlfriend and told her that she had quit drinking and that after a couple of hours she without any warning began having flu-like symptoms, Jane, her best pal, told Jennifer to call her doctor and discuss what she was going through.

She Admits to Her Physician That She Has Been Drinking In an Abusive Manner, That She Just Tried to Quit Drinking, and That She is Experiencing Terrible Flu-Like Symptoms

So Jennifer called her physician, informed him that she has been drinking in an abusive and irresponsible manner for many months and that when she tried to suddenly quit drinking earlier in the day, within a couple of hours she felt as if she had the most horrible flu-like symptoms that she had ever suffered through.

Her doctor told her that she may be suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms and that she should have a friend or relative take her to the emergency room as soon as humanly possible.

As soon as Jennifer got off the phone, she got a relative to take her to the hospital. Interestingly, as sick as Jennifer was, all she could think about all the way to the hospital was whether or not she might be addicted to alcohol.

It appears that her healthcare professional had called ahead and told the emergency room treatment team to expect Jennifer because when she got to the hospital, she was met by two nurses who promptly asked her to lie down on the portable bed they had with them. After getting moved to the emergency room and undergoing two or three necessary tests, it was established that Jennifer was in point of fact suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was in need of alcohol detox.

An emergency room healthcare practitioner gave her some medications to diminish her flu-like symptoms and also gave her some drugs to help eliminate the alcohol that was still in her blood.

An Alcohol Addiction Doctor Explains in a Clear Fashion That She is an Alcoholic and Then Goes Over What Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Alcoholism Stages Are

After an hour or two, Jennifer was transferred from the emergency room and wheeled to the recovery room. After she was in recovery for roughly two hours, Doctor Abrams, an alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse specialist, came to talk to her. He took his time and clearly explained that Jennifer had gone through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when she stopped drinking because she had become dependent on alcohol.

He then stated that with heavy drinking on a daily basis, the individual’s brain in a step-by-step fashion adapts to the alcohol in order to process things in a “routine” way. When the person then all at once abstains from ingesting alcohol, understandably, the brain takes action by giving rise to alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Not only this, but her medical practitioner also went over the various alcoholism stages that an alcohol addicted person typically goes through as the disease gradually gets worse.

It is Confirmed that Jennifer is in the Earliest Stage of Alcoholism and She Gets a Favorable Projection For a Full Recovery if She Gets the Alcoholism Treatment She Needs

Fortunately for Jennifer, it was discovered that she was in the first stage of alcohol addiction and, consequently, she got a good forecast for a complete recovery if she gets the alcohol dependency rehab she requires.

Jennifer told the doctor that she will do whatever it takes to get sober and to re-establish her life. She also articulated that she has an outstanding hospitalization insurance plan that will probably pay for most, if not all, of the treatment costs. It was obvious that Jennifer was very thankful about her encouraging medical forecast and felt at ease knowing that she will be able to get the alcohol addiction treatment she needs so that she can begin the road to recovery.

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The Main Factors in A Successful Alcohol Intervention

Monday, June 29th, 2009

What are the important elements in a productive alcohol intervention? Why do some alcoholism interventions happen as expected while many bomb?

The Necessity for a Distinguished History of Intervention Accomplishment

Scientific examination demonstrates that a fruitful alcohol intervention needs to be carried out by an intervention specialist who has a time-honored reputation of intervention accomplishment.

In effect this means that instead of deciding upon a “normal” alcohol addiction counselor or psychotherapist for an alcohol intervention, the person who is decided upon to conduct the intervention needs to be instructed in chemical dependency intervention techniques and needs to possess a reputation of effective alcohol abuse interventions.

A Few Elementary Illustrations of The Most Optimal Time For an Alcohol Abuse Intervention

Scientific investigation has also made evident the fact that the most productive time for an alcohol dependency intervention is following a meaningful “happening” in the life of the alcohol addicted individual or alcohol abuser. The following represents a few illustrations of these kinds of significant occasions:

  • The alcohol addicted person or abusive drinker has been caught stealing something of importance
  • The abusive drinker or alcohol dependent individual has been caught lying about something of import
  • The alcohol addicted person or abusive drinker has been arrested for driving under the influence.

In events such as these, the alcohol dependent individual or abusive drinker is more apt to feel contrite or to be embarrassed, therefore making him or her more interested in getting the professional alcohol counseling that is necessary.

At this point in time, moreover, it is also imperative to articulate that the abusive drinker or alcohol addicted person needs to be free of alcohol during the alcohol intervention. To put it briefly, if the alcohol abuser or alcohol-dependent person is “under the influence” during an alcohol addiction intervention, failure is practically assured.

In much the same way, scientific analysis has also demonstrated the fact that the abusive drinker or alcohol dependent individual has to at least try to listen to what is articulated in an alcohol abuse intervention. Stated more explicitly, during an alcohol abuse intervention, the abusive drinker or alcoholic needs to listen to what his or her drinking problems have done to those who care for him or her the most.

The Importance of Alcohol Rehabilitation For the Problem Drinker

And lastly, scientific analysis makes obvious the fact that the key reason for an alcohol abuse intervention in the first place is to persuade the abusive drinker or alcohol dependent individual to get the quality alcohol abuse therapy he or she needs. In other words, even if the person who monitors the intervention has a marvelous reputation of fruitful interventions and even if the hazardous drinker or alcohol addicted individual genuinely listens to every single word that is declared all through an intervention, if the hazardous drinker or alcoholic is not stimulated to ask for professional alcohol abuse treatment after the alcohol abuse intervention, then the intervention will be a debacle.

Clearly all of these factors are needed for a successful alcohol dependency intervention. If, however, the alcohol abuser or alcohol addicted individual is not inspired to obtain alcoholism treatment after listening to his or her family members communicate the grief, anger, and frustration they feel about the abusive drinker’s or alcohol addicted person’s excessive drinking behavior and the care they feel for the problem drinker, then every other phase of the alcohol addiction intervention will more or less be unimportant.

Even Fruitful Alcoholism Interventions Can Backfire Down the Road

It also needs to be emphasized that in spite of the fact that the alcohol abuse intervention can be seen as productive in that it helped put the abusive drinker or alcohol dependent individual in a more “open” mindset and in truth helped the alcohol dependent individual or abusive drinker conclude that he or she required alcohol rehab or quality help for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, the plain reality that the intervention occurred may result in resentment, irritation, and distrust in the future.

To be brief, even when alcoholism interventions are seen as productive in the short term, in the long term, then again, they may boomerang and, for that reason, may make the family and/or the alcoholic’s situation even poorer than it was before the alcohol abuse intervention occurred.

No matter how unjust or ironic this seems, try to keep in mind that it is merely one of the central alcohol facts that has to be dealt with when doing an alcohol intervention.

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When Drinking Becomes Problematic

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

How do you recognize that you have a problem with your drinking? When is it evident that you are engaging in excessive drinking?

If you have unsuccessfully attempted to stop drinking or if you promised yourself that your drinking days are finished and then you were made aware that you were drinking in an excessive manner just a few days later, the probability is quite good that you have a drinking problem. The point to highlight is that if you have made an effort to quit drinking and cannot accomplish this, then your drinking is controlling you, rather than the other way around.

In much the same way, if it takes greater amounts of alcohol to get the same “high,” more likely than not you need to realize that you have a drinking problem.

You may be telling yourself that the rationale for your drinking is so that you can lower your apprehension or get rid of the hurt that you feel. In much the same way, you may be trying to avoid a negative circumstance and may be looking for something better, more helpful, or less sorrowful.

As you continue to drink, however, you will realize that drinking does not produce the same high and you will also comprehend that drinking doesn’t help stamp out whatever elicited your distress in the first place.

As you continue to drink in an abusive way, regrettably, you may become an alcoholic and, as a consequence, you may add another major issue to deal with rather than unearthing more effective and healthy ways of managing your alcohol induced predicament.

When an Alcohol Assessment is Required

If you have figured out that you have a problem with your drinking, perchance the most positive thing you can do for yourself is to call your medical doctor or healthcare practitioner and arrange for an appointment for a physical and for a review of your drinking situation.

If you sincerely believe that you have a dangerous drinking problem, it might be a good idea to get prepared to hear that you need to get alcohol therapy.

At this juncture, what are your choices? You can unquestionably refuse to see your doctor and persevere with your pattern of excessive drinking.

It actually doesn’t take a mastermind, however, to understand that repeated, heavy drinking, if left untreated, will deteriorate over time and almost certainly set in motion an early death. Accordingly, your most expedient option is to confront your drinking problem and get the alcohol rehab you require.

The Deception of the Functioning Alcohol Addicted Person

It is almost counter intuitive to note the fact that numerous alcoholics lead busy and active lives and have pets, vehicles, houses, jobs, families, and any number of material possessions just like individuals who are not addicted to alcohol.

Many of these “functional” alcohol dependent individuals may have never been apprehended for a DUI and may have been lucky enough to avoid all alcohol generated legal difficulties. In spite of this fortunate situation, nonetheless, these alcohol dependent individuals need to drink in order to operate on a regular basis while keeping their facade as they interact with people outside their family.

Ask anyone who has seen them when they are bingeing or in a drunken stupor or ask a family member about the problem drinker’s alcohol addiction, then again, and they will be quick to affirm the legitimacy of the drinker’s situation and the particulars about the alcohol addicted person’s drinking condition and about his or her alcohol generated problems.

Why Do People Addicted to Alcohol Fail to Focus On Their Drinking Difficulties?

As alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse research has stressed, no matter how apparent the alcohol induced difficulties seem to those who interact with the alcohol dependent person, alcohol addicted people commonly deny that drinking is the root of their alcohol induced difficulties. Not only this, but alcohol addicted people frequently blame their alcohol-related problems on other people or upon other situations around them instead of seeing their part in the difficulty.

The origin of the predicament is that alcoholism is a disease of the brain. Once the person has become addicted to alcohol, he or she frequently resorts to denial, manipulation, and lying as a way of coping with the fact that his or her drinking is out of control. And to make things worse, the experience of alcohol withdrawal symptoms usually circumvents the alcohol addicted individual’s rare attempts to suddenly quit drinking. As depressing as the alcohol dependent person’s life is, on the other hand, the positive news is that competent assistance is widely accessible – if the alcohol addicted individual reaches out and tries to get alcoholism counseling.

Conclusion

Admitting the fact that drinking is triggering problems in your day by day functioning is perchance the most trouble-free way to find out if you have a problem with your drinking. Stated differently, if your drinking is bringing about problems with your health, with your employment, in your relationships, with your finances, at school, or with the law, then you have a drinking problem that needs to be dealt with.

If you have a problem with your drinking, additionally, this means that you are engaging in hazardous drinking.

While some individuals may be able to identify their drinking difficulties and substantially decrease the amount and frequency of their drinking, others, to the contrary, need to deal with their drinking problems by getting professional alcoholism therapy. Moreover, due to their inclination to deny the facts and twist the truth, alcohol addicted people without a doubt require quality alcoholism counseling for their hazardous drinking.

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Alcoholism, Enabling, and Alcohol Relapse

Friday, June 12th, 2009

It is remarkable to articulate something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcoholism of another family member plainly do not grasp. It appears that by protecting the alcohol addicted person with falsehoods and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have actually created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted person to persevere and go forward with his or her injurious, devastating style of life.

Clearly, instead of helping the alcoholic and themselves, these family members have basically become enablers who have unintentionally helped negatively affect the alcohol addicted individual’s problem drinking circumstance even more.

Relapses Can Occasionally Take Place From Time to Time

Another key alcohol dependency issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol dependent individual has fruitfully undergone alcohol addiction rehab and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this situation flies in the face of rational thinking and sounds so unbelievable that it forces an individual to question why anyone who has lived through the dreadfulness of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol treatment and in turn after attaining recovery. There are, of course, more than a few possible reasons for this.

It should be mentioned, however that alcoholism research that has focused on the enduring effects of alcohol dependency has demonstrated-proven that long after the alcoholic has quit his or her drinking, significant modifications in the way in which the alcohol dependent individual’s brain functions are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol dependent person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the transformations that have taken place in the brain is to begin drinking again.

A Requirement for A Crucial Lifestyle Modification

There are even more reasons why many recovering alcohol addicted individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. In accordance to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of responding and thinking in order to deal more efficiently with demanding alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.

Conditions such as returning to the same alcohol addictive atmosphere or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the days when the alcohol dependent person was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can bring about memories that can prompt psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcoholic to engage in hazardous drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these situations may not only negate ongoing sobriety for the alcohol dependent individual but they can also result in relapse and as a result negate one’s sobriety.

Conclusion

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can in fact cause unplanned harm by enabling the unhealthy drinking behavior of the alcohol dependent individual.

The drug abuse research literature confirms the fact that most individuals who successfully complete alcohol rehab go through at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or overwhelmed when a relapse takes place.

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What I Learned About Alcohol and Drug Abuse in High School

Friday, June 12th, 2009

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a substance abuse class. At that age, I did not understand that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people all through the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol treatment and the various alcohol rehab clinics that are commonly available to alcohol abusers.

Some of the negative consequences associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class definitely terrified me. The ruined lives and frequent problems experienced by most alcohol dependent people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In short, I did not want to face the wreckage and destruction that alcohol addicted individuals almost always go through.

Reflect on this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What young person wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related problems before he or she becomes an adult?

What youth wants to deal with alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that focuses on irresponsible drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I discussed some of them in class during the school year. What was entirely unbelievable to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the harmful outcomes of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with the truth and how these effects can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate a saying that my grandfather used to articulate throughout my younger years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

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