Alcohol addiction is categorised as both a mental and physical disorder. If you are experiencing alcohol addiction, you will continue to consume alcohol even though you are well aware of the negative consequences for doing so.
In short, alcohol addiction is not a moral failing but a disease. Alcohol addiction isn’t curable, but it may be arrested using modern evidence-based treatments. This treatment begins with a detox that forms part of an overall rehabilitation programme.
The vast majority of people are able to consume alcohol safely and moderately. For the fortunate majority, alcohol does not disrupt their lives. However, for some, alcohol consumption will cause many legitimate problems.
In the UK, the Government recommends you do no drink more than fourteen units of alcohol over the course of a week. This amount is the same for both men and women.
The Government guidance also recommends that you should spread your drinking over several days. If you consume large amounts of alcohol once or twice a week, you will be considered a binge drinker. This is typically believed to be a form of alcohol abuse.
Since alcoholism is a spectrum disorder, it’s possible to suffer from this illness without drinking every day of the week.
One sign that alcoholism has arisen is that you crave alcohol when its effects begin to wear off. However, you may be able to abstain from drinking on certain days of the week whilst still exhibiting signs of alcohol addiction.
Acute alcohol addiction is characterised by a physical and psychological need to drink alcohol each day of the week.
If you are experiencing acute alcoholism, then you will begin to experience discomforting withdrawal symptoms when your blood alcohol concentration begins to fall.
Because of these symptoms, medical experts classify alcoholism as an illness. Sufferers simply lack the will to abstain from drinking because to do so could cause serious consequences for their health due to potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms.
Low socioeconomic status can be a significant risk factor in developing alcohol misuse.
If subjects are suffering from factors such as financial insecurity, housing insecurity, or other factors which may be harming their standard of living, they may turn towards alcohol to cope.
However, studies also show that those who have higher socioeconomic statuses are just as likely to suffer from alcoholism.
This may be due to work-related stress and pressure. However, it is those of poor socioeconomic status who suffer from more profound consequences of brain disease.
Of the estimated 65 million people living in the UK, it’s estimated that around 7.5 million of those people exhibit signs of alcohol addiction.
This is more than 10% of the UK’s population and a totally unacceptable statistic. Simply put, not enough is being done to prevent the occurrence of excessive drinking amongst the UK’s population.
Alcoholism hurts both sufferers and society in many ways. Lost productivity due to alcohol addiction costs the UK economy billions of pounds each year.
For sufferers, alcohol addiction leads to many short term and long term mental and physical health problems. These people will put on excessive weight which increases their odds of developing diabetes.
Sufferers may experience insomnia, depression and anxiety as a result of their drinking.
People affected by alcohol addiction are unlikely to consume enough nutrients that are required for healthy living. In short, excessive drinking drags down sufferers’ health and quality of life.
Alcohol addiction affects sufferers’ mental health in many ways. These people will become utterly preoccupied with drinking, meaning they do not have time for anything else.
It’s no wonder that alcoholism is often accompanied by job loss and the break down in families affected by this blight.
If you suspect you are suffering from alcohol addiction, it’s best to reach out for help.
The easiest way to reach out for help is to contact our free helpline on 0800 140 4690.
It’s easy to deny the existence of your addiction. Mere willpower is seldom enough to overcome alcohol addiction.
For loved ones, it’s often difficult to enact lasting change by issuing ultimatums and the like. Often, it’s best to simply admit that you are simply not qualified to help your loved one overcome this terrible illness.
It’s important to realise that alcohol addiction is not a moral failing. Alcohol addiction is caused by chemical changes in the brain. These changes are caused when alcohol interacts with neurotransmitters in the brain known as GABA-A and dopamine receptors.
In this manner, alcohol effectively hijacks the brain (and thus your behaviour) so that you cannot consciously defeat the urge to seek out ever-greater quantities of alcohol.
This phenomenon has caused some experts to term alcoholism as a bio-behavioural disorder.
Whilst it is difficult to offer a solid framework in helping you to self-diagnose alcoholism, we are nevertheless able to offer guidance in helping you come to this conclusion.
Below, we list a number of signs that could mean you are experiencing alcoholism:
A substance as addictive and powerful as alcohol is bound to have a range of symptoms on its consumers.
While many substances are either physically or psychologically addictive, alcohol is addictive in both ways, meaning that there are plenty of different ways in which short-term symptoms will manifest.
When someone is addicted to alcohol, they will struggle to quit because they experience strong cravings and yearning for the highly addictive substance.
These cravings will make it very difficult for some people to perform daily tasks which were previously simple and easy to complete, whether it was showering, going to work, eating healthily, maintaining relationships, and so on.
Some people are ‘high functioning’ whereas others are ‘low functioning’.
Addicted people who are high functioning will find it easier to be proactive and complete tasks while battling addiction, whereas low-functioning people will struggle more to do anything other than consume their addictive substance.
Not only will they crave alcoholic substances, but they will also suffer from short-term withdrawal symptoms which will make them want to consume the substance, even more, entrenching them further into the depths of alcoholism.
These withdrawal symptoms are both physical and psychological. They include but aren’t limited to anxiety, headaches, migraines, lethargy, fatigue, hallucinations, vomiting, trembling, psychosis, seizures, and more.
While these are short-term symptoms, they can lead to long-term symptoms which may cause permanent damage or even death.
The behaviour of the addicted person will also begin to be affected by alcoholism. They may become much more irritable, and they may even withdraw from their friends or families.
Relationships will be more difficult to maintain, and they may end up suffering from social isolation, making it even more difficult for them to seek help.
The effects of alcohol are not only confined to short-term symptoms.
While many of these symptoms are treatable if subjects enter a rehab, change their consumption habits, or undergo a range of medications, short-term symptoms can develop into long-term symptoms and medical complications which can permanently damage the health of individuals.
The long-term effects of alcohol include:
Without taking the necessary steps to overcome an alcohol addiction, subjects will suffer from a range of health complications, ranging from physical to psychological.
There is a strong correlation between subjects who suffer from alcoholism and those who are also suffering from mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and more.
Those who frequently consume high levels of alcohol over some time will suffer from a range of physical effects such as liver disease, liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more.
These illnesses will severely limit what the subject can do in their day-to-day life, and they may even kill them.
While abstaining from alcohol is always a path which will lead to a healthier lifestyle, it will not treat permanent effects once the damage has been done.
Subjects must seek support as soon as they can to return to full health before permanent damage sets in.
If you have a history of excessive drinking, then returning to social drinking is not advised.
Alcoholism is a progressive disorder, meaning the severity of your condition will successively get worse.
Moderate drinking is when you drink within the recommended fourteen unit limit we mention above. This translates to around six glasses of wine or six pints of beer per week.
If you feel you are able to drink within this limit, then it is important that you spread your drinking across at least a three-day period.
Drinking within this limit over 1-2 days could be considered binge drinking.
Alcoholism is a progressive disorder. In fact, it may take many years for the full effects of alcoholism to emerge.
Since alcoholism develops slowly over many years, it’s thus not difficult to appreciate why so many people affected by alcoholism experience denial.
It’s important to recognise the risk factors associated with alcoholism so you are better able to recognise them before it is too late.
The most common risk factors that increase your chances of developing alcoholism include:
In most situations, those affected by alcohol began to drink moderately and responsibly. However, moderate drinking develops into binge drinking.
Often, this is triggered by living a stressful lifestyle or experiencing a traumatic event. During the early stages of alcohol abuse, it’s likely you are able to control your drinking or even stop completely.
Binge drinking may develop into alcohol abuse for many different reasons. Alcohol abuse arises when you begin to drink more than 14 units of alcohol over many consecutive days. You may notice the reasons why you drink alcohol begin to change.
Whilst before you drank for social reasons, you begin to find yourself drinking merely because it improves your mood. Drinking to feel better is a definite sign that you are beginning to abuse alcohol.
If left unchecked, there is a good chance that alcohol abuse could develop into a physical dependency on alcohol. Here, you will drink alcohol to avoid the withdrawal symptoms that arise when your blood alcohol levels begin to drop.
These symptoms typically include tremors, nausea, sweating and a heightened heartbeat. Alcohol dependency is characterised by an increased tolerance to alcohol. You will require ever-greater volumes of alcohol in order to attain the desired effects.
When an alcohol dependency arises, you will drink alcohol, not for pleasure. Instead, your cravings for alcohol and consequential drinking will negatively interfere with each and every aspect of your life.
You will likely lose friends, family members and jobs as a result of your drinking. The only way you can repair this damage is to attend an alcohol rehab clinic where you will receive the necessary treatment that’s needed to make a full recovery.
When you begin to recognise the symptoms of alcoholism, it’s likely your initial reaction will be to deny the existence of the problem.
Denial is a defence mechanism and one that often arises from the misconception that alcohol addiction is caused by a moral failing.
Denial is insidious because it prevents you from seeking out a solution to your alcohol addiction.
Alcoholism is a disease of the mind because it alters the chemical makeup of the brain. These chemical changes contribute to an alteration in behaviours, thoughts and emotions.
It’s thus not surprising to learn that alcoholism is linked to a range of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Drinking alcohol often provides temporary relief from these mental health problems. This is often known as self-medicating with alcohol.
Alcoholism is also linked to a number of more serious mental health issues including psychosis and self-harm.
It’s also estimated that more than 70% of suicides were committed whilst under the influence of alcohol. Sufferers are believed to be put themselves at a heightened risk of suicide if they undergo a detox without medical supervision.
Alcohol addiction gives rise to significant personal and public costs. Your alcohol addiction could cost you your job, your friends, your family and even your life.
For the economy, it’s estimated that treating people for alcohol-related illnesses and injuries accounts for around 10% of the NHS’s budget.
Alcoholism and alcohol consumption also cost the taxpayer in terms of policing. It’s estimated that alcoholism and alcohol abuse could be costing the UK economy around £21 billion each year.
It’s best to seek out treatment as soon as you recognise the symptoms of alcoholism. Delaying your treatment could be fatal. Many people die from alcoholism unexpectedly.
Many people inflicted with alcoholism delay treatment until they have hit rock-bottom. This practice is positively dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.
Instead, seek out addiction treatment before it is too late. If you feel you cannot control your drinking, then now is the time to seek out treatment.
You can discover your drinking options by contacting our free helpline today on 0800 140 4690.
To seek the support that you require to combat alcoholism, you can contact us here at Rehab 4 Addiction.
By dialling the number 0800 140 4690 from the United Kingdom or +44 345 222 3508 internationally, you will come into contact with a member of staff and admissions officer who will guide you throughout the process.
When you are greeted by the trained admissions officer, you will be free to ask any questions that you have and make treatment enquiries.
Only with your consent and when you are ready will we conduct a health assessment which can then evaluate what kind of rehab and treatment programme you require to recover.
The health assessment is not only swift, but it is free of charge, and it is completed over the phone, not requiring in-person appointments to complete.
During the health assessment, the admissions officer at Rehab 4 Addiction will ask questions related to your physical and mental health, your addiction and medical history, preferences or requirements that you have for when you enter rehab, and so on. The test will be done with complete discretion.
The questions are simple and they will allow us to understand your unique circumstance.
Addiction is very complex, and each patient’s needs will differ. Therefore, the consultant psychiatrist must understand what is needed to optimise their addiction treatment recovery programme.
Subjects must reach out as soon as they can when they are potentially suffering from alcoholism. Alcohol addiction, when not carefully treated or managed, can become much more severe and will pose several severe ramifications to someone’s health.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, our priority is to help you return to a life of sobriety and normalcy.
While it is paramount that you seek professional diagnosis and enter rehab through an appropriate admissions process, subjects have access to tools which can provide them more insight into their damaging condition.
One of the most popular forms of alcohol screening methods is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test or AUDIT.
Since its publication in 1989, AUDIT has established itself as one of the most frequently used tools for identifying alcoholism among health practitioners and also among non-health practitioners.
AUDIT is a questionnaire which questions subjects who worry that they may be suffering from alcoholism, and the questions are concerned with alcohol intake, alcohol dependence, and alcohol-related harm.
When subjects answer the questions with complete accuracy and sincerity, they will receive an analysis which will provide them with a score reflecting the severity of alcoholism.
The levels of severity are divided into these categories:
As previously stated, AUDIT should only be used to provide more insight into an addiction if it is utilised by a non-health practitioner. Subjects are always advised to seek an official diagnosis from someone who specialises in addiction diagnosis and treatment.
Alcoholism and its problems are not only confined to the person who is addicted. Friends and family members also suffer from the consequences of their loved one’s excessive drinking habits.
Witnessing a loved one battle addiction can cause immense emotional pain and it can profoundly affect the lives of others in more ways than one.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, we can help friends and family members by assigning an interventionist.
An interventionist can help facilitate an intervention between friends and family members and their loved ones, where they can communicate to their loved ones how their addiction is affecting their lives.
The goal is to communicate clearly and non-confrontationally and to provide valid points as to why they should consider seeking the support of a drug and alcohol rehab.
Alcoholism will require the subject to enter a rehabilitation centre to successfully recover.
However, there are more than one forms of treatment which patients can undergo, with one form being more optimal than the other depending on the patient’s circumstances.
The levels of care available at an alcohol addiction rehab are:
Two forms of addiction treatment programmes which patients can undergo are inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Inpatient treatment typically refers to undergoing treatment at a residential or private rehabilitation centre, whereas outpatient treatment typically refers to free or public rehabilitation services.
Treatment at a residential or private rehab as an inpatient is thought to be one of the most effective forms of treatment for alcoholism.
While it is especially effective in treating those who are suffering from a moderate to severe form of addiction, it is also available to patients who also suffer from milder forms of addiction.
What makes it so effective is that they require patients to spend around 28 days living at an onsite accommodation provided by the rehab while undergoing comprehensive and intensive treatment each day.
This means that therapy and counselling sessions are easily accessed, and medical professionals at a specialised facility provide an optimal environment for them to recover.
Additionally, by living as an inpatient at their rehab facility, patients will be removed from any toxic social environments to which they may have been exposed previously.
Social and environmental factors such as toxic living spaces, friends who are bad influences, and so on, are a huge driving force towards individuals developing alcohol addiction.
As an inpatient, patients will not need to worry about these factors interfering with their recovery process.
Furthermore, private rehabilitation centres offer personalisation when it comes to addiction treatment programmes. This means that the rehab provider will pay great attention to detail to the patient’s unique treatment requirements to optimise their recovery.
Personalisation is paramount when it comes to treating patients who suffer from severely heavy drinking, mental disorders (e.g. depression, bipolar disorder), medical conditions, or other factors which are likely to hinder recovery.
As an inpatient, their condition will be carefully monitored and they will receive 24/7 care and support.
Outpatient treatment does not require that patients stay at an accommodation provided by the rehab facility, and instead, patients can return home each day following therapy and counselling.
It is catered to those who are suffering from a milder form of alcohol addiction, or former inpatients who want to maintain their recovery post-rehab.
Patients are particularly intrigued by outpatient treatment’s flexibility, which allows them to pursue other goals whether personal, occupational, academic or else, alongside their addiction treatment.
Patients will be required to attend a few hours of therapy and counselling per week, or more if they are undergoing the Intensive Outpatient Programme (IOP).
However, while it may be flexible, too much flexibility makes it unsuitable for patients who are suffering from more severe forms of alcohol abuse.
Patients who are at a higher risk of suffering from withdrawal symptoms and a relapse will not find that their recovery is optimised as an outpatient, because it often doesn’t provide intensive or personalised treatment, and patients will continually be exposed to social and environmental relapse triggers when they return home.
Outpatient treatment is typically free of charge, as it is often publicly funded. On the other hand, residential and private addiction treatment requires patients to pay for their treatment.
Depending on the rehab provider, patients can be expected to pay from between £1,000 to £4,000 per week at their facility. Patients will typically spend around 28 days undergoing treatment, meaning that treatment will cost around £4,000 to £10,000 in total.
The price is location dependent and will vary according to many different factors.
These factors include the quality of staff and facilities provided, whether it is luxurious or not, experience and reputation of the rehab, treatment methods, and so on.
Rehab 4 Addiction can help patients carefully consider which options are best for them depending on their priorities and unique requirements.
To combat alcoholism, patients will need to undergo various forms of treatment, and one of the earliest forms of treatment they will need to undergo is the medicated detox process.
Alcohol is a highly addictive substance, and it can present physical and psychological symptoms. Because of this, the withdrawal symptoms can be extremely discomforting, which further increases the risk of a relapse taking place.
The medicated detox is implemented to ensure that patients can overcome their cravings and their withdrawal symptoms safely.
During the medicated detox, patients will spend around one to two weeks in a safe and comfortable environment receiving medical treatment as alcohol withdraws from their bodies.
Allowing alcohol to withdraw from the body and regulating the symptoms is essential towards long-term recovery. This is because the withdrawal symptoms can be severe, and they can even lead to death if severe enough and mismanaged.
Once the patient has overcome their withdrawal symptoms, they will be in a fit condition to proceed and overcome other cognitive, behavioural, and emotional issues which affect their excessive drinking habits.
During the medicated detox, patients may receive a range of medications to ensure that they can cope with their withdrawal symptoms. This is called pharmacological treatment or intervention.
Pharmacological treatment can help reduce acute symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, whether they are physical or psychological.
The symptoms will vary in their form and degree of severity from one patient to the next, therefore, a range of medications can be prescribed.
Some examples of medication to treat alcoholism include but aren’t limited to:
There are other forms of medication which can be used during the medicated detox, and they will depend on the patient’s unique addiction.
An addiction physician will evaluate the addiction history, medical history, and the symptoms that they are experiencing to prescribe the appropriate medication.
At rehab, a range of therapeutic approaches is implemented to optimise recovery
. Not only will they aim to tackle the patterns of heavy drinking of alcohol use disorders, but they will also tackle cognitive, behavioural, and emotional issues that the patient may exhibit.
If therapy was limited to only addressing symptoms of addiction, the patient may not be able to establish long-term recovery.
To establish long-term recovery and overcome alcohol use disorder, patients will learn how to improve many different aspects of their lives by tackling a range of negative habits.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is a form of individual therapy. It is highly popularised due to its effectiveness in helping patients not only identify self-destructive patterns and tendencies but in helping them discard them in favour of healthier and more constructive habits.
Sessions are typically held between a licensed counsellor and the patient in a one-to-one format. This means that the patient will have undivided attention, allowing more room for progress and attention to detail regarding their specific condition.
Subjects who suffer from alcoholism typically have a range of cognitive, behavioural, and emotional issues which have ultimately led to their heavy drinking habits and eventually alcohol use disorder.
The purpose of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is to help patients acknowledge these flaws to replace them.
For example, a patient may be suffering from symptoms of depression, self-hatred, or cognitive distortion. Consistently attending Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions will allow both the counsellor and the patient to recognise these patterns, and eventually overcome them by navigating why these habits exist.
The objective is to help patients reconfigure their habits and their lifestyle to overcome their addiction.
To fully recover, patients will need to address their patterns of thoughts and behaviour which ultimately led to their heavy alcohol consumption.
Not only will this help them overcome addiction, but it will also help them become much more capable in all aspects of life.
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, or DBT, is very similar to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Both forms of therapy can be used concurrently, as Dialectical Behavioural Therapy is catered more towards patients who experience intense thoughts and emotions.
Feelings of stress, anxiety, trauma, and worry often prove to be the root cause of someone’s development of frequent and heavy alcohol consumption.
What’s worse is that these feelings will persist throughout their alcohol dependence, despite the patients seeking euphoria and relief from the addictive substance.
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy teaches patients how to accept and navigate their intense feelings and emotions, instead of rejecting them and ultimately suffering from them.
They will learn to cope by developing a range of skills related to acceptance, stress management, mindfulness, and more.
By redirecting their energy, they will learn how to adjust to negative situations in life, and they will learn to become much more rational and constructive.
Following rehab, these skills will allow them to utilise positive coping mechanisms, rather than turning towards alcohol to relieve feelings of stress and worry.
Motivational Interviewing or Enhancement Therapy is a form of therapy which is implemented to increase the effectiveness of other therapies involved in the addiction treatment programme.
This is done by targeting and amplifying the patient’s motivation levels towards recovery methods.
When suffering from an addiction, patients often lose hope and the willingness to recover because they are suffering from many different things such as withdrawal symptoms, preoccupation and cravings, malnutrition, and more.
These detrimental variables can make it incredibly difficult for someone to focus on recovery.
However, Motivational Interviewing and Enhancement Therapy utilise the language of change to help improve the levels of motivation that patients have towards recovery.
Patients will have ultimately entered rehab on their terms, whether they are motivated by intrinsic motivations or extrinsic motivations.
A licensed counsellor will assume the role of an interviewer and question the patient’s decision to enter rehab to overcome their alcohol dependence.
The goal is that by exploring and navigating these reasons, the patient will have a newfound commitment towards therapeutic approaches at rehab.
Contingency Management is essentially a way to reward patients for their hard work and progress towards their goals of recovery.
It complements Motivational Interviewing, and when used concurrently, patients may experience a significant increase in their commitment towards recovery.
Patients hope to recover from their addiction, and that is the ultimate goal. However, it may appear to be a long and difficult process.
By breaking down the recovery journey into smaller parts and introducing tangible rewards such as gifts and prizes, the patient may become much more motivated to reach these goals.
For each time that a patient reaches a new goal, or displays success in their recovery journey, such as going 15 days sober, for example, they will be rewarded by their loved ones or their rehab provider. The reward may be personalised according to the patient’s personality and interests.
The benefits of Holistic Therapy or Holistic Psychotherapy are numerous, and they aren’t confined to one facet of the patient. Rather, Holistic Therapy is implemented to optimise the physical, mental, and spiritual health of the patient.
While Motivational Interviewing may aim to tackle low levels of motivation, for example, Holistic Therapy doesn’t necessarily target symptoms that the patient is experiencing.
Instead, it focuses on providing the patient with engaging and positive experiences which will improve their general well-being.
The examples of Holistic Therapy are numerous, and they may vary from activities such as adventure therapy, equine therapy, yoga, and music therapy, to others such as meditation, art therapy, acupuncture, massages, aromatherapy, and so on.
However, each is implemented to provide a positive and engaging experience for the patient, which will foster behavioural activation.
Behavioural activation occurs when a positive experience influences mood positively. By engaging in positive experiences, patients will find they are less anxious, more sociable, happier, more confident, and more.
Holistic Therapy can help patients understand how particular activities can affect their moods and thoughts, and it can encourage them to take part in activities which positively influence their well-being.
The family is often relevant in one way or another when it comes to the subject of addiction and addiction recovery. Therefore, it is important to include them to improve the patient’s chances of establishing long-term recovery.
If a patient has a supportive family, they will often turn towards them when struggling with their addiction. This makes it necessary to include the family during treatment throughout their loved one’s recovery.
Family therapy sessions can help them develop their knowledge of their loved one’s addiction, and their abilities to thoroughly support them.
It can also offer them counselling sessions to help them cope emotionally with their loved one’s addiction. By refining their skills, and knowledge, and ensuring that they are coping, they can become a strong component towards their loved one’s recovery journey.
Otherwise, some patients may have a negative relationship with their family members. If a subject has a poor relationship with his or her family, it can lead to problematic behaviour, such as binge drinking.
Additionally, if there is a family history of substance abuse, it makes the subject far more susceptible to developing alcohol addiction.
Ultimately, the family can have a profoundly negative effect on the subject’s excessive alcohol consumption, or they can form a strong form of a support network when it comes to addiction recovery.
Because of this, including the family in the addiction recovery programme can positively influence their loved one’s recovery.
Examples of family therapy include but aren’t limited to:
Group Therapy is another form of therapy which can present a range of benefits for the patient by including others.
In a group therapy session, a group of patients will take part in a therapy or counselling session which is led by a licensed therapist.
The benefits of group therapy are numerous towards helping patients overcome their alcohol addiction. Some of these benefits include forming a new form of support network, reinforcing positive habits, reducing social isolation, and more.
Patients will be able to share a space and communicate with other patients who have the same goal of overcoming addiction.
Regardless of their age, sex, or beliefs, they will have a common goal with can foster a great sense of community and a stronger support network.
Furthermore, this will help them sustain positive lifestyle changes. Rather than reverting to poor habits which exacerbate addiction, group therapy will promote social reinforcement since the patients have a common goal.
Sharing the same space as others who are making positive changes to their lifestyle makes it more likely that they will sustain their recovery.
Additionally, it will reduce the effects of social isolation. Addiction can cause patients to withdraw from their friends and family, reduce means of communication, avoid seeking help, and so on.
Group therapy can combat this by allowing patients to communicate with each other about their experiences.
Patients must be able to accept the fact that they have flaws and that they are suffering from a disease. This disease requires that they make the appropriate changes in their lifestyle to return to a life of sobriety and happiness.
If patients are unable to accept their flaws or make the appropriate changes to overcome an alcohol addiction, it will be incredibly difficult for them to recover.
The purpose of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is to help patients develop psychological flexibility.
Psychological flexibility means having the ability to be aware of your thoughts and emotions and to be able to accept past events and circumstances.
Rather than allowing setbacks and negative situations to dictate their future mindset and decisions, psychologically flexible subjects will be able to adjust to negative experiences and be proactive.
In the context of addiction, a subject who is not psychologically flexible may allow negative experiences to entirely dictate their future, and they will resort to binge drinking or consuming drugs as a way to cope.
By developing psychological flexibility, patients will learn how to cope with difficult situations in life without needing to practice bad habits.
One form of therapy which can be practised throughout rehab and especially after the patient’s time at rehab is 12-Step Facilitation Therapy.
12-Step Facilitation Therapy is helpful for people with alcohol use because it is an active engagement strategy which helps patients follow principles which will lead to a better life.
Often employed in self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12-Step Facilitation Therapy helps patients learn about principles such as acceptance, and surrender, which will help formerly heavy drinkers to discontinue their consumption and to accept that abstinence is the way to combat addiction.
According to studies, it is estimated that patients who practice the 12-Step Facilitation Therapy are up to 6 times more likely to successfully sustain their sobriety than those who do not.
By providing patients with a structure to follow during their post-rehab life, they are continually maintaining their recovery.
Alcohol relapse triggers can appear anywhere. Most typically, alcohol relapse triggers are associated with negative connotations. Examples of negative alcohol relapse triggers include:
There are also triggers which are associated with positive connotations which can put the subject at risk of relapsing.
These include celebrations, such as weddings or birthday parties, or associating alcohol with a particular kind of music in the subject used to enjoy, and so on.
There are many different forms of alcohol relapse triggers which can bring about and exploit a subject’s cravings for alcohol.
Therefore, patients must be thoroughly trained to avoid these triggers and to prevent them from leading to relapse if they are unavoidable.
One popular method of relapse prevention is HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). This form of relapse prevention strategy will help patients to manage their cravings for alcohol by developing a range of healthy coping mechanisms.
Rather than turning towards alcohol consumption, they will be able to proactively and constructively manage themselves in times of uncertainty.
[1] Associations Between Socioeconomic Factors and Alcohol Outcomes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4872618/
[2] Drinking Too Much Alcohol Can Harm Your Health https://web.archive.org/web/20240229160851/https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
[3] Pancreatitis https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/pancreatitis
[4] Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test https://auditscreen.org/
[5] Intensive Outpatient Programme https://americanaddictioncenters.org/intensive-outpatient-programs
[6] Naltrexone https://americanaddictioncenters.org/addiction-medications/naltrexone
[7] Cognitive Behavioural Therapy https://www.rehab4addiction.co.uk/addiction-treatment/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-addiction
[8] Dialectical Behaviour Therapy https://www.rehab4addiction.co.uk/addiction-treatment/dialectical-behaviour-therapy-addiction
[9] Understanding Motivational Interviewing https://motivationalinterviewing.org/understanding-motivational-interviewing
[10] Holistic Psychotherapy https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/holistic-psychotherapy
[11] Family Therapy for Addiction https://www.rehab4addiction.co.uk/addiction-treatment/family-therapy-addiction
[12] What is Family Behaviour Therapy? https://familybehaviortherapy.faculty.unlv.edu/what-is-family-behavior-therapy/
[13] Brief Strategic Family Therapy https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737065/
[14] ACT and Psychological Flexibility https://psychotherapyacademy.org/acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-the-essentials/act-aims-to-increase-psychological-flexibility/
[15] 12-Step Facilitation Therapy https://web.archive.org/web/20221004152527/https:/nida.nih.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/evidence-based-approaches-to-drug-addiction-treatment/behavioral-therapies/12-step
[16] The 12 Steps of AA https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/about-aa/the-12-steps-of-aa
[17] HALT https://www.newenglandrecoverycenter.org/blog/a-strategy-to-prevent-relapse-remember-to-halt/
