What is alcoholism? This disease develops with prolonged and regular use of alcohol. As a result of this, irreversible changes occur in the body. A person gets used to alcohol gradually and imperceptibly for himself. And when he realizes that serious problems have arisen, he cannot stop on his own. In the treatment of alcoholism, medications are used, without which a person cannot be taken out of binge. Recently, psychologists and doctors are more inclined to the psychological treatment of alcoholics.
Causes of alcoholism
The reasons for addiction to alcohol are divided into:
- Psychological. They depend on the nature of the person and the ability to adapt to living conditions. How do they become alcoholics? People begin to drink alcohol from the inability to realize themselves in life, from insecurity and complexes. Some relieve alcohol-containing drinks emotional stress, anxiety, anxiety. And there are those who like the taste of alcohol.
- Social. A lot of drinking traditions, the influence of people around - a person begins to drink, because his friends, relatives, work colleagues drink. How do they become alcoholics? Lack of housing or work, low salary, low cultural level, loss of interest in life - all these troubles lead to binges, and then to addiction to alcohol.
- Physiological. A large role is played by a person’s genetic predisposition resulting from mutations in genes. Children born from alcoholics have a greater propensity for alcohol. In addition, with diseases of the nervous system, brain, metabolic disorders, liver problems, alcohol addiction occurs faster than in a healthy person.
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the psychological causes of alcoholism prevail over the rest. It is stressful situations and psychological illnesses of people living in a crazy rhythm of life that make the nervous system calm the drinks containing alcohol.
What is alcoholism?
Dependence on alcohol is expressed by a severe painful disorder consisting in prolonged poisoning of the body with ethanol. Regular consumption of alcoholic beverages makes a person dependent on them, both psychological and physical. It is appropriate to talk about a chronic disease when during the year an individual continues to consume alcohol when the following situations arise:
- problems with fulfilling basic duties in the family, in the educational process or at work;
- the use of alcohol in dangerous situations for health: working with moving mechanisms, driving a car;
- problems with law - drives for a fight while drunk;
- deterioration in health;
- family discord.
Alcoholism is a chronic disease, and a person cannot stop himself, he continues to drink, despite the troubles.
Stages of alcoholism
Alcohol addiction is characterized by two forms: psychological and physical. The first appears due to the effect of ethanol on the central nervous system, the second occurs when alcohol is included in the metabolic process. The speed of addiction to alcohol depends on the amount of drink and the frequency of consumption of intoxicated drinks. The following symptoms are assessed for diagnosis:
- level of attraction;
- change in tolerance;
- the occurrence of somatovegetative and neurological signs after stopping the intake of ethanol;
- damage to internal organs.
How do they become alcoholics? The following stages of the development of the disease are distinguished:
- Zero - with it there is still no disease, but domestic drunkenness is already present. A person drinks alcohol, but does not get drunk until memory loss and can stop drinking alcohol-containing drinks for a long time. After drinking in the company, he does not continue drinking alcohol alone. The zero stage in six months to a year goes into the next, if the drinks continue daily.
- The first is alcohol addiction. The patient can drink alcohol alone: ​​on weekends, before dinner. Sometimes he wants to have a drink at night or on the road while driving a car. After a large amount of alcohol consumed, memory lapses occur, the individual becomes aggressive and irritable. On the second day, a hangover appears, but he can still do without a drink. Scandals begin in the family, problems arise at work, interest in hobbies, life is lost.
- The second - the desire to drink becomes intrusive. In the morning after drinking the day before, you must definitely get a hangover. A person loses control over the amount of alcohol consumed. It becomes gloomy, depressive, blood pressure and body temperature increase, trembling in the extremities appears, palpitations, insomnia, vomiting after eating, but not after alcohol, is possible. Personality changes occur - a person becomes false, interest in social status disappears, intelligence decreases. The consequences of the disease are still reversible when seeking medical help and the desire to be treated.
- The third - resistance to alcohol is greatly reduced, intoxication requires a small amount of ethanol. Alcohol is required to be consumed daily. There is a change in the psyche and personality degradation. The work of internal organs is disrupted: liver, stomach, heart, nervous system. Possible delirium tremens, which ends in dementia, and possibly death.
What children are born to alcoholics?
In families where both parents drink, healthy children are rarely born. When a child is conceived in a drunken state and is consumed by the mother throughout the pregnancy, the child is often born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Toddlers have a low weight and a shortened body. Various deformities are possible:
- hip dysplasia;
- the absence of one of the limbs;
- chest deformity;
- abnormal arrangement of fingers;
- doubling of the vagina;
- shortening of the feet;
- fusion of the anus.
A child from a family of alcoholics is characterized by a specific appearance:
- strabismus;
- shortened palpebral fissure;
- low nose bridge;
- elongated face;
- flattened labial groove;
- thin upper lip;
- undeveloped lower jaw;
- deep auricles;
- flat nape.
Subsequently, children are far behind in physical, mental and mental development from children from normal families. They are very shy, suffer from sleepwalking, they suffer from migraines, insomnia, noticeable fatigue, many suffer from dementia. In addition, babies have problems with internal organs: the cardiovascular system, the development of the brain, liver, kidneys, lungs. It should be noted that physically and mentally ill children are not always born in the families of alcoholics. It is quite possible the birth of a perfectly healthy child.
Can I stop drinking?
Alcoholics are really mentally ill people. They find solace in the next portion of alcohol, and life begins to seem to them without any problems. How to stop drinking? Probably every alcohol-abusing person thinks about this issue. However, he does not have time to concentrate on this, as the next portion of alcohol makes him even more dependent on the potion. The saddest thing is that he does not consider himself an alcoholic. Alcohol helps relieve stress, the disappearance of a sense of uselessness and insecurity. With its help, you can note any successes and joys. When a person realizes his dependence on alcohol, a struggle must begin. An effective way should be found to stop drinking forever in order to prevent premature death. You need to understand that you can relax in another way - to find a new hobby or hobby. Someone is completely immersed in work, earning good money and a position in society, others start to get involved in woodcarving, collecting various collections, traveling around the country. It all depends on the interests of the person, but each lesson should bring satisfaction and pride for the achieved goal.
What can cure?
Is it possible to cope with drunkenness on my own? To a greater extent, this depends on how far the disease has gone and what is the patient’s desire to break free from a bad habit. How to stop drinking if the disease has gone very far and the patient wants to return to normal? To do this, you need to use additional help tools:
- Medicines prescribed by the doctor: antipsychotics, antidepressants, nootropics, liver, kidney, and heart repair agents.
- Individual and group psychotherapy.
- Encoding hypnosis or medications.
With long-term experience of alcoholism, medical care is indispensable.
What can support a former alcoholic?
If you have a strong desire to stop being an alcoholic, to establish a life without alcohol, you need to return the family:
- Make new friends. It doesn’t work out - to take part in the forum for anonymous alcoholics.
- Keep a constant fight against stress. They can cause a breakdown. To do this, find your favorite thing, constantly take medicine and be busy all the time with something.
- Completely change your life - get a new job, constantly play sports, read more, take walks, try yourself in cooking or in some other business.
It must be remembered that in a chronic disease relapse is always possible. If you decide to stop drinking forever, then do not give in to a minute weakness and you should not try any alcohol, including beer.
Alcohol during pregnancy
The fetus in the womb is protected by the placenta from the harmful effects of the environment. But it does not delay all chemicals. Alcohol and its breakdown products with the mother’s blood penetrate through it and enter the amniotic fluid and the fetal blood. Spreading with blood throughout the tiny body, cause irreversible processes in the organs . Alcohol is especially dangerous for the fetus in the first eight weeks of pregnancy, when the formation of the internal organs of the unborn baby occurs.
Drinking pregnant woman does not think about the fact that ethanol causes disorders and deformities in the fetus. The brain is most affected due to the content of fatty substances in it, which alcohol primarily affects. In later pregnancy, ethanol continues to adversely affect the fetus, slowing its growth and development. After birth, a child often has dropsy of the brain, congenital heart disease, impaired development of the kidneys and external genital organs, various deformities of the limbs. With age, these children become noticeable lag in physical and mental development. They often have severe neurosis and epilepsy. Such serious consequences are the systematic use of alcohol by a pregnant woman in the amount of 75 grams of vodka. But a smaller volume of alcohol can adversely affect the development of the fetus. Alcohol is also dangerous for the future mother - pregnancy is complicated, miscarriage, premature birth, weak labor, prolonged course, and the birth of a child with asphyxia are possible. There is only one conclusion - it is strictly forbidden to drink during pregnancy.
Where does it all start?
There are a variety of reasons to become familiar with alcohol. But mostly they depend on age. What does alcoholism begin with? Children under 11 years old get acquainted with alcohol by accident or parents give them for appetite, use it as a medicine, sometimes the child himself tries it out of curiosity. Teenagers learn alcohol at holidays, family celebrations when guests come.
After 14 years, such motives appear - for the company, friends persuaded. Many children, especially in adolescence, who are withdrawn, uncommunicative, to somehow draw attention to themselves, gain authority and stand out among their peers, drink, as the people say, one hundred grams for courage. After the first touch of alcohol, the adolescent's psychological barrier disappears, and he believes that he can drink with friends, and sometimes alone.
The first acquaintance with alcohol on a teenager does not have the same effect as he imagined. Bad taste, bitterness in the mouth, dizziness, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. After that, most of them do not drink alcohol for a certain time. However, in connection with the holidays, birthdays, graduation, admission to the school, there is a desire to drink. Moreover, some teenagers gather in groups in the evenings and have nothing to do to buy wine and vodka, drink and roam the street, sometimes drunk, emboldened, commit minor offenses. It is becoming a tradition. Over time, these guys have a problem with alcohol.
Reasons for husband drinking
Drinking is a terrible disaster for the family. It affects all its members - the drinker and his loved ones, and especially children suffer. The drinker is completely unpredictable, it is difficult to predict what mood he will have in the near future. What to expect: broken dishes, scandal, a fight or accusations that no one understands him? The whole burden of the struggle for a loved one and the preservation of the family lies with the woman. But in order to do this correctly, one must know the basics of psychology. First of all, drinkers form a psychological dependence on alcohol and only then physical subordination appears. Before taking any measures, it is necessary to understand why the husband drinks. Psychologists advise to deal with the following reasons. The husband drinks to:
- To relieve the pain in the soul, which appears as a result of betrayal, powerlessness, dissatisfaction.
- Relieve stress, relax after a busy day or another quarrel in the family.
- Do not think about the problems that have arisen and how to solve them.
- To smooth out the lack of attention on the part of the wife, lack of affection, non-recognition of virtues and merit.
- Sometimes you need to drink a hundred grams for courage and feel confident, strong, liberated and attractive.
- Take free time - drink out of boredom or for company.
You can try to find the reason for your husband’s constant drinking yourself, but it’s better to contact a professional psychotherapist or psychologist. They will quickly help to find out the current situation and find a way out of it.
How to live with an alcoholic husband?
Women living with alcoholics make many mistakes. They are constantly forced to play the role of rescuer, prosecutor and victim. Provided that the drinking husband does not want to be treated and change something in his life, you must first think about yourself. The following tips may help:
- Completely eliminate the use of alcohol.
- Do not give up your interests, goals, plans and devote your whole life to an alcoholic husband.
- Do not allow him to use your money.
- Convince yourself that your husband will remain addicted to alcohol and you will have to part with it.
- Prepare yourself for life separately and for divorce.
- Take your free time with positive deeds - your favorite hobby, be more in the fresh air, meet with friends.
All this will help to rethink life, and gradually the situation will change. You will have a different attitude to life with a drinking husband. In the event of a divorce, you will already have a moral readiness for this situation, and adaptation to a new life will be much easier. It happens that husbands, having noticed changes in the behavior of the wife, begin to rethink their position. And this is the path to success in the fight against alcoholism.
Alcohol Stress Relief
Sooner or later, everyone will encounter a situation that causes severe stress - this is the death of a loved one, parting with a loved one, an act that causes a feeling of strong guilt. Some are trying to fill the grief with alcohol. For a while, this sometimes helps to forget and be distracted, but not for long. The next morning after drinking, the heartache returns again with even greater force. But it also happens that when intoxicated, it, on the contrary, intensifies.
In medicine, there is a term - symptomatic alcoholism. A person who suffers from oppression for a long time uses alcohol as an antidepressant. He begins to drink alcohol daily, and this is an example of how alcoholics become. With this "treatment", alcoholism joins depression. And then characteristic mental disorders are added: alcoholic delirium, personality degradation and delirium tremens. To drink or not to drink when it’s bad at heart, everyone decides for himself. Psychologists and doctors recommend not drinking.
How much can I drink?
The attitude of all people to alcohol is very different. Some cannot live without it for a day, others drink only for a special reason, while still others are completely indifferent to alcohol and may not drink it. How to drink and not sleep? Is there a dose of alcohol that is safe for humans? There is no clear answer to this question. Narcologists believe that each person has his own rate of alcohol, depending on the personal characteristics of the body. Probably, everyone watched for himself that some people get drunk from a glass of wine, while others, drinking a bottle of vodka, feel quite normal. The use of alcohol for women is very dangerous. They quickly get used to it and can become alcoholics in two years. Men are more hardy and drink too much with regular use of ethanol after about ten years.
Russian experts conducted numerous studies and made such conclusions: a man can consume no more than 50 ml of vodka per day, up to 500 ml of beer and 250 ml of wine, and a woman - 30 ml of vodka, 330 ml of beer and 150 ml of wine. This refers to the use of one of the drinks, and not all at once. Researchers believe that these standards do not have a harmful effect on health.