Diagnosis for Alcoholism

Only about 10 percent of people who are alcohol dependence or abusers ever seek treatment another 40 percent may recover on their own often as the result of maturation or positive changes in their environment such as getting a good job or getting married to a supportive person that help them to control of their drinking.

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The remainders of people with significant alcohol problems continue to have these problems throughout their lives. Some of these people become physically ill or completely unable to hold jobs or maintain their relationships. Others are able to hide or control their alcohol abuse enough to keep their jobs and may be in relationships with people who facilitate their alcohol dependency.

Here are various approaches for the treatment of alcoholisms.

Detoxification:

Basically individuals are assisted in stopping their use of alcohol then the substance is allowed to eliminate from the body. Many detoxification programs are in hospitals and clinics so that physicians can monitor individuals through withdrawal from the alcohol, making them more comfortable and intervening.

Detoxification is especially important when the substance being used can cause permanent organ or brain damage or is frequently lethal. Detoxification usually takes 4 to 7 days.

Biological Treatments:

Medications can be used to help wean individuals off a substance to reduce their desire for a substance and to maintain their use of substances at a controlled level.

Antianxiety Drugs, Antidepressants, and Antagonists:

Although many alcoholic people can withstand withdrawal symptoms with emotional support for other people the symptoms are so severe that medications may be prescribed to reduce these symptoms of alcoholism. For people who are alcohol dependent can be prescribed to reduce the symptoms of tremor and anxiety to decrease pulse and respiration rates and to stabilize blood pressure. The dosage of the drug is decreased each day so that a patient withdraws from the alcohol slowly but does not become dependent on the benzodiazepine.

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Antidepressants are also used to help people whether the withdrawal symptoms so as to continue abstaining from substance use. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help to reduce impulsive compulsive of and craving for alcohol. Antidepressants drugs are sometime used to treat alcoholics who are depressed but the efficiency of these drugs in treating either the alcohol or other drug problems or the depression in the absence of psychotherapy has not been consistently supported.

Antagonist drugs block or change the effects of the alcohol reducing the desire of the addict for alcohol.

Naltrexone has also proven useful in blocking the high that can be caused by alcohol. Alcoholics on naltrexone report that their craving for alcohol is diminished and they drink less. It affects the mesolimbic area of the brain which is involved in the psychoactive effects of most drugs.

One drug that can make alcohol actually punishing is disulfiram commonly referred to as Antabuse. Just having one drink can make a person taking disulfiram feel sick and dizzy and can make him or her vomit, blush and even faint. People must be very motivated to agree to remain on disulfiram and it works to reduce alcohol consumption only as long as they take it.

Behavioral Treatments:

• Aversive classical conditioning

Behavioral treatments based on aversive classical conditioning are sometimes used to treat alcohol dependency and abuse either alone or in combination with biological or other psychosocial therapies. Drugs such as disulfiram that make the ingestion of alcoholic unpleasant or toxic are given to people who are alcohol dependent. If they take drinks of alcohol the drug interacts with the alcohol to cause nausea and vomiting. Eventually through classical condition they develop conditioned response to the alcohol. Then they learn to avoid alcohol through operant conditioning in order to avoid aversive response to it.

• Covert sensitization therapy

An alternative is covert sensitization therapy in which people who are alcohol dependent use imagery to create associations between thoughts of alcohol use and thoughts of highly unpleasant consequences of alcohol use. Covert sensitization techniques seem effective in creating conditioned aversive responses to the sight and smell of alcohol and in reducing alcohol consumption.

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• Cue exposure and response prevention

A behavior therapy known as cue exposure and response prevention is used to extinguish this conditioned response to cues associated with alcohol intake. Eventually this procedure reduces the desire to drink and increases the ability to avoid drinking when the opportunity arises. The procedure probably should be coupled with strategies for coping with and removing oneself from tempting situations.

Cognitive Treatments:

Interventions based on the cognitive models of alcohol abuse and dependency help clients indentify the situation in which they are most likely to drink and to lose control over their drinking and their expectations that alcohol will help them cope better with those situations. Therapists then work with clients to challenge these expectations by reviewing the negative effect of alcohol on their behavior and also help clients learn to anticipate and reduce stress in their lives and to develop more adaptive ways for coping with stressful situations such as seeking the help of others or engaging in active problem solving. Finally therapists help clients learn to say, “No Thanks” when offered drinks and to deal effectively with social pressure to drink by using assertiveness skills.

Relapse Prevention:

Relapse prevention programs teach alcoholics to view slips as temporary and situationally caused. Therapists work with clients to identify high risk situations to relapse and to avoid those situations or to exercise effective coping strategies for the situation.

Social Approaches:

Many sociocultural approaches involve self help groups in which members help each other to overcome the disorder. Clinicians are becoming increasingly sensitive to gender and cultural differences in the appropriate treatment for alcoholisms.

Alcoholics Anonymous is an organization created by people and for people with alcohol related problems. The implication of this model is that the only way to control alcoholism is to abstain completely from any alcohol. The first step is to admit they are alcoholics and powerless to control the effects of alcohol. The goal for all members is complete abstinence.

Group members provide moral and social support for each other and make themselves available to each other in time of crises. They believe that people never completely cured of alcoholism they are always recovering alcoholics with the potential of falling back into alcohol dependency with one drink.

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1. Symptoms of Alcoholism
2. Alcoholism
3. Three phases of alcohol and drug detox program
4. Freedom from drug addition is possible
5. Drug Rehab Programs Make Recovery Easier