Sober Resources

The human civilization has reportedly been drinking for around 15,000 years. And in today’s society, alcohol drinking is undeniably more socially acceptable than its scorned counterparts – smoking and drug abuse. But does this make alcohol much safer?

Alcohol, as some of you might NOT know, is created when fruits, grains or vegetables are fermented. Fermentation can refer to the use of yeast to change sugar found in natural substances into alcohol. It might or might not taste closely like them, but alcohol come from organic foods such as grapes, barley, wheat, rice and others. Now, that doesn’t seem so bad after all. But wait until we get to the juicy parts.

When people consume alcohol, it is absorbed into their bloodstream. From the blood, it travels up from the spinal cord to the brain which controls virtually all bodily functions. Alcohol contains a significant amount of ethanol, a depressant, which slows down the functions of the central nervous system. It blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain, giving the drunken person slow responses, faulty perceptions and alters his emotions, visions, movement and hearing.

Though in very small amounts, alcohol can help a person calm down, too much of it can make him relax too much. People who overuse alcohol become intoxicated. They stagger, lose their coordination, slur their speech and even have memory gaps or blackouts. Reaction and response times are dramatically slowed – making drunken people unable to drive efficiently and think that they’re moving fine when in reality they are not.

When large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a relatively short period of time, alcohol poisoning can happen. Alcohol poisoning is apparently just that – the poisoning of your system by huge amounts of alcohol you can’t tolerate. This is the state that is characterized by violent vomiting which happens to be its first symptom. Other signs also include extreme and uncontrolled sleepiness, unconsciousness, a dangerously low blood sugar, seizures, difficulty in breathing, and ultimately, even death.

Though in moderation, alcohol has noteworthy health benefits, frequent use and abuse can cause short and long term side-effects. Alcohol can do so much more to your body than shoot you to tipsy heaven. It can get you in trouble with the law, make you look really silly and stupid, and it can make you a threat to yourself and to the people around you.

Drink responsibly. If you think you can contain your alcohol, think again.
Copyright 2008. C.King, M.Ed.

A Closer Look at Teen Addictions

You may never know that your kids are involved in substance abuse, drug addiction, as well as experiencing personality disorders in terms of eating, self cutting that may be due to depression and a feeling of helplessness, etc. These disorders may normally result from substance abuse because of the mind of the user not being able to think as clearly as before. It is a reality nowadays that teens need to be handled with care especially since experimentation with drugs in the adolescent stage is common and something that will be hard to avoid.

It is said that the use of cigarettes and alcohol at a young age will increase the possibility of the teen being involved in substance abuse and alcoholism at the latter part of life increase the risk of using other drugs later. There are teens that would just have a taste to satisfy their curiosity and eventually stop while some become dependent on the drugs and the booze, causing harm not only to themselves but to the people around them.

The relationship between substance abuse and personality disorders have not really been proven or understood well but there sure are instances wherein substance abuse either leads or develops more the disorder that was observed in the user. The most common so called co-occurring disorder would be bipolar disorder which is defined as a manic-depressive ailment that is characterized by frequent changes in the person’s mood and feelings. These people, more often than not use drugs as a tool for balancing their mood swings. Once a person is addicted to drugs, smoking or alcohol and at the same time has developed a disorder, both the addiction and the disorder must be treated distinctively.

Cutting is also a form of disorder that is a coping mechanism for the cutters. Substance abuse and cutting have a correlation because they are both “survival tools,” enabling teens to be comforted in difficult times as well as from the harsh realities of life. Self-injury or cutting your own skin might be something you will never ever do because of the pain that comes with it. For teens that resort to cutting, however, the method is effective in a strange kind of way in helping them cope with the pain they feel inside that they wouldn’t really be affected with the external pain of cutting one’s self.

Substance abuse may also be connected with the teens with the latchkey syndrome, wherein most of them would feel alone and unnoticed by their parents or other family members. Because these teens are given independence at an early age, they might feel neglected and may resort to substance abuse, alcoholism, and other harmful activities without the knowledge of their loved ones.

What parents, siblings, as well as relatives should do would be to keep a close watch over the teens in their homes. Make sure that you would have an open relationship wherein these teens would be able to trust you enough to tell you anything or better yet, everything. If your teens have been acting strangely for some reason you do not know, never ever let that pass. Do your own “research,” have a meaningful talk and make them feel that you are there to care for them.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

Understanding Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholism can be defined as the person’s uncontrollable urge to drink alcohol. Alcoholics feel that they cannot live without drinking booze.  For normal people, water is a vital drink to live; where as for alcoholics, liquor, booze, beer, (whatever name you call it) is their “h20 in life.”    Alcoholism is made up of four elements:

A strong craving for a drink
Physical dependence wherein withdrawal symptoms are demonstrated: anxiety, shakiness, nausea, and sweating once drinking has stopped for quite a period of time
The inability of the person to stop himself/herself from drinking once the said person has started
Alcohol tolerance wherein the person feels that drinking is needed to be able to feel better or to be “happy.”

There is still hope for alcoholism to be eradicated little by little.  Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was developed for this purpose.  It is a society that holds informal meetings among alcoholics for them to have all the help they can get in order to attain sobriety as well as help other people like themselves become sober.  Here, the members share their experiences as well as give hope to one another and strengthen themselves from the temptations of drinking through their so called twelve step program.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith who were both alcoholics who found sobriety through spirituality.  Alcoholics Anonymous became known through word of mouth.  As soon as the count of members reached a hundred, the twelve-step program was included in a book that was published, speaking about the program and the main stages of the treatment and they are:  admitting that one has become powerless, moral inventory, and recognizing that there is a higher power where people should ask help from.

An AA survey made in the year 2004 covering more than 7500 members based in the United States and Canada showed that the average sobriety rate for members is eight years and most of the members who became sober received counseling and spiritual therapies from the outside and that these outside treatments helped them stay sober.

A newly developed network for alcoholics that supports the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, among other recovery options and programs is the Sober Sources Network which was established in 2007 by an individual with a vast amount of experience with alcoholism and addiction issues.  It is a network that gives support to alcoholic people and those with harmful addictions. It was developed in response to the forums developed (The Sober Village and the Sober Teens Online) discussing and giving information to the said topics.

The Sober Sources Network was formed through the observation that there are only a number of websites that give complete information and resources that are extremely useful to people wanting help for their addictions. Additionally, one can learn about the program of Alcoholics Anonymous by participating on online recovery communities.

Alcoholism can be treated and people do recover through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.  The Sober Sources Network has been designed to give quick and easy online support to alcoholics and drug addicts who wouldn’t really know where to ask help  because of the fact that alcoholism and substance abuse is a delicate subject.  Sober forums are also there not only to give support to the alcoholics but also to give vital information and support to parents, family members and friends who are affected when a loved one is under the power of alcoholism. When understanding and beginning a plan for recovery from alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous is still the number one program people turn to.

A lot of soldiers returning home from wars have become alcoholics or are facing difficulty with alcohol consumption. It is true that the loneliness as well as the pressure while out in the battle field makes soldiers resort to drinking sprees, alcohol dependency and sometimes drug dependency.

Soldiers should remember though that the abuse of alcohol as well as the misuse of medications or drugs can result to harmful and risky behaviors that include but are not limited to pub fights, spousal abuse, even unexpected deaths so it is a must to engage in responsible drinking. Below are some tips that would help one drink responsibly:

Before drinking and in the course of drinking, make sure that your stomach has food because eating food with starch and high protein will slow down the rate of the effects of alcohol hitting you.

Drink slowly but surely as fast drinking will make the drinker more intoxicated. Drinking no more than one drink every hour will result to the drinker not being drunk fast

Try drinking non alcoholic drinks in between your intake of alcoholic drinks as this will result to alcoholic drinks not having a greater effect on you.

Remember this HALT! This is easy to remember and stands for “Never Drink if you have the following feelings: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.”

And of course, let us not forget (though it may be a cliché, it can save lives). Do not drink and drive. Always make sure that the person who will be driving the vehicle is sober, otherwise, just take a cab or any other public transportation.

Following these tips will help you (soldiers) avoid alcohol abuse as well as symptoms or ailments partnered with alcoholism such as: PTSD. PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when coupled with alcoholism will automatically cause a lot of trouble. It is a type of anxiety disorder that usually results from trauma that comes from physical injury, a serious threat of death or the death of someone close. As early as the 6th century BC, PTSD has been observed in war veterans.
It has been observed that people with PTSD have a greater risk of developing alcoholism and most alcoholics are even diagnosed with the said disease. Around eighty percent of war veterans undergoing treatment for PTSD have been detected with alcohol abuse disorders. These people have a tendency to commit suicide once they become depressed especially if they are over the age of 65. Binge drinking is also a frequent activity in soldiers/veterans as it is used as a tool to forget traumatic memories for a short period of time.

Alcoholism also disrupts your relationship with your partner and may lead to violence as it is evident in spousal abuse committed by intoxicated soldiers. Aside from conflicts, problems in intimacy have also been observed. PTSD symptoms are stimulated more with alcoholism. The effects of PTSD treatments are also lessened by alcohol abuse.
Soldiers amongst all professionals have the great responsibility of avoiding alcoholism. It is a must to follow tips in avoiding too much drinking not only for your safety but also for the safety of your loved ones and the people who look up to you.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

A drug addiction or alcohol addiction of a family member not only affects the said member per se but also has a serious effect on the people around the user, most especially the loved ones. It is but normal to be ignorant of how to deal with your loved ones who are into alcoholism, substance abuse, drug abuse, etc. It will also be hard to understand why the member of the family resorted to those addictions. Most of the time, the loved ones would have a hard time telling the person to the face that he/she needs to be brought to the treatment center or undergo rehabilitation.

The life of a user is not the only thing that is ruined as soon as addiction has been developed—the life of the family may also be destroyed as they are either hurt physically and emotionally by the user. Drugs or alcohol may be likened to a director who calls out how the actors and actresses (the users) should act, and most of the time, the actions are negative and destructive. The behavior of the user not only results to self destruction but also negatively affects the actions, feelings and thoughts of the people around the user, most especially the family.

Life for the person’s (the one who does substance abuse or is a slave to alcoholism) family will never be normal. This is because users behave in the manner that will most of the time hurt their family. The change in the user’s behavior, e.g. from being a meek child, has become a violent child, often cause the family members to have difficulty in adapting, thus resulting to their own emotional and psychological problems. Now, even the family members are being controlled by the user’s addiction. The most common feelings that family members would experience would be guilt, sometimes blaming themselves for the user’s dependency on drugs, disappointment, fear of whatever the user might do, and a lot more.

The best resort of family members would be to first learn all there is to know about substance abuse as well as alcoholism. As soon as they have an understanding of those subjects, they will be able to start helping the users as well as themselves on the way to recovery. Family members can do their research through the Internet with a lot of online resources available such as sober forums, the Sober Sources Network, etc. They also need to learn first how it works in rehabilitation and treatment centers before making a decision of letting the user undergo rehabilitation.

Learning about counseling treatment options will also be a good idea as the user will be needing all the support that he or she could get. As soon as the user has attained sobriety, lapses could be avoided through the mutual support groups as well as self-help resources that gives support continuously for the users to live a drug free life with consistency. These groups support the addict in making lifestyle changes, such as establishing new, drug-free friends and activities, necessary to maintaining abstinence. There are also communities that will help the family members and the loved ones cope from the effects of having an addict within the family.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

The Sober Sources Network proudly announces the new launch of two new recovery resources and forums!

I invite those looking for a recovery solution to join me in celebrating the launch of Sober Resources.com at www.soberresources.com. Sober Resources is our latest addition to the blog sites in which you will find original and first time ever published articles. I welcome everyones comments and contributions.

In addition, I have embarked in expanding the network by the purchase of Recovery Works.info at www.recoveryworks.info. ( I know, I need another forum like a hole in the head! LOL!) This is a wonderful resources and discussion site in which my hope is to only expand your own personal paths in recovery. Recovery Works has the most current software available! There are a vast amount of new features I hope you will find useful and informative. We have a new style for personal profiling allowing you to develop you own profile page. A integrated link directory enabling anyone who comes through our doors the ability to add resourceful links on alcoholism and addiction recovery. The features of Recovery Works are to great to mention and you’ll just have to come by and see what it’s all about. You will find it’s a much smaller community then The Sober Village but the display of forums you are used to is not much different in being able to engage in helpful, supportive discussions on alcoholism and addiction recovery.

I invite everyone to stop by for our housewarming and hope the new additions to the Sober Sources Network will be met with your approval as it continues to be my personal mission to extend the hands to those in need of help as well as provide safe havens to those already walking the blissful road in sobriety.

What does addiction mean?
When a person has lost control over the drug or drinks he or she uses, then it is called as addiction. Besides alcohol or some illegal drugs, people get addicted to cigarettes, medications and even glue. Addiction can often be psychological, physical or both. The need to have the specific substance or drug is the most significant sign of an addiction.

Addiction to Alcohol – Alcoholism
The persistent use of alcoholic beverages despite health problems and negative effects is generally known as alcoholism. Medically, alcoholism can be described as a disease that results in continued use of alcohol despite negative consequences. It is basically the inability to understand the negative consequences of alcohol consumption. Alcoholism, as per the American Medical Association is the primary chronic disease that is characterized by loss of control over drinking, use of alcohol despite negative effects and even distortions in thinking.
What are the primary and secondary effects of alcoholism?

It induces the sufferer to drink at times and in damaging amounts. This is perhaps the primary effect of alcoholism. The impaired ability to have control over drinking is the secondary damage due to alcoholism.
Even after the health problems start, it is common for an alcohol addict to drink well. The health problems that are related to excessive alcohol consumption are pancreatitis, increased chance of cancer, liver cirrhosis, polyneuropathy, heart diseases epilepsy, alcoholic dementia, sexual dysfunction, nutritional deficiencies and also death from all kind of sources.
How does alcoholism affect socially?
The consumption of alcohol during duty hours can lead to loss of employment and thus creating financial problems. The intake of alcohol at inappropriate times can cause legal consequences, which includes criminal charges for tortuous behavior, public disorder, and drunk driving. The behavior due to reduced judgment of a drunken person can lead to the imposition of civil penalties on that person. The impact caused by an alcoholic’s behavior can be significant. The mental impairment of a drunken person due to increased consumption of alcohol can affect the surrounding family and friends. This could lead to domestic violence, divorce and marital conflict. As a result, the emotional development of the alcoholic’s children can be drastically affected.

What are the issues related to alcohol withdrawal?
When an alcohol addict stops drinking, he may find very difficult without alcohol. The person may feel very uneasy. This is known as withdrawal. The withdrawal from alcohol differs very much from that of other types of drugs due to the fact that it could be fatal directly. If mismanaged, a healthy alcoholic could die due to the direct withdrawal effects. The production of a neuroinhibitor known as GABA could be very much reduced due to heavy consumption of alcohol. When the consumption of alcohol is stopped abruptly, it leads to a condition where both GABA and alcohol to be in inadequate quantities in the system as a result causes the firing of the synapses in uncontrolled manner. This manifests as convulsions, hallucinations, seizures, shakes and even heart failure. These are together referred as delirium tremens. A medically directed detox can be used to control all these withdrawal problems.

What impact does alcoholism have on society?
The general perception of the health problems related to long-term alcoholism is that it is detrimental to the society. The most important factor for causing vehicle accidents, head injuries, assaults and violence is the use of alcohol. It causes pain induces suffering and causes money problems to alcoholic affected and others around the person. Fetal alcohol syndrome is an incurable condition caused by consumption of alcohol by a pregnant woman. Due to its wide impact on the society parliaments and governments have formulated alcohol policies to control the problems of alcoholism.

How to treat Alcoholism?
Since there are many perspectives for alcoholism, treating an alcohol addict is quite varied. Persons approaching alcoholism as a disease or medical condition suggest differing treatments than those who approach it as one of social option. The main focus of treatment is on aiding people to stop their alcohol consumption. It is then followed up with life training and social supporting so as to help them withstand a return to use of alcohol. Alcoholism treatment should prevent a relapse since alcoholism encourages a person to continue consumption of alcoholism. Detoxification is an example of this kind of treatment. It is then followed by combination of providing support through introducing to the self-help groups. The treatment to alcoholism is based on zero tolerance approach and harm reduction approach.

How effective is the treatments?
As far as the effectiveness of the treatment is concerned, it varies widely. When the effectiveness of alcoholism treatment is taken into account, the rate of success should be based on those who enter the program, but not on those who complete the program. Qualification of success is the completion of the program. So the success rate among the persons who complete the program is nearly 100%. It is vital to consider not just the success rate, but also the relapsing rate. A year after the completion of the rehabilitation program the results show that roughly a third of the alcohol addicts are sober, 40% of alcoholics have improved substantially but still consume occasionally, and a quarter of the persons have totally relapsed.

Rehabilitation Program – A Good Treatment
The integral part of the rehabilitation program is the detoxification, which is abrupt stopping of alcohol consumption coupled with replacing drugs having same effects in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal. The detoxification is followed by group therapy and psychotherapy. Detoxification treats physical effects and psychotherapy deals with psychological issues related addiction to alcohol. The next step is rationing and moderation programs. Then, providing the medication, which is the vital part of the rehabilitation program. It is considered as part of the treatment for alcoholism. The medication includes medications for withdrawal and detoxification known as Delirium treatments, and medications for long – term usage.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the Treatment of Addiction

Addiction can take many forms: alcoholism, substance abuse, gambling addiction, etc. The list goes on. The question that needs to be answered is how can these addictions be eliminated? Nowadays, with the technology boom, online meetings for treating addiction is available as well as online counseling, and other forms of treatment. One of the oldest addiction treatments is the twelve step program developed by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. In these modern times however, other treatment programs are being practiced such as the so called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that a user undergoes if he/she wants to be sober.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a member of a branch of psychotherapy that gives importance to how a person thinks. It follows that what is on the person’s mind will greatly affect the actions and the feelings of the individual. Several programs under the cognitive behavioral therapy include: Rational Living Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Rational Behavior Therapy, and Dialectic Behavior Therapy.

CBT is now being applied in treating alcoholism and substance abuse. It works in the following ways:

It is based on the asking questions (Socrates’ method)
Emotional response is given importance in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, wherein the belief that changing the way a user thinks will make that person feel better as well as act better ( e.g. if the user thinks of staying clean for a year, then that will be done successfully).
In CBT, the client and the therapist should interact harmoniously and should trust each other for the treatment to be successful
In CBT, users feel that they are in control because they are made to analyze their actions and they would be the ones to make decisions on the steps they would take. In the event that they feel that a mistake was made, it’s up to them to correct it.

The most commonly used CBT program that battles addiction is the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT). It focuses on providing solutions to disturbances and problems that are behavioral as well as emotional in nature that aims to lead to a satisfied and happy individual.

REBT applies the A-B-C-model of psychological disturbance and change. This model believes that the things that people believe in are the main reasons why people are disturbed, and should not be blamed on the adversities that are experienced by the alcoholics or drug addicts. In this model, the users are taught to examine the things they believe in and do the best they can to turn those beliefs into something that would produce positive results.

Take note that REBT is considered to be a brief therapy that is there to solve specific problems. More complex problems require longer therapy. The REBT therapist aids the user in improving one self through hard work that would also help the person over come trials and obstacles. At the end of the therapy, the user is expected to feel self acceptance as well as the acceptance of life’s realities.

It is said that severe alcoholism and addiction problems can be treated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Its structured teaching method aims to improve on the way the patients deal with life. It is also an effective way to improve on the user’s way of thinking in terms of drinking.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

What does alcoholism refer to?
Alcoholism is referred as a disease commonly known as alcohol dependence syndrome. It can be felt as the most severe condition as a result of group of problems arising due to alcohol consumption. The habit of alcohol consumption begins as binge drinking and eventually becomes an addiction to it.
Treating Alcoholism
The habit of alcohol consumption results in co-morbid medical problems, psychological problems and even social problems. The multiple perspective problems related to alcohol consumption is the reason for varied treatment for alcoholism. The main focus of treatment is to give aid for the people to discontinue drinking and to support them socially.
How is alcoholism treated?
The patient has to be treated psychologically so as to change the behavior. This can be best done by intervention for brief period which is a short-term counseling program. This is considered as an effective treatment for the drinkers those who are socially stable. The strategy of counseling to treat alcoholism is found to be effective for guiding alcoholics to join the alcohol treatment programs for long-term. The health professionals conduct the counseling program as different sessions which lasts for few minutes to an hour; all based on the intensity of the problems faced by the patient for whom the goal is abstinence.
How to treat the alcohol abused patients?
A detailed examination should be made for the patient, since a simple diagnosis which is done formally can have serious implications on the patient personally. Alcohol dependence and abuse have varied course interrupted by periods of relapse and remission. During the treatment there are many factors which are hard to overcome. The factors include the physiological and psychological dependence on alcohol due to withdrawal symptoms and usage of alcohol to get rid of stress. The other factor is alcoholism becoming a habit for the patient who has been a heavy drinker for long time. There are two stages in treating alcohol dependence. The first stage includes detoxification and withdrawal, followed by the second stage which includes intervention to maintain abstinence and to support socially.
What is the immediate treatment for alcoholism?
Treating alcoholism is not a single step process. It involves treating both physically and mentally. The treatment is usually started by detoxification which is considered as the immediate treatment for alcohol dependence. Once the drinking is stopped, the withdrawal symptoms become more and more severe with each episode of withdrawal. The series of withdrawal effects commonly called as ‘delirium tremens’ incurs in 2 to 5% of long term users and heavy drinkers in less than 3 days after stopping the intake of alcohol. The effects may last for at least 3 to 7 days. Sometimes the withdrawal effects may be severe resulting in death due to heart failure or concurrent infection. So to prevent alcohol withdrawal effects, detoxification is done. It means stopping the usage of alcohol abruptly and substituting the drugs that have the same effect of the alcohol thereby preventing the withdrawal consequences. The detoxifications treatment can also be done at home under the supervision of a physician. The medication for detoxification includes the usage of benzodia zepines, piracetam and vitamin B group. These drugs are known to reduce the withdrawal symptoms.
How is the patient treated to prevent relapse?
The neurobiologic changes which are long lasting in the brain lead to the persistence of craving. The internal factors such as craving for alcohol, anxiety, depression and the external factors such as social responsibilities, environmental triggers, can contribute to relapse during the recovery period. The psychological treatments are best to aid the patients to understand, expect and eventually to prevent relapsing of the patient.
What is behavioral approach treatment?
The organization called as Alcoholics Anonymous directs the patients to follow a 12 step process which the persons should work through during the period of recovery. This program supports people who are lonely, poor or who hail from heavy alcohol consuming social background. This program called as twelve step facilitation (TSF) is a free and formal treatment to aid the affected persons. Apart from TSF, there is CBE and MET treatments based on behavioral approach. CBE is cognitive – Behavior Therapy which aims to treat patients through role-play and rehearsal to understand and cope with emergency conditions for relapse and to deal with training. MET is basically motivational program called Motivational Enhancement Therapy, which motivate the persons to make use of their own resources for the change of behaviors. These treatments based on behavioral approach could prove to be very useful for the alcoholics to recover from the disease.
What is pharmacotherapy?
During the recovery period, more useful therapies should be used to prevent a relapse. One such effective treatment is using pharmacotherapeutic agents which can be used as effective adjuncts for treating the alcoholics psychosocially.
The anti craving medication, which includes drugs such as naltrexone, antagonist, acamprosate are considered as the first of several pharmacotherapies targeting multiple neurotransmitters.
Several reports indicate that usage of naltrexone combined with psychosocial treatment, greatly reduces the consumption of alcohol. Acamprosate also proves to be very helpful and a safe drug for recovery from alcoholism. Aversive pharmacotherapy involves the intake of the drug called disulfiram, which has moderate level of negative effects. The results show improved outcomes of patients, those who consume disulfiram under supervision. Pharmacotherapy for comorbid situations is done through the usage of the drug called Fluoxetine, which is quite useful in reducing symptoms that are depressive and aids in depressing the alcohol consumption level in alcoholics.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.

What does alcoholism signify?
The repeated consumption of alcohol despite negative health effects is known as alcoholism. It can be referred as a condition or disease that has a relative effect on the brain which controls the feelings and the manner one makes decisions. Alcohol addicts do not have control on the amount they drink. Alcoholism can be defined in many ways. But the common perception regarding the definition is the constant usage of alcoholic beverages despite the ill effects it causes to health and to the social atmosphere.

How do the various communities define alcoholism?
The terminology related to alcoholism and definitions varies. The American Medical Association defines alcoholism as a primary chronic disorder characterized by the person’s loss of control over the consumption, preoccupation with the alcoholic drug, and use of it despite negative effects and even interruptions of distortion in thinking. The DSM-IV refers alcoholism as persistent use despite repeated negative consequences. The APA dictionary of psychology illustrates alcoholism as dependence on alcohol both physically and psychologically.

What does really lead to alcoholism?
Nobody really knows what the ultimate cause that leads to alcoholism is. It is a general feeling that people whose parents are alcohol addicts have a much increased chance of inheriting the disease. Alcoholism may be attributed to the things which we lead while growing up. It is also due to the lack of moral values and will power.

When can you confirm the existence of alcoholism?
It is not an easy task to confirm the possibility of alcoholism. A person might consume socially at the initial stage, but over a period of time the consumption of alcohol can get out one’s control. Before one notices the disease of alcoholism within him / her, the person’s surrounding might notice it. The person might consume to get rid of anxiety, stress and eventually to help himself. As the intake of alcohol gets increased, the following consequences will take place. The problems include social problems basically at work or with family and friends, diseases related to liver such as cirrhosis of liver, ulcers in stomach, sleeping troubles and mood problems leading to irritability and depression. If you try to stop alcoholism, but not able to do so, that signifies you might have an increased risk of acquiring the disease.

Where can you see the helping hands for alcoholism?
The suitable treatment program can only be guided by alcoholic’s doctor. It is also necessary to have a touch with the health insurance company. The social atmosphere of the affected person can play an important role in the person’s recovery. They should treat the alcoholic in an appropriate way so that he / she may not relapse. It is very important for the family to help in the rehabilitation program to aid the person to get rid of the habit completely.

What are the alcohol withdrawal effects?
If a person is a heavy user of alcohol for a long time, and if the consumption of alcohol is stopped suddenly, it leads to secure withdrawal effects. Withdrawal is the uncomfortable feelings induced by sudden stopping of alcohol usage. The withdrawal effect includes the state of being confused, having sleeping troubles and even having an anxious feeling. The effects of withdrawal from alcohol could be drastic, that even leads to death if not managed properly. When alcohol intake is stopped suddenly, it leads to a stage of a series of health effects including heart failure. It is referred as delirium tremens to overcome the withdrawal effects, one need to take medication which is known as detoxification.

Detoxification – A Vital Treatment for Withdrawal Effects
Detoxification which is shortly referred as ‘detox’ is an important treatment for alcohol addicts once they stop drinking. This treatment involves sudden stopping of alcohol consumption coupled with drug substitution which have the identical effects to withdrawal of alcohol. It is not an actual treatment for alcoholism, but aids in treating the physical effects due to the use of alcohol over a long period of time.

Is it possible to do detoxification treatment for outpatients?
With the intimate guidance and supervision from the doctor, it is possible to do detoxification at home itself. A person should be there at home to aid the detoxification treatment for the alcoholic. If secure symptoms of withdrawal or some medical problems persist then it is necessary to do detoxification in a hospital. The medical problems include manifestation of hallucinations, seizures, shakes, convulsions and even heart failure. Detoxification alone cannot treat alcoholism; the affected person should undergo counseling before detoxification and also after the treatment.

Copyright 2008 C.King, M.Ed., Sober Sources Network may be reproduced with proper acknowledgments.