Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol abuse is more insidious than drug abuse. Since having a drink is socially sanctioned, there is no overt reminder that the behavior may lead to trouble down the road. With illicit drugs merely using the substance is a reminder because it is illegal. Having a cocktail at dinner, drinking a beer at a ballgame, and celebrating a wedding with champagne are all socially supported and even encouraged. One can receive accolades for being able to hold one’s liquor. Becoming “shit-faced” in college is a right of passage. There are many models of respected people enjoying alcohol. This is not true for other substances. Hence, it is easy to rationalize moving from the occasional beer, cocktail, or glass of wine to daily use.
It is easy to go from the meal enhancing drink to using alcohol to self-medicate for social inhibition, depression, loneliness, anxiety, and other discomforting affects. Because some people can develop a tolerance for higher levels of alcohol in their system, they may need higher doses in order to experience the same effects. One drink becomes two, two becomes three. Where one beer was good, for some people it can easily become three, four, or more during the week with a few extras on the weekend.
Unfortunately, most alcoholics are not aware that they are alcoholics until they get into some difficulty. And when there is some warning, they often deny it. Often the early signs are related to work performance, health problems, social problems, legal difficulties, financial problems, or marital difficulties.
Some people are born with a genetic and biochemical predisposition that leaves them more vulnerable to abusing alcohol. They do not receive a signal from their brain that they have had enough or too much. Rather than producing sleep, nausea or other obvious physiological effect, they develop a tolerance for large amounts of alcohol. In fact, with continued abuse they begin to crave the substance. In addition, these people find that the alcohol temporarily comforts them by reducing shyness, anxiety, depression, and inhibition. In a world where alcohol use is approved of and even encouraged, it becomes part of the culture.
Alcoholics do not want to think of themselves as not able to control their drinking. They want to keep up with and be part of their social group. Declining a drink in many situations is difficult for these people. It is not until they have developed a dependence that interferes with work, family life, and social life that they begin to recognize that they have a problem. But by then it is often too late. The physiological craving for alcohol becomes so great that giving it up does not seem like an option. The centers of the brain that regulate judgment have been so affected that it takes a crisis to motivate these individuals to seek treatment.
Signs of Abuse
The very nature of substance abuse is such that people do not want to admit that they have a problem. People around them do not want to admit that there is a problem, and healthcare practitioners tend to either overlook or fail to investigate the possible existence of substance abuse. Hence, the individual goes diagnosed and untreated. There are several areas in which signs of abuse may appear.
Problems in living: financial problems including poor financial decision-making; poor judgment; legal problems including traffic tickets (e.g., DUI) and accidents; occupational difficulties such as poor performance, absence, conflict; social problems such as inappropriate behavior, missed appointments, chronic lateness.
Physical effects: increased incidence of health problems, poor dietary changes, higher tolerance for substance causing increased quantity and frequency of use; experiencing withdrawal when not using; higher incidence of nausea, dizziness, vomiting; disrupted sleep pattern.
Psychological and behavior effects: emotional instability, e.g., irritability, impatience; difficulty in abstaining from use; using substances to regulate affect, i.e., to reduce social inhibition, relieve stress, reduce anxiety or depression; denial and defensiveness when substance use is suggested.
Treatments
Interestingly, the research found that all people are not affected similarly by alcohol or drug abuse. For some the cognitive centers of the brain are more affected, for others the emotional centers are more affected. And for some both centers are affected. This has profound implications for treatment. One treatment does not fit all abusers. There is no magic bullet. In order to determine the best fit for any given individual, a complete psychological history and history of abuse and treatment must be taken. This places the individual into a context in order to decide what approach or approaches may be most beneficial.
Most treatment approaches agree that that the focus of treatment must be on the cessation of substance abuse. Even those experts who believe that it is possible for the alcoholic to learn to drink in moderation suggest that cessation for a period of time in the beginning of treatment is necessary in order for the patient and clinician to develop a clear picture of the role alcohol plays in the individual’s life. Most approaches, however, have abstinence as their goal, especially for those individuals who have a family and personal history of chronic abuse.
The following are some of the current treatment approaches for substance abuse:
Individual skill-based treatments: these approaches help clients interact more effectively with others without using alcohol or drugs. These approaches focus on coping and skills training to help clients quit or decrease abusing alcohol and drugs by teaching them strategies to address interpersonal, environmental and individual “skill deficits” that may provoke substance abuse.
Motivational Enhancement Treatments: this approach is based on a model that encourages patients to explore the consequences of drinking in a supportive, nonthreatening environment. One technique, called motivational interviewing, asks patients what about their alcohol or drug use causes them difficulties, enabling clients to examine their habits objectively. Once clients see how substance abuse or dependence affects their lives, they are motivated to change.
Cognitive Behavioral Treatment: CBT states that human behavior is learned through personal experience and cognitive thought patterns. Changing behavior requires learning how to think differently about situations and how to change dysfunctional behaviors that cause problems. Alcohol dependent people have learned to drink in response to specific situations. The treatment task is to identify the “alcohol triggers” and then apply techniques to develop new ways of thinking and new behavioral skills for coping with these triggers.
Environmental and relationship-based treatment: in this approach family members and significant others are taught coping skills and strategies to help influence their loved one’s drinking and motivation to change.
Behavioral marital and family treatment: this approach works with both the individual and the spouse or family to decrease or eliminate abusive drinking-related consequence.
Twelve-step programs: these inpatient or outpatient programs are based on the 12step model of Alcoholics Anonymous except that professionals lead them. Some professionals in private practice also use such a model, while other practitioners use AA to supplement and support the work being done by the patient in individual treatment.
Medications: Two medications disulfiram and naltrexone have been approved by the FDA for alcoholism with a third showing promise, acamprosate, which is pending approval. Naltrexone appears to be most effective with fewer side effects.
As mentioned previously, no one treatment is effective for all substance abusers. Several variables must be taken into account in order to find the treatment that is most effective for any given person. Such factors as duration of addiction, family history, degree of substance abuse, extent of disruption in the patient’s life, health, degree of motivation, to mention the most obvious, must be evaluated.
The first step in the treatment of substance abuse, after collecting a complete psychological, health, and substance abuse history, is to focus on harm reduction. If an individual is placing him or herself, or his or her family, in immediate danger, action must be taken to reduce the impending danger. Sometimes this may require inpatient treatment and sometimes it may involve the entire family. It requires developing a plan of action that can be implemented quickly. The focus during the early sessions is on changing the addictive behavior. In order for treatment to be effective, the individual must be sober. That is the first goal. Staying sober is the bulk of the work. Once sobriety has been achieved, treatment can focus on helping the patient restructure his or her thinking, behavior, lifestyle, and focus. Maintaining sobriety becomes a top priority especially in the early stages of treatment.
Frequently substance abusers have personality difficulties in addition to their addiction. Such concurrent psychological problems as depression, anxiety, social phobia, low self-esteem and other such personality issues, need to be addressed as well as the addiction. Alcoholics and drug abusers often use various substances as a form of self-medication to help them cope with these issues. In treatment, however, we first focus on the substance abuse and then work with the personality issues that may coexist. Sobriety or harm reduction is the immediate goal.
Because alcohol is so readily available and thought of as being socially acceptable, alcoholism has become one of the greatest problems faced in the world today. Being able to recognize the symptoms of alcoholism might not provide a quick solution but doing so does help to make you aware of the problem.
If you recognize that you have a problem you are more than likely to take action. This might take a while however, it took me 25 years to recognize that I had a problem and to mature enough to take action. If you’re reading this article I’m sure that there’s a good chance that you know that you have a drinking problem and part of you wants to do something about it. It doesn’t have to be today or in the immediate future (depending on how serious your alcoholism is, of course.) , but at least you’re considering doing something and that is commendable.
For the majority of people regular social drinking doesn’t present a problem and result in long-term alcohol abuse and dependence. Unfortunately however, there are millions of individuals around the world who either are dependent upon (or have an addiction to) alcohol. These Individuals continue to drink even though they face severe consequences in their jobs, health and their relationships. If this applies to you then you are an alcoholic, whether you want to admit it or not.
People who abuse alcohol but aren’t addicted might drink excessively but will not show the typical traits of alcoholism. Alcohol abusers are usually in control of their drinking whereas people who are dependent on alcohol display many of the traits of alcoholism and will have a physical dependence on it.
What creates the alcoholic? Alcohol addiction affects individuals from every walk of life, it could be that alcoholism is a family issue or has been a problem in the family, it could be the result of abuse or neglect, a death in the family, pressures at work or caused by a myriad of other reasons. Alcohol addiction might not be immediately obvious to the person with the drinking problem, but recognizing the traits and symptoms of alcoholism is the first step that needs to be taken to confront the condition.
Signs of Alcohol addiction
There are many ways to determine whether someone has a problem with alcohol , read the following list and see how many statements apply to you.
- Have you ever thought that you drink too much and that you should cut down on your alcohol intake?
- Does your drinking cause you guilt?
- Do you have a drink when you get up?
- You know that you drink too much.
- You drink every day.
- You get irritable if you cannot drink.
- Once you start drinking you have to have more.
- You find that you can now take more alcohol.
- If someone confronts you about your alcoholism you say you don’t have a problem.
- You drink before going to any social occasion if you know that alcohol was not going to be available.
- You always drink your first drinks far too quickly.
- You try to hide the amount that you are drinking.
- Do you crave a drink and regularly think about alcohol during the day?
- Are you unable to stop yourself from buying alcohol in a social situation?
- Do you get withdrawal symptoms when you don’t drink and get anxious or irritable, feel sick and get the shakes?
- Do you find you need to drink large amounts to get the same results that used to when you originally started drinking?
- Do you do things completely out of character when drinking?
- Do you exhibit risky behaviour for example, driving under the influence of alcohol?
- Do you put yourself at risk of unwanted pregnancies, date rape or sexual transmitted diseases?
- Do you get into clashes with the police because of your drinking?
- Do you drink even though you are damaging your relationships, health and are putting your job at risk?
- Do you drink because you need to relax to handle stress or to help you to sleep?
- Do you need to have a drink to be able to socialise?
- Do you hide your cans and empty bottles and lie about your drinking?
- Do you often black out when drinking?
- Are you unable to stop drinking?
- Do you worry about running out of alcohol if you are in a place where alcohol is not available or hard to get?
How many of these traits apply to you? If there are several then you really do have a cause for concern and you simply must do something about it. If you now feel convinced that you do have an alcohol problem and and are ready to do something about it, then I congratulate you, because you have made a positive step towards never drinking again and that is admirable.
Medical studies in the area of alcoholism have found alcoholism among the elderly to be a bigger problem than you might think. What’s really surprising about this trend is that in retrospect, medical investigation suggests that this phenomenon is nothing new. In fact, alcoholism among maturing baby boomers has been a silent threat to the health of these individuals for quite some time now.
Since awareness of this problem was first announced, action to solve the problem has been slow moving. It is estimated that today almost half the elderly individuals suffering from alcoholism remain undetected. When these individuals use their health insurance for check ups and treatment, health care professionals sometimes misdiagnose these patients by focusing on secondary ailments such as dementia, depression, insomnia or gastrointestinal problems. What these physicians fail to realize is that some of these ailments might be attributed to alcoholism.
The type of alcoholism that assails the elderly is called “late onset alcoholism”. This is a distinction from early onset alcoholism that usually begins earlier in life for most individuals. Late onset alcoholism, on the other hand, is developed by the elderly usually in response to situations unique to this age bracket.
For instance, death of a spouse, worrying about money, moving to a retirement home, or being away from family are some of the triggers that can initiate alcoholism and drug dependence among the elderly. Another trigger that may be unique to this demographic group is despair and depression from lifestyle challenges brought about by physical problems that come with old age.
Children should note that moving their parents to a retirement home may create the exact environment that fosters alcoholism. The depression that may set in from being placed in a home may lead the elderly to alcoholism, and the ironic truth is that a home provides many opportunities to drink and feed the alcoholic depressive mindset.
Women seem more prone toward late onset alcoholism than men. Also, men are more likely to admit they have a problem and seek help for this condition, while women tend to suffer silently in guilt and shame. Additionally, the inability of family members to recognize and come to grips with the fact that mom or dad is now an alcoholic impedes the individual suffering from alcoholism from seeking help and getting out of the condition.
Some of the elderly diagnosed with alcoholism may look to the government for treatment. Government issued medical insurance may pay for some treatment, but it will probably be insufficient to cover the entire costs. The correct treatment needed by the elderly suffering from alcoholism is pretty much a holistic approach that is used for other alcoholics of a younger demographic.
Alcoholism among the elderly is a dangerous problem for several reasons. As we age, the body’s physiology changes and our usual tolerance for alcohol is greatly decreased. This means that a standard drink may have double the effect on an elderly individual than on a younger one. This means that the harsh damaging effects of alcohol can be much stronger and therefore more lethal among the elderly. In fact, studies indicate that alcoholism causes more deaths among the elderly than cardiovascular disease.
Elderly people are, also, usually on heavy medications for many physiological conditions caused by aging. Alcohol creates an adverse effect when combined with most medications. Mixing alcohol with some medications can even lead to death. Also, you have the problem where some elderly may suffer from physical trauma from falls and accidents caused by excessive alcoholic consumption and alcoholism.
Detecting alcoholism among the elderly is not easy, but care givers can help identify some of the problem signs that may be indicative of the condition. For instance, frequent falls may be due to alcoholism more than any other reason. Signs of alcoholism must be looked for especially if the elderly being cared for has recently experienced a loss and is prone to bouts of depression and despair.
How alcohol affects the Pancreas?
The heavy consumption of alcohol can be a triggering mechanism for pancreatitis. Nobody thinks about how alcohol is affecting their pancreas until they end up admitted to the hospital with an attack of acute pancreatitis. If you or a loved one has been recently released from the hospital after a case of acute pancreatitis, you probably have some questions about what role alcohol can play in your life going forward.
Your first question is probably, “Is it still possible for a person to consume the same amounts of alcohol as before the pancreatitis attack?” The answer is no. An initial attack of acute pancreatitis puts a person at a much higher risk of developing chronic pancreatitis if they continue drinking any alcohol at all. Chronic pancreatitis is a terrible disease that causes severe pain, indigestion, and other complications. Most importantly, chronic pancreatitis significantly increases the odds of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The combination of pancreatitis and alcohol is a progressive, chronic, and frequently fatal disease.
You may be thinking to yourself, “Surely I can still drink a little alcohol. Doctors will be able to fix up my pancreas again if I have another attack of acute pancreatitis. I was fine after this first attack of pancreatitis.” Unfortunately, this reasoning is flawed.
There is presently no conventional medical treatment that can reverse or stop the main problems that are caused by chronic pancreatitis. These problems include minimized digestive enzyme production by pancreas and the dying of pancreatic cells. If you continue drinking any alcohol at all there is a significant chance that you will develop worsening of chronic pancreatitis.
The treatment of alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis is a complicated process that calls that includes a variety of different alternative (non-drug, non-surgery) modalities from many different professionals. We will discuss treatments further down in the article.
Information about Alcoholic Pancreatitis
Research shows that an overall increase in the consumption of alcohol can be linked to the increase in cases of acute pancreatitis. An attack of acute alcoholic pancreatitis is generally preceded by 5-10 years of prolonged over-consumption of alcohol. In the U.S. every year, 80,000 to 200,000 people have attacks of acute pancreatitis. The number of these people is increasing yearly. It is true that not all alcoholics develop pancreatitis. However, once an alcoholic has had at least one attack of acute pancreatitis alcohol in all forms is lethal to the pancreas.
Scientific research shows that the lifespan of an acute pancreatitis patient becomes contingent upon their ability to give up drinking. Patients unable to stop drinking alcohol frequently develop chronic pancreatitis, which destroys their pancreatic gland. It is therefore necessary for patients to stop drinking alcohol altogether.
Am I an Alcoholic?
It is important to stop completely drinking after the first attack of acute pancreatitis. However, it is extremely difficult for alcoholics, as well as people in general, to give up completely alcohol. In fact, as observed through our long years of practice, it is almost impossible for an alcoholic to recover totally without the help of an experienced licensed practitioner. It sometimes even requires a team of practitioners.
It may be difficult for people to admit that they have an alcohol addiction. The results of the following self-test may be the unwelcome but necessary wake-up call that lets a person know that they have a problem.
Self Test for Alcoholism / Alcohol Abuse
The following test may help determine if you have a problem with alcohol:
- Have you ever thought you should cut down on your drinking?
- Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking habits?
- Is it hard to stop drinking after you’ve had one or two drinks?
- Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
- Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning as a little “pick-me-up” to get rid of a hangover or to steady your nerves?
- Have you ever had a problem remembering what you did during a drinking episode?
- Have you ever encountered drinking-related problems with your health, relationships, job, or the law?
If you answered “yes” to one of the above questions, you might have a problem with alcohol. If you answered “yes” to two or more of the questions, it is highly probable that you have an alcohol abuse problem. Either way, it is important to schedule an appointment with an experienced licensed practitioner as soon as possible. Then you will be able to determine what sort of treatment would benefit you most.
Treatment
Acute or chronic pancreatitis in an alcohol-addicted patient is a serious medical situation and requires an approach that utilizes the healing of both the body and the mind. The primary objective is not only to help a person quit drinking alcohol, but also to help him or her quit in a manner that does not harm their already sick pancreas.
For that reason, treating alcoholism must begin with basic detoxification. An experienced and licensed practitioner utilizes many methods while detoxifying the body:
• Colon hydrotherapy,
• Restoring friendly intestinal flora (particularly after the use of antibiotics),
• Specialized diets,
• Herbal teas and nutritional supplements,
• Drinking healing mineral water prepared by using Genuine Karlovy Vary Thermal Spring Salt.
After years of consumption, the brain becomes dependent on alcohol. Alcohol’s chemistry allows it to impact almost every cell in the body, including the cells of the central nervous system. That is why the second step for treating alcohol dependency is the normalization of brain chemistry. Brain chemistry normalization is achieved through practitioners’ skilled use of:
• Nutritional supplements,
• A special anti-alcohol diet,
• The addition of essential amino acids,
• Herbs,
• Magnet therapy,
• Auricular acupuncture-NADA protocol,
• Regular acupuncture, and so on.
Subconscious positive programming, or hypnotherapy, is a third practice, which is common and successful when utilized to break an alcohol addiction. If the person cannot reach medical hypnotherapist or shy to do that, custom hypnosis CDs can be created to address the particular needs and problems. Then the person can listen to the CD in the privacy of their own homes for as long as needed, and as many times as needed.
Alcoholism is a chronic condition in which the individual is unable to refrain from the frequent consumption of alcohol in quantities sufficient to cause intoxication. The inability to refrain or the lost of control may be manifested in two ways. The individual may be unable to let a day go by without drinking heavily. On the other hand, he may have periods of sobriety between episodes of heavy and prolonged drinking, but once he begins to drink again he is unable to stop until he had drunk himself into unconsciousness. Both patterns are sometimes found in the same individual, but usually only one is present.
However, it should be noted, heavy and prolonged drinking does not in itself constitute alcoholism. There are many individuals who drink heavily and consistently to gratify a psychological need. They use alcohol as a crutch and cannot function well without it. Still there are times when they are able to reduce or even discontinue their alcohol intake without serious disturbance. In other words, these individuals are not addicted.
A major challenge for mental health and substance abuse professionals is the client who has both alcoholism and a coexisting psychiatric disorder. Clients with dual diagnoses are often seen by both the chemical dependency and psychiatric treatment communities. Some research suggests upward of 70 percent of hospitalized alcoholics have experienced one or more episodes of another substance abuse or psychiatric diagnosis in their lifetime.
Too often it is difficult to determine whether psychiatric problems in alcoholics are the result or consequence of alcoholism. There is evidence which supports each of these positions. It is not always easy to determine if dual diagnoses exist in a client. In some instances a psychiatric disorder will mask a psychiatric disorder. Once the deal diagnoses are established, it is not always clear which problem to treat first. Some experts believe that the psychiatric problem should be stabilized first, while others take the position that the alcoholism is the central problem and should be treated first. Both positions may be correct in different situations. For example, untreated alcoholism may contribute to relapse with the psychiatric disorder and an untreated psychiatric disorder may impact on relapse with the alcoholic client.
There is growing evidence that there is a genetic or biological predisposition to the development of alcoholism. Alcoholism alone may run in families, or it may be seen together with a family history of suicide or manic-depressive disorder. In some instance, alcohol may, in fact, be used to self-medicate anxiety, an affective disorder, or a schizophrenic disorder.
Professionals working in this area should remember that alcoholism is not a distinct disease, but a disease condition found in association with many different psychiatric disorders including various psychoses, psychoneuroses, and personality disorders. It is a condition reached by many different paths, and many different types of emotional disturbance working in combination with life stresses to which the individual is particularly vulnerable.
Contrast to common belief, there is no single alcoholic personality especially prone to the development of alcoholism. There are, however, many different kinds of disturbed personality that need and pursue the effects produced by alcohol. Ultimately, as a result of prolonged alcoholism, there emerges a characteristic alcoholic personality highlighted by mental, emotional, and moral deterioration. This is an end product and not a pre-existing condition.
Take impulsivity, for example, which is a problem for many different types of personality and psychiatric disorders, especially alcoholism. A recent study was completed that examined impulsivity among alcoholics and found that the inability to postpone immediate gratification could be a vulnerability marker for alcoholism. The same study found that certain impulse-control may be specific to antisocial and borderline personality disorders and that around 50 percent of alcoholic patients with psychiatric disorders including pathological impulsivity.
