When an illness is chronic and hard to cure, it inevitably becomes surrounded by all kinds of rumors and speculation.
This also applies to chronic alcoholism, for which science has not yet found a standard and unambiguously effective treatment scheme.
But misconceptions most often lead to the fact that the disease progresses, and treatment does not bring the desired result. What are the most dangerous “alcohol” myths?
Myth: Alcoholism is incurable
It is necessary to understand what specific goals are set: to make the nervous system of an alcoholic the same as it was before the first drink or to make the person not drink? Self-diagnosis A lot of people who have alcohol problems don’t admit it to themselves until the last minute, and it becomes difficult to stop abusing alcohol on their own. Check your condition with a simple test. The first is impossible, because irreversible changes in the brain under the influence of alcohol have already occurred, and no treatment is possible. But the second is quite realistic: modern methods of treatment allow achieving not only long-term abstinence from alcohol but also an absolutely healthy and completely sober life for many decades.
Myth: Only domestic alcoholics can be treated – if the person is a drunkard there is no way to help him
Therapeutic treatment for alcoholism can be started at any time. But the stage of the disease should not be underestimated. After all, even a little alcohol abuse can very quickly turn into a serious problem. Alcoholism can be treated at any stage. However, the more complex the situation, the more time and effort it takes to treat. It is not uncommon for alcoholism in its initial stages to develop in such a way that you cannot even help a person who realizes they have a problem. Alcoholism is always serious, regardless of the stage.
Myth: Alcoholism treatment is only medication
Alcoholism requires only a comprehensive approach – a combination of psychotherapeutic methods and medication. This disease is poorly amenable to treatment, because the alcoholic does not consider himself sick and does not want to be treated. It is very difficult to find motivation for alcoholism treatment on your own. It takes a long and careful work of a psychotherapist, help from loved ones or support groups for a person to admit that he or she is an alcoholic. Only when an alcoholic is helped to recognize his problem and really starts to want to get cured, medication works and does good.
Myth: Alcoholism can be cured by suggestion or hypnosis
If the alcoholic lends himself well to hypnosis, this method can be included in a set of psychotherapeutic measures. But there are very few such people in the population, for example, Sigmund Freud considered, that they do not exceed seven percent. Therefore it is not necessary to count only on this method of treatment.
Myth: An alcoholic should be given a poisoning, so that he would go to the hospital and be frightened.
Heavy drinkers regularly get drunk to the point of poisoning, end up in the hospital, but don’t stop drinking afterwards. Some never realize that they are already addicted to alcohol and will die from drinking. A person becomes aware of their drinking problems under the influence of completely different factors. For everyone, the reason to be from alcohol is different, and if it appeared, the treatment will be effective.
Myth: It is possible to cure alcoholism without the patient’s knowledge
There are no such drugs, because the treatment of alcoholism is a complex process that requires not only medication, but also psychotherapeutic help. A person is helped to find motivation to fight the craving for alcohol, supported during the most difficult periods of treatment and taught to live with new opportunities and some limitations.
Myth: Withdrawal from alcohol leads the former alcoholic to a state of perpetual depression
Depression also occurs after binge drinking. Many people do experience depressive symptoms during the initial stages of alcohol treatment. Specialists – narcologists, psychiatrists and psychologists – successfully correct this condition either with medications or with the help of psychotherapy: individual counseling, group psychotherapy or self-help groups. And depression necessarily passes when a person returns to normal life and begins to enjoy sober living: – physical condition improves: sleep normalizes, pressure stabilizes, – extra free time appears, – financial expenses for both “entertainment” and elimination of its consequences decrease, – alcohol-related stressful situations decrease, – relations with relatives improve.
Myth: Coding is a lie
The method of coding for alcoholism have a very real scientific basis. This is a variant of acute emotional stress psychotherapy. At a number of patients this method worked. Any treatment methods that correspond to the framework of WHO recommendations are true, and everything else is a myth. In alcoholism are effective self-help groups, cognitive therapy, several kinds of officially registered drugs. In any case, treatment methods should be chosen only by a qualified specialist after a personal examination of the patient.