Alcoholism Treatments

alcoholic anonymous

Alcohol Anonymous, more commonly known as AA is the world’s largest self help group for people who want to kick their alcohol addiction. Alcohol Anonymous is a group of men and women who have suffered from or are themselves suffering from alcoholism, and who turn towards each other in order to help themselves get rid of their addictions. If you think that you are an alcoholic or are “addicted to alcohol”, then you can seek help from your local AA chapter.

People at Alcohol Anonymous will not tell you whether you are an alcoholic or not. So it is up to you to judge if you are one, in case there are any doubts. If you feel the urges or cravings to lay hands on your favorite poison, always end up drinking more than what you wanted to, or are physically dependent on alcohol to get you through the day or the night, then you are what can be termed an alcohol dependent or alcoholic person. There are a lot of people who think that they are not alcoholics just because they have the ability to consume large amounts of alcohol without losing control of their senses, but in the true sense of the word, these people are also alcohol dependent.

Alcohol Anonymous is the best kind of support group that anybody can ever think of joining, because it is one of those rare organizations in the world that is apolitical non-denominational and multiracial. The group has absolutely no social, political or religious leanings and the only leaning the group has is towards reaching a collective goal of non-alcoholism.

Self-supporting

Alcohol Anonymous is a self supporting, non- professional organization that is founded, run and managed by past or even current alcoholics, and everybody is free to join in. There are no requirements to be met to become a member, apart from the inclination to kick alcoholism. Alcohol Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous has the distinction of being the world’s largest self help organization. Branches and AA groups can be found in almost every city in the world. The group’s members meet almost every week, where they discuss the problems that they are facing as a result of being alcohol dependent, how they want to kick the habit, how they have managed to get out of the quick sands of alcoholism and what are the positive and negative changes in their lives as a result of alcoholism and as a result of getting rid of it.

Free For All

Alcohol Anonymous membership is free for all. The organization does not solicit members but all are free to come and go as they please. There are no attendance or membership records. However, the organization does have a buddy system, where one person is codependent on the other and vice versa, and each one tries to prevent their partner from getting a relapse. Thus it is extremely easy to join Alcohol Anonymous and the group therapy that takes place at Alcohol Anonymous meetings is advised by experts for all those who want to get rid of their dependence on alcohol. You can also check out the organization’s local branch by attending a couple of meetings.

Alcohol and Skin Health

alcohol health

Alcohol dehydrates the skin and robs it of vital nutrients, causing premature ageing, dry, flaky skin and the fine lines. It can increase the damage to skin by free radicals (toxic molecules in the skin stimulated by air pollution, smoking and sun damage).

Alcohol dilates blood vessels and can starve the skin of oxygen. This in turn can cause some skin damage such as broken veins and a reddened, blotchy appearance.

Alcoholism Treatment in a Nursing Home

alcoholism treatment

Abstract: This article describes a unique interdisciplinary alcoholism treatment program created to provide treatment to alcoholics with severe health problems.

There is evidence that severely ill alcoholics may be placed in nursing homes because it is the only available form of care.

It is estimated that up to 49% of patients in nursing homes have an alcohol problem. This high representation may be due to a lack of treatment programs, which are able to manage or treat an alcoholic who also requires skilled nursing care.

alcoholism treatment

One nursing home’s response to this unmet need was to create an alcohol treatment program within its own facility. Working with the State alcohol-treatment-licensing agency, a 10-bed unit was established for the primary treatment of alcoholism for patients who were also medically appropriate for skilled nursing care. The 30-day program was staffed by licensed alcohol counselors and consisted of alcohol education; individual, group and family counseling; and skilled nursing care for co-existing health problems.

This article describes that program and compares the admission status of the first 55 participants in the program to admission status data from the National Nursing Home Survey.

alcohol detox

A person desiring to leave a world of alcohol and drug abuse should be commended for this decision, but care must be taken when that person decides to undergo a detoxification process. As a corollary to the idea that kicking these bad habits start with the individual, detoxification, on the other hand, cannot be tackled by the dependent alone.

Alcohol and drug detox involves a 3-stage process which has to be supervised by professionals. This is because as harmful as drugs and alcohol are, quitting cold turkey and without the supervision of experts can result in several effects that can be harmful to the individual.

alcohol detox

The first stage in rehabilitating a dependent is alcohol and drug detox. This is the process of flushing out unwanted substances from the system, and the period required to rid the body of these toxins depends on the amount of harmful substances consumed.

Medical professionals take 3-5 days to a week in order to purge these harmful substances from a dependent’s body. In some severe cases, this stage may even take up to 2 weeks. Doctors provide the patient with medications that would help alleviate debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

This crucial stage of alcohol and drug detox is known as medical detoxification. The patient has to be closely supervised during this period as the reactions to the withdrawal can be quite severe, and most have to be alleviated to make it easier on the patient.

The second step is known as physical detoxification. This is the step in alcohol and drug detox during which the patient’s physical health is brought back to its normal state. As a person’s physical health deteriorates during dependence, the person must be brought back to good health during alcohol and drug detox.

The last stage in an alcohol and drug detox program is emotional detoxification. There is a need to provide the patient with emotional support because most cases of dependence are rooted in psychological and emotional problems. Moreover, withdrawal from these substances also involve chemical imbalances which can affect a person’s emotional state.

Almost all detox centers have the facilities and the manpower to provide the first stage of treatment. In fact, with help from these professionals, the patient’s sleeping cycles return to normal in just a few days, and they do not feel as much pain during withdrawal as they would if they were not supervised during the detox process.

However, a successful first stage in alcohol and drug detox does not guarantee that the patient would stay away from alcohol and/or drugs forever. It is important for the emotional and psychological causes of dependence to be addressed to keep patients from returning to old habits, and this can only be achieved with the cooperation of friends and family.