Alcohol Addiction Help

Alcohol Addiction Help

The hardest part about help is getting it, even though there is a lot of help available.It’s hard because the alcoholic does not want help.

They want to LEFT ALONE.

They LOVE to drink and they’re not interested in quitting!

They know they don’t have a problem and they want everyone to MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS!

Their families see it but it doesn’t matter.

Their friends see it.

Their co-workers see it.

They don’t see it and everybody else is wrong!

Actually, it is important that the addict see the problem. Without the buy-in of the addict, without him/her realizing they have a serious problem, no treatment is going to take place. They WILL REFUSE to get help to matter what!

There is a television reality show called “Intervention” which documents the denial of addicts as they are approached by family and friends to seek help. In one episode, the Methamphetamine addict and an alcoholic, who is destroying her health, her family’s property and all of her relationships, is steadfastly in denial that there is any problem of any kind and refuses help.

Totally Lost

She curses her family for bringing it up. On video, we see how selfish she has become because of the drug. She cares for no one but herself and her drug use comes before anything else. She refuses treatment. She refuses help. Most everything she mutters is profane. She is completely lost.

The wake left behind a drug addict is the crushed hearts of those who see the problem, want to help, but on their own, for the best of reasons, likely contribute to the problem rather than solve it. In these shows, an interventionist is called in by the family, not just to confront the addict and coax them into rehabilitation, but to coach the family and teach them communication skills.

More importantly, the interventionist teaches the family boundaries, and how to stick to those boundaries.

Alcohol Addiction help is not based on enabling the addict; once rules are established they MUST be adhered to. If the rules are broken the addict MUST feel the consequences otherwise the family is going to enable the addict to continue using. No Alcohol Addiction help is possible!


Alcohol Addiction is a community problem

Alcohol Addiction is not just a family problem. It’s a community problem and therefore, help from the community is a necessary ingredient for any addict achieving recovery. Families are too close to the addict.

They love that person, they care, they cry for them. Their loving regard for the addict blocks their objective thinking and prevents them from being the answers to the problem. They become enablers and feeding the problem. Alcohol Addiction help from a professional is needed to treat all parties involved in the addiction.

Once the family and friends are onboard with the need for professional help, and new communication patterns and boundaries are established by the professional, “their” problem will become the addict’s problem.

Once the addict realizes that they have the problem, the first step towards recovery is taken.

If you know someone that needs Alcohol Addiction help or if you’re struggling with an addiction, and need help call 1-800-662-HELP.

Also for more Alcohol Addiction help go to our home page.

Alcoholic Liver Disease: Beyond Mere Alcoholism

Liver
transplants are a politically super-charged issue, as who gets on the
list, who gets to the top of the list and who gets the benefits of a
liver transplant are questions people ask, and sometimes the answers to
those questions are infuriating.

The CBS news magazine
show 60 Minutes ran a story about Japanese mobsters coming to the U.S.
for liver transplants at UCLA Medical Center. The fact that these
criminal gang leaders could put $1 million in cash down on the table
might have had something to do with it.

Gee, do you
think? Even the iconic baseball hero, Mickey Mantle, got some bad press
when he went to the top of the list. Money, invariably in America,
plays are greater role in determining care than any other issue. It’s
political more than medical.

One of the reasons there is so much
political argument is because 75% of liver disease is entirely
avoidable. There are three alcohol-related liver conditions. The first
is a fatty liver, which can be completely reversed if the person doesn’t
drink anymore.

Fatty liver is not necessarily a trigger for
disease. However, if the person insists on drinking, the fatty liver can
progress into alcoholic hepatitis, a chronic inflammation of the liver.

People develop a fever, jaundice and abdominal pain. This is
not to be confused with other abdominal conditions, such as
cholecystitis, which is gall bladder inflammation. Alcoholic hepatitis
can also be confused with pancreatitis or even appendicitis.

The
reason it is important to diagnose the situation properly is due to the
fact that persons with alcoholic hepatitis do not do well following
surgery. Appendicitis and pancreatitis call for surgical intervention.
Alcoholic hepatitis can be reversed with abstinence, but it can also be
fatal.

Cirrhosis is the most serious form of alcoholic liver
disease and occurs when scare tissue on the liver develops to the point
where blood no longer flows through the vessels. The liver actually
shrinks and becomes hard. It’s function is destroyed. Transplant is the
only treatment for this condition.

While it is understood
that there might be a progression, from the fatty liver to alcoholic
hepatitis to cirrhosis, the end condition, cirrhosis, can occur without
going through the other stages. Alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis are
common causes of death in severe alcoholics.

The alcohol and drug
addiction-related liver diseases can also be a step to the development
of liver cancer. In alcoholics, the sheer amount of alcohol can
contribute to the development of cancer. Hepititis B Virus (HBV) and
Hepititis C Virus (HCV) are the two leading causes of liver cancer
worldwide. Hepatitis C is a serious concern for drug users who inject
their substance of choice. This disease is often caused by dirty
needles, and infection rates are very high.

Again, this
is avoidable. Some communities have a needle exchange program, just to
attempt to prevent the spread of Hepatitis C. Once the liver has
failed, patients must have a transplant or they will die. Human nature
goes both ways on this issue. People will say “too bad, but you did it
to yourself,” while others look at the same situation with compassion
and a desire to help. This is an emotionally-charged issue.

Of
the people who receive transplants, nearly 50% of them use some alcohol,
and as many as 10% of the transplant recipients are addictive drinkers.
If this is the case, those who screen applicants for liver transplants
understandably have the difficult task of sorting through the
candidates and determining who is likely to receive the greatest benefit
from the procedure.

If one is to continue drinking
heavily, regardless of the consequences, the transplant will only delay
the inevitable. The best candidate is the one who does not have that
issue. Again, the other 50% of transplant patients are not drug and
alcohol abusers.

Once an alcoholic has been selected to receive a
liver, there really is not a standard therapy to follow, other than
abstinence. Drug users, who are on methadone treatments and can avoid
using, are likely to do well. Aside from the liver issues, there are
other factors that can be used to determine success rates, such as use
of tobacco and dietary habits.

When a liver transplant is
necessary, Science Daily reported that only 6% of former alcoholics and
4% of former drug addicts will relapse following a transplant. This is
an encouraging statistic, but it depends on the individual’s willingness
to abstain from alcohol and drugs.

There are those who will
view that as an injustice and argue that it is not fair. However, the
numbers tell a compelling story. Drug and alcohol liver disease can be
reversed, with abstinence, if diagnosed early enough. In those cases,
the only injustice is what we do to ourselves.