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How to help an alcoholic who refuses to heal

According to a WHO report, in 2016, harmful alcohol consumption killed about 3 million people (5.3% of all deaths) worldwide.

When you see that your loved one starts drinking secretly, alone, does not come back to the night, neglects the family, you start to feel a burning fear and anxiety. You just know something is very, very wrong. Even if it’s hard for you to admit it. Eventually, there comes a day when your first thought when you wake up is “I have to stop him.” However, conversations, requests, or your observations do not arouse much interest in him. Or they raise promises of improvement that make no difference. What to do? How to help an alcoholic in such a situation?

Learn about the disease and understand its mechanisms

If we have not experienced alcoholism, it will be extremely difficult for us to understand how we cannot stop drinking. Addicts often hear that they have a weak will. That they do not care about their families, that they destroy their own and others’ lives, and that they do not want to do anything about it. And although we read that alcoholism is a disease, we still think that I will be able to convince him, because I know him best in the world.

If the problem is with a loved one, the first thing you need to know is what alcoholism is and how the mechanisms of the disease work. Education on this topic will allow you to take appropriate actions that will support recovery from addiction.

Already at this stage, seek help from a therapist. You also need support.
Find help: Alcohol Rehab Salt Lake City, Ut

What is the alcoholic feeling?

Many patients at our Od-Nowa addiction treatment center have failed attempts to quit drinking. They talk about feeling bad, about rage, about hopelessness. About how, seeing the crying of their loved ones, they made promises of sobriety and went to drink that last time. The losers and the losers returned. They did not believe there was a way out for them, and they went again for a comfort drink.

Even if they knew that drinking was bad, sobriety was so excruciating that the only way to deal with the pain was alcohol or medication. Many people also become addicted to them when trying to control their drinking.

Scientific perspective

The consequences of excessive consumption, in addition to malaise, may include:

  • irrational behavior
  • mood swings
  • memory gaps
  • verbal aggression
  • impairment of higher emotionality
  • no logical thinking
  • physical violence.
  • The more advanced the phase of alcoholism, the more symptoms may become and the more severe.

You can read about what an alcoholic feels when he doesn’t drink here.

How to help an alcoholic?

Wondering how to deal with an alcoholic who refuses to be treated? Here are some helpful tips:

  • talk – if you don’t know where to start or have failed attempts, make an appointment with a therapist from an addiction treatment center
  • choose the right time to talk when the person is sober (usually in the morning)
  • stay calm
  • be clear about your expectations – I want you to stop drinking
  • reassure the patient that he or she is important to you and that they can count on your support
  • tell him that therapy in an addiction treatment center is a chance to win over the disease and you believe that it can help him
  • if all attempts to help are unsuccessful, resort to intervention. It consists in bringing the patient to an addiction treatment facility without his knowledge. He goes there and is then interviewed in the presence of the therapist.

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