It is very difficult to watch how alcoholism destroys the life of your friend or member of your family. As a rule, an alcoholic needs to undergo a rehabilitation course in order to receive full assistance. If you want to help, you must first determine if a person is really an alcoholic. And only then you can start helping your friend get the right treatment.
How to Help an Alcoholic – A Step by Step Guide
Look for signs of alcoholism
Having problems with alcohol does not mean completely becoming an alcoholic. Problems with alcohol can be solved and overcome by the patient without any assistance but external intervention is required to treat the disease “alcoholism”. Typically, the symptoms of alcohol-ism include:
- Problems at school and at work, such as being late or not working at all due to a hangover;
- Frequent memory dips after drinking;
- Problems with the law due to drinking, for example, ar-rests for being drunk in public places or driving while drunk;
- Inability to leave a glass of alcohol half full or to stay close to alcohol and not to drink it;
- Consistent binges and hangovers;
- Relationships are affected by alcohol;
- A strong desire to drink in the morning and withdrawal symptoms with no drink.
Talk to the person
As soon as you decide to talk with a person about his or her drinking habit, rehearse what exactly you are going to tell. Be concise, objective and thorough. This will not allow the patient to move away from you and relieve him or her of the feeling that you are emotionally pressing on him or her.
Explain to the person that his or her behavior affects others, and he or she needs to stop drinking alcohol. Tell the person about the problems that will result from alcohol abuse.
Choose the time when the person is sober. For example, morning is usually the right time, and it’s okay if the patient has a hangover. It’s a good argument that he or she destroys the body every day.
When you talk with a person about his or her bad habits, do not start with accusations and convictions. Avoid constant moralizing about drinking, as this can only make matters worse. Such reasoning will only prevent the patient from revealing to you the reasons for the constant desire to drink.
When you talk to an alcoholic about his or her problem, you can safely ask about the reasons that push him or her to it. You should also find out if the patient has a good support system. You can offer assistance.
Alcoholism is a complex disease, so you can hardly overcome it by enforcement. Moreover, it can push a person to drink more.
Do not drink alcohol in the presence of the patient
If you drink in the presence of the patient, it will be much harder for him or her to stop drinking. It can also lead to unhealthy habits in your life. You can help another person by meeting and spending time in places where alcohol is not sold. In addition, this will greatly simplify the task for the patient.
Tell others
Ask people around you if they have noticed disturbing behavior or if they think the person is having problems. You should not call him or her an alcoholic and, moreover, talk about it to those who should not know about it. Do not violate his or her privacy rights.
Seek help from a professional
If the alcoholic refuses to undergo treatment or does not even consider it, try to attract an expert in narcology. The specialist will have sufficient experience working with various types of alcoholism and will be able to create a special treatment plan that is suitable specifically for your friend.
Be encouraging throughout the treatment period
If the alcoholic agrees to undergo treatment and take the necessary measures, be sure to support him or her. Do not let him or her feel guilty or shame, show that you are proud of his or her desire to stop drinking.
Get ready for failures
If a person goes to a rehabilitation center and undergoes a course of treatment, he or she can be very vulnerable after treatment. Most patients constantly have to fight alcoholism. Friends and relatives of the patient should support him or her, despite the recurrence of the disease (the disease is repeated in almost all patients).
Choose quiet activities that do not involve drinking alcohol. Ride bicycles, play cards, cook, go to museums, parks and so on.
Encourage the person to attend anonymous alcoholics meet-ings and psychological counseling.
Take care of yourself
Being a close friend or family member of an alcoholic is very difficult, this can lead to feelings of helplessness and despair. Alcoholism is often called the “family disease” because its consequences go far beyond the patient’s life. Find time for yourself and do things that bring you pleasure and reinforce your self-esteem.
Spend time with friends and family
From time to time you should be distracted from solving your friend’s problems. Since you are constantly busy with the patient’s problem, spending time with other people will help you relax and recover.
If your friend does not want to admit his or her problem, then you cannot help him or her. This is not your personal problem, and you are not responsible for his or her behavior.
If you are somehow connected with this person, then his or her illness will inevitably affect your life. Try to attend meetings of anonymous alcoholics or read relevant literature in which you can find many useful tips.
Members of a family in which a husband or wife abuses alcohol must know how to live with an alcoholic in order to provide temporary help during periods of exacerbation of the disease. Despite the tragedy of the situation, it can be corrected using psychological techniques and not leaving a loved one alone with his or her problem. It is almost impossible to overcome alcoholism independently, but the joint efforts of indifferent people will l make it possible to overcome the painful craving for alcohol.
How to help an alcoholic to cure a hangover?
Intoxication is something that relatives and friends of an alcoholic often have to face. This painful condition can be alleviated at home. Alcoholics try to cope with the hangover syndrome on their own in the “beer” way, i.e. drinking a glass of beer. This method helps at first but further exacerbates addiction.
Relatives who are trying to understand how to live with an alcoholic should know the way to help an alcoholic to get rid of a hangover. The primary remedy is rehydration by drinking 1-1.5 liters of water for 2 hours. Various sorbents and soda will help get rid of alcohol poisoning. Vascular spasms can be removed with medications, such as an aspirin tablet, glycine, ascorbic acid.
How to help an alcoholic get out of hard-drinking?
It is difficult but possible to get an alcoholic out of binge drinking without resorting to medical care. You should build a strategy for how to cure an alcoholic; the severity of the binge and its duration should be considered. One cannot abruptly stop taking alcohol – this is fraught with complications in the form of a sharp spasm of blood vessels, heart attacks. The dose of alcohol should be gradually reduced to zero in 3 days. During this period of alcoholism treatment, it is necessary to detoxify the body to improve well-being.
Dealing with an alcoholic son or daughter
Parents who have faced the problem of alcoholism in their son or daughter should remain steadfast, not condone the addiction. Maternal love is blind to the shortcomings of a child, but in order to get rid of the addiction, it is necessary to abstract and to choose the ultimate form of communication. Children have a fear of the parental word, therefore, the sooner you take measures and explain the possible consequences of alcoholism, the more likely your child stops drinking alcohol and gets rid of addiction.
How to help an alcoholic husband stop drinking?
The theory that male alcoholism is easier to cure than female one is controversial. But the fact is that a man never admits his dependence. The wife of an alcoholic has to face difficulties on the way to getting rid of the habit of abusing alcohol, and the first of them is to convince him of the presence of the problem. How to help your husband stop drinking if he does not consider it a disease? It will require endurance and the ability to find a psychological approach.
How to help an alcoholic parent?
A father who abuses alcohol is the hardest challenge for a child. Parents should lead by example and be respected. It is psychologically difficult for young children to understand how to live with an alcoholic. Awareness of the problem comes with growing up. It is important that the child takes part in the process of the father’s rehabilitation through frank conversations and the expression of his or her opinion regarding alcoholism. Perhaps, this will help weaken alcohol addiction.
Watch a video revealing 5 tips for dealing with an alcoholic parent or family member:
What can you do to help your alcoholic wife stop drinking?
It is much more difficult for a man to understand how to live with his alcoholic wife since female alcoholism is a less common form of this disease. First of all, it is necessary to find out the causes of addiction. Women are sentimental, so it’s worth changing your attitude to your wife, take care of her. Once the psychological aspects of alcoholism are identified, it is necessary to eliminate them as soon as possible.
Remember that each case is individual, and there is no single way that is suitable for everyone. If you need a consultation, then contact the alcoholism treatment center, and they will definitely help your friend or family member stop drinking.