1ST CITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL

Alcoholism! Myths and reality...

Myth: An alcoholic is to blame for becoming an alcoholic.

Reality: alcoholism, like many other diseases, develops unnoticed by a person. No one is immune from this disease, regardless of their status, level of education, profession, social status, or material wealth. An alcoholic, like any other person, is responsible for his behavior and may be to blame for what he does. But it is not his fault that he is sick. The disease does not relieve the alcoholic of responsibility for his behavior, including whether he recovers or not. If a person does not take measures to treat any chronic disease (ulcer, etc.), then he is responsible for the result of his irresponsible behavior

Myth: an alcoholic is a dirty, ragged, degraded, completely degraded person, with an unpleasant odor, a regular at the sobering-up center.

In reality, a wealthy businessman, a politician, a person in creative professions, or a housewife can be an alcoholic. The disease has no social preferences. As studies show, the so-called “degenerates” make up no more than 4 - 5% of the total number of people suffering from this disease.

Myth: an alcoholic is a weak-willed person; Treatment of alcoholism is convincing the patient that it is “time to come to his senses.”

Reality: an alcoholic has enough intelligence and will, they are simply subordinate to the disease, the alcoholic does this because he simply cannot do otherwise; Treatment of alcoholism is a process of liberation from the disease, a person gets the opportunity to choose and live differently.

Myth: An alcoholic can be shamed or intimidated.

Reality: There are two main types of behavior of relatives of an alcoholic. The first is blackmail (“if you drink, I will leave, I will die, I will kick you out onto the street” and so on). The second is an appeal to conscience (“look where you are going, what example you are setting for the children, the bottle is more expensive to you than us, etc.”). Both are extremely rarely able to actually stop the addict. Much more often, the opposite effect is observed: feelings of guilt and shame drive the patient into such severe depression, from which there is only one “way out”: to drink in order to forget.

Myth: Treatment for alcoholism means taking certain medications and medical procedures.

Reality: Alcohol dependence has not only a biochemical basis, but also a psychological, social and spiritual basis, treatment of alcoholism requires changes in all these areas, which requires the cooperation and conscious activity of the patient.

Myth: there are medications (powders, mixtures, tinctures...) that treat alcoholism without the knowledge of the patient.

Reality: there are no such drugs, treatment for alcoholism is more like rehabilitation after a major operation - a person learns to live in a new way, accepting inevitable restrictions (refusing alcohol) and realizing the opportunities that open up.

Myth: Alcoholism treatment can return a person to “normal” drinking.

Reality: Once an addiction has developed, drinking alcohol in any dose will always lead to a loss of control; however, as a result of effective treatment of alcoholism, the patient gains the opportunity to live joyfully and fruitfully without alcoholic beverages.

Myth: an alcoholic is addicted only during periods of drinking; when he does not drink, he ceases to be dependent (or simply becomes healthy).

The very fact of use is just the tip of the iceberg, an external manifestation of deep-seated personal problems. Alcohol is just a medicine to cope with life. For an alcoholic, refusing to drink is a severe stress: all problems become worse, and the underwater part of the iceberg comes to the surface. Sober life becomes unbearable. Alcoholics say “it’s better to drink than to live like this.” In the underwater part of the iceberg there is loneliness; inability to build close emotional relationships with other people; lack of personal boundaries; inability to answer the question: “What do I want?”; lack of ability to recognize one’s own feelings and express them; negative attitude towards oneself; inner emptiness covered by pride; inability to satisfy basic needs: safety, love, support, significance, etc.; blatant immaturity; inability to take responsibility for one’s own life, including sobriety.

Myth: Addiction and craving are synonymous.

Reality: the emergence of a craving for alcohol or drugs indicates that one of the basic needs of a person has become actualized. Let’s say a person is anxious (the need for security), and the dependent person immediately develops a craving for alcohol, since alcohol is an emotional regulator and is a cure for fear, remember at least the “People’s Commissar” 100 grams during the war. This way of responding also applies to other basic needs - the need for intimacy, love, support, significance, acceptance.

Therefore, there may or may not be cravings, but there is always dependence. Dependency is the inability to satisfy basic needs naturally.

Myth: relapse is a return to use.

Dependent people drink alcohol, as a rule, “bingely,” since the main criteria for addiction are: loss of control over the dose and a state of withdrawal, which pushes the dependent person to a “hangover.” It follows that after a period of sobriety, a “binge” always follows. The addicted person takes the first glass, after a period of remission, being absolutely sober, but sanity is completely absent at this moment. A dependent person is not in reality: there is no awareness of the fact of his own illness, the danger posed by alcohol, the fact that “binge drinking” is inevitable, etc. etc. Therefore, a relapse is a process of gradual loss of sanity that precedes a return to drinking alcohol, and drinking is the last point in this process.

Myth: To recover, you just need to stop drinking.

Reality: addicted people and those around them do not realize what illness looks like during sober periods of life. The close circle tries not to “breathe” so as not to provoke the alcoholic to drink. The main symptom of alcohol dependence in sobriety is self-destructive behavior, devaluation of one’s own life. When an alcoholic does not drink, he can destroy himself in some other way.