Alcoholism Treatment Options

Alcoholism is a disease that affects millions of people. Not only does it affect the alcoholic, it also affects the alcoholic's family. The alcoholic loses interest in maintaining relationships and finds it difficult to maintain steady employment. Therefore the family members of an alcoholic suffer from loss of income and loss of a parental figure. Treatment options for an alcoholic vary, and their success rates can differ because individuals react differently to the various treatment options. By exploring different treatment options, alcoholics and family members can help find the treatment that is most effective for the alcoholic.

Function

• Treatments for alcoholics are designed to help alcoholics stop drinking. One of the errors that alcoholics make is that they believe they can control their drinking after a sobering out period. This attitude usually results in a relapse, and the alcoholic resumes the destructive drinking binges that ruin lives. It's important to understand that treatments for alcoholism are treatments, not cures, and the alcoholic must continually guard against succumbing to the disease and start drinking again after successful treatments.

Types

• All of the treatment types are designed to help alcoholics stop drinking. Treatment options for alcoholism include individual therapy and group therapy. There are also inpatient and outpatient treatment programs. These treatments are offered by alcoholism clinics. Hypnotherapy is another treatment option. Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis to help the alcoholic reduce the need for alcohol. Medical doctors can also prescribe medicines designed to reduce an alcoholic's urge to consume alcohol. Alcoholics Anonymous is a group that offers treatment through a 12-step program.

Considerations

• Group therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous can be effective for alcoholics who respond to peer pressure. Both of these treatments have other members who keep in communication with the alcoholic through the treatment process. Seeking prescription help via a medical doctor can give some alcoholics the sense that a prescription drug is the boost they need to overcome the disease, although others will use the fact that it's a medical condition as an excuse to resume drinking. Hypnotherapy can be very effective for people who are especially sensitive to suggestions of others. Inpatient treatments can be disruptive to family life, but they are most effective because the sources of alcohol are removed from the alcoholic.

Effects

• The effects of going into an alcoholic treatment program can vary. There can be a stigma attached to entering such programs, although the negative effects of the stigma should be considered minimal when weighed against the negative effects of drinking too much. The positive effect of a successful alcoholic treatment is that the alcoholic stops drinking. It's important to note that this effect can be temporary and an alcoholic can resume drinking at any time.

Warning

• For people being treated for alcoholism, it's important to know the individual triggers that can cause a person to relapse. For many alcoholics, smoking is a trigger that causes a person to crave an alcoholic drink. Other triggers include boredom, unmet sexual needs, family crises and criticism. It should be noted that triggers vary among individuals and alcoholics would be well served to know their individual triggers.