When To Seek Medical Care
Alcoholism refers to a chronic disease that is often progressive and can cause fatal damage to an individual’s health, when left untreated. Typically, there are three stages of alcoholism: early stage, middle stage, and late stage. In the early stage, the symptoms are not very prominent and the patient tends to ignore them. In the middle stage, an alcoholic realizes that he has a problem but has already lost the ability to control alcohol intake. It is in this stage that the medication must start to avoid the person’s arrival at the late stage.
However, raising the level of awareness on the subject can make a significant difference in the lives of the affected. Therefore, we must focus on educating people, particularly youths, on the dangers of alcoholism. The sooner you identify the symptoms, the earlier you can come to your rescue. Ask yourself the following questions to find out whether you may fall prey to alcoholism.
* Do you find yourself drinking alone regularly?
* Do you keep on finding excuses to drink?
* Do you feel an inability to stop yourself from drinking?
* Do you find it difficult to reduce the amount of alcohol intake?
* Do you have a history of alcoholism in your family?
* Do you get violent when somebody advises you not to drink or stops you from drinking?
* Have you developed poor eating habits after taking up drinking regularly?
* Are you unable to take care of your physical appearance after taking up drinking excessively?
If you have answered these questions as no, then you are perhaps a “problem drinker,” meaning that you drink only to cope with momentary crisis situations. However, if your answers to most of these questions are yes, then there are chances that you may fall prey to alcoholism. But do not panic because progress in medical science has created many avenues for treatment of alcoholics such as:
* Detoxification and withdrawal: This is a serious procedure that usually takes one week, wherein the patient is given sedating medication to avoid withdrawal seizures.
* Assessment and treatment: This process identifies and cures diseases related to alcoholism such as high blood pressure and blood sugar and heart and liver diseases .
* Psychological and psychiatric treatment: This program gives group counseling and therapy to help patients to recover from traumatic effects of alcoholism.
* Acceptance and abstinence: This helps an alcoholic to realize that he needs medical help to overcome the stage of alcoholism. After this, the goal is abstinence in the patient.
Recommended Reading
- Cure Alcoholism From Its Roots
- Identifying The Symptoms Of Alcoholism
- Understand the Symptoms of Alcoholism and Come to Your Rescue
- Various Stages Of Alcoholism
