When you realize one of your loved ones is suffering from alcohol addiction, your primary duty is to help them admit to their problem. Else the disease of alcoholism would ruin their lives as well as careers. If you fail to break their denial, seek help from a professional counselor. Intervention would help them find the right way to return to a sober life. Once the affected individual admits to their problem, the rest of the treatment process becomes easy to follow. The counselor will guide you through the entire course of treatment and even post-treatment remedy so that the transition is easy and permanent. You would be required to show commitment to your treatment course.

If the addiction is severe, the individual would be required to undergo detoxification at the alcohol treatment centers. Under detoxification, the body would be purged of alcoholic substances so that no toxic trace is left, which would further ensure smooth recovery for you. But detoxification is bound to result in withdrawal symptoms, which can be severe if the state of alcoholism is chronic. This would mean that you would be required to overcome this pain and withdrawal hoping for recovery from alcoholism. This way detoxification prepares you for the rest of the treatment process, which is not as severe as withdrawal. Counseling and guidance during detoxification ensure that the staff would keep you motivated to stay committed to the treatment despite pain and hardship.

Alcohol Rehab Programs

Once you are through detoxification, the journey of treatment would begin, where you would learn to practice sobriety. If you are a chronic alcoholic, residential rehab program would be the best course to enroll for. As alcoholism can produce severe cravings because of dependence of the body and mind on alcohol, residential rehab program would ensure that you get adequate treatment as well as counseling to end your dependence on it.

In residential rehabs, you would be lucky to receive an alcohol-free environment, where there is no trace of alcohol or intoxicants, to practice sobriety. Further, during your stay at the residential or inpatient rehab, you would be required to stay at a distance from the outside world would remain so that no temptation draws you toward alcohol during your recovery. Actually this is quite effective, as you would learn and adapt yourself to an addiction-free environment.

With this, you get a great platform to enjoy wellness therapy. The holistic treatment approach of this program is enough to guide you through the difficult phase of recovery. You would learn a number of skills that would come to your rescue in one or the other in the later phase of life, particularly after you are discharged from the rehab and reenter the real world of temptations.

Rehabilitation programs at the alcohol treatment centers also offer you aftercare sessions so that your recovery from alcoholism is complete and that you do not relapse. With so many attractive features, this rehab program should be your first choice if you are keen to fight alcoholism.

Alcoholic intervention letters are a powerful strategy you want to use. A key to it’s success is preventing this special alcohol abuse help event from becoming emotionally charged with anger and resentment. The alcoholic feels defensive and edgy in the first place and is possible to start arguments, so if someone takes the bait to argue, anger will overtake the session. The fight will dominate the meeting and will destroy it’s purpose. In order to prevent it from happening, only one person will speak with the addict, answering concerns and objections. Everyone else only reads from their intervention letter.

A good intervention letter is an important tool, ensuring that your love and concern for the addict is expressed, the purpose of the session is clear and there is no anger, blame or recrimination. Everyone reads their letter, committing to refrain from adding anything else in the alcoholic intervention. This will protect participants from bursting into impetuous arguments, keeping the meeting on track.

Start your letter with authentic expressions of your love for this person. Speak generously from your heart. Outline in details what you love and cherish about that person. Identify events when he or she was especially helpful to you, made a difference to you and the times when you have been proud of the person. List the person’s beautiful qualities and what you miss about him or her.

The addict will anticipate recriminations at the start of the alcoholic intervention. Hearing about how much they are loved and the contribution they have been to others can stimulate the alcoholic’s willingness to enroll in a alcohol abuse help clinic.

Next, remove morality – right and wrong – from the situation, shifting it into the medical realm. Express that alcoholism is a disease which requires medical treatment. Confirm that it is not a matter of the addict’s willpower or strength, but a matter of receiving treatment for a serious illness. Request the addict to receive professional alcohol abuse help immediately following the alcoholic intervention.

Then list factual examples which illustrate the alcohol problem. These must be your own experiences, not what you heard from others. For example:

“Mum, I visited you three times this week to see how you are, and each time, you were drunk by 7pm. Your speech was slurred and anything I did seem to anger you. You screamed and cursed at me, calling me offensive names and it hurts me so much! Then the next day, when I brought it up, you have no memory of my visit. I know you love me and don’t want to hurt me, but when you’ve been drinking, how you treat me is intensely painful and shatters me.”

Eliminate all blame, recriminations and anger. These sabotage the goal of the addict accepting specialized help during the alcoholic intervention. Express how the addict’s behavior makes you feel about yourself rather than blaming the person for your feelings. For example:

Then express real examples which expose the alcohol problem clearly. Whereas, “When you’ve been drinking, how you treat me hurts me deeply and makes me feel unwanted” addresses the behavior without blaming.

Conclude your letter with love and concern. Express your support of alcoholism recovery, requesting the alcoholic to enter a specific in-patient clinic.

When this simple format of an alcoholic intervention letter is combined with a firm request for receiving professional alcohol abuse help is repeated by every participant, it creates a powerful impact on the alcoholic leading to that person saying yes.

People are always calling us and saying “I’ve been to treatment and it didn’t work. Will your program work?”

You can actually answer that question yourself by answering a fundamental question: What type of a person are you?

Basically, we see three types of clients, each of whom approaches treatment in one of the following ways:

o “I only sort of want help, and I want you to do all of the work. So I’ll say I want help, but don’t expect me to do much of anything.”

o “I really don’t want help – I just want you to get someone (spouse, kids, parents, judge, employer, etc.) off my case. So I am going to sabotage whatever you try to do while I continue to insist that I really do want help. Good luck.”

o “I really do want help, so what is it you need from me so I can work with you to get me moving forward and leaving alcohol abuse behind?”

We don’t think there is any mystery as to who is most apt to make progress, regardless of the “program” they try. One obvious clue is in the question itself: “… their treatment didn’t work. Will yours?” We’re sorry, but we don’t have a magic wand, silver bullet, or miracle cure, nor does anyone else. Mostly it will come down to you and how much you are willing to invest in yourself, how motivated you are, and how well the type of treatment you select matches your needs and preferences.

“Why go to treatment at all?” you ask. If you are in either of the first two categories, don’t. There isn’t any point in going to treatment and it’ll just be a waste of time and money, even if you do manage to placate someone else for awhile.

But if you do want to improve your life, the right treatment program will save you a lot of wasted time and effort while introducing you to options you probably didn’t realize you had. Good treatment is also about giving you permission to live your life, not someone else’s.

“What’s the right program?” It still depends on you. If you want to maintain alcohol as the primary focus in your life, and if you want other people telling you what to do and how to live, then you’ll want one of the traditional AA/12 Step based programs. They’re easy to find, since about 97% of all programs fall into this category.

On the other hand, if you want to leave alcohol behind as a focus, or moderate your drinking, or prefer to be in charge of your own life, then you’ll want to select one of the few possibilities that that will work with you as a person, not as an “alcoholic.” These programs will help you refocus your life, expand your interests, coping skills, and perspectives. The best ones will be individually tailored to you.

“Will this program work?” It will if you want it too, and if you select one that matches your needs and perspective, and if you are willing to participate in your own recovery. If you aren’t, no program, no matter how much you pay, or how much they pampered you, will change anything for more than the duration of your stay. No one can root alcoholism out of your life for you any more than the best personal trainer can lose weight for you.

If you are serious about overcoming your alcohol problems, hire the best help you can get, just like you do with your physician, trainer or coach. Listen, learn, question, and take charge of the changes you are making. Your life really can become your own personal renovation project, and the end product can be even more rewarding than any This Old House transformation.

Alarming statistics on women and alcohol abuse indicates that 9 million women use drugs or alcohol in the U.S. While that number alone is quite worrisome, it does not encompass the millions of women suffering from alcohol abuse in silence as these cases often go unreported. For women secretly suffering from alcohol addiction without any help, their chances of successful recovery are slim to none. In fact, many women without adequate support and treatment see their addictions worsen over time.

Alcohol treatment centers for women often tell stories of how women refuse to seek help for their illness out of fear and shame. Others do not realize that they need help or deny that they have a problem. Many more refuse to get help because they feel they have failed their families in some way. No matter the reasons for turning away treatment, help is available and necessary for many women battling alcohol addiction.

For women suffering from alcohol abuse, there are several treatment centers designed exclusively for women. The best option, especially for women seeking intensive care, is to choose a smaller treatment facility that can provide personalized attention and treatment plans. A smaller facility is also likely to offer a range of comprehensive treatment options and various therapeutic approaches that can be tailored to fit the needs of the individual. With personalized attention, therapists at smaller facilities may be better able to diagnose the dual disorders that co-occur with alcohol addiction, allowing for proper treatment for these underlying problems. This is often a more beneficial method to treatment because it helps to improve the behavioral patterns that have caused the alcohol abuse in the first place.

Does your spouse show signs of alcoholism? In other words, does your spouse need more and more alcohol to feel “buzzed” or intoxicated? Here are 5 common signs of alcoholism addiction:

1. Does he/she drink to relax?
2. Does your alcoholic spouse get defensive if you bring up drinking?
3. Has your spouse tried to quit alcohol and failed?
4. Does your spouse suffer alcohol withdrawal if he/she tries to quit drinking?
5. Does your spouse have trouble with marriage relationships, problems with parenting, and possibly work?

Here is a typical case from my psychiatry practice:

S.L is a 35 year old man. He comes to me for problems with anxiety and depression. He is a successful lawyer. However, he complains of experiencing panic symptoms when he presents in front of a jury. His anxiety is interfering with his career and he wants medication for this. Although I prescribed medication, he did not have a robust response and here is the reason why. His wife called me one day and told me her husband has been drinking every night for 2 years. Initially, he drank a beer to relax after work. This number has increased over time to 6-8 beers in the evening. S.L is alcohol dependent. Alcohol is counteracting his medication. His alcohol dependence must be addressed.

How serious is his alcohol problem, anyway? There are 4 stages of alcoholism addiction.

Early Stage: The typical early stage starts out as drinking to unwind. Drinking becomes an escape and is used to boost mood or relieve stress. S. L. is drinking to relax to “forget his troubles”.

Middle Stage: The middle stage is defined as needing to drink more and more to get the same “buzz”. Your alcoholic spouse will not admit a drinking problem to you, but he/she has thought about it a lot. His/her brain is alcohol dependent. In other words, alcohol withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia and shakiness occurs if he/she tries to quit drinking. Black outs and hangovers are common. S.L fits into this category.

Late Stage: This stage is very serious. Your alcoholic spouse has become obsessed with drinking alcohol. Nothing else matters. Often your alcoholic husband or alcoholic wife will become malnourished (vitamin B1 deficiency). Liver problems, pancreas problems, anemia and neurological problems may occur. Legal problems are common. Marital stress is a given. At this point, your alcoholic spouse has withdrawn and spends his/her time both drinking and seeking alcohol. A medical professional needs to be involved in “detoxing” your alcoholic spouse or he/she could die going through alcohol withdrawal.

Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive disease. Early intervention is very important. In the late stages of alcoholism addiction, the brain has become so alcohol dependent, it will be much tougher for your alcoholic spouse to overcome the brains’ alcohol cravings. Going to Al-Anon is a great first step for you to get some support and tools to deal with this family disease. Do not procrastinate. The longer you wait, the tougher the recovery for your alcoholic spouse.

As a psychiatrist that specializes in alcoholism and addiction, I treat a number of depressed college students with antidepressants. This age group tends to experiment with drugs and alcohol. I have observed over the years of my practice, that the antidepressants I prescribe do not seem to be as effective in someone who is using marijuana and/or alcohol even if the use is infrequent. Here are 2 cases I have treated that illustrate this point.

Case 1: I treated a 19 year old college boy for anxiety and depression. He said he occasionally used marijuana to calm himself before a social event (weekly or every other week) because he felt more comfortable around people when he was high. He did not respond to two different antidepressants I prescribed over the course of 12 weeks. I told him that his marijuana and alcohol use on the week-ends might be interfering with the medications effectiveness. He agreed to go without marijuana or alcohol for a month. Sure enough, his social anxiety started to diminish even though I had not changed the dose of his antidepressant or added any new medications. He experienced significantly reduced anxiety and depression and has not returned to marijuana or alcohol. He reported going to social functions, having a great time, and feeling more self confident than when he first came to see me.

Case 2: I treated a 21 year old college girl for depression that would go out with her friends drinking on week-ends. She said she used drinking to anesthetize herself and escape her feelings of depression. She did not drink at all during the week. I prescribed the same antidepressant she had done well on when she was 14 years old. However, after 6 weeks on a therapeutic dose she remained depressed. At 14, she was not drinking alcohol. I explained to her that alcohol was a central nervous system depressant and was probably counteracting the effects of the antidepressant. I asked her to quit drinking and let the medication do its job. She agreed to this because her depression had gotten progressively worse over several weeks and she felt miserable. Four weeks later, she felt much less depressed. She reported looking forward to the day, finding it easier to keep up with her work, and participating in more activities with her friends.

Both these cases provide anecdotal evidence that the antidepressants I prescribe for depression or anxiety do not appear to be as effective when my college patients are actively using alcohol or marijuana. When I put a college student on medication, I explain to him/her that it is tough for me to make positive biochemical changes in the brain with the medications I prescribe when the substances he/she is using counteract the positive effects of the medications.

Research on teenage depression with substance abuse, has tended to focus on teen drug abuse or teenage drinking at the level of abuse or dependence. There has not been much focus on recreational use of marijuana or alcohol in this population. What are the dangers of marijuana and the dangers of alcohol use when used at a low level?

Reduced antidepressant response.

The findings of a very recent study, conducted by Dr. Benjamin Goldstein et al at the University Of Pittsburgh dealing with depressed adolescents who were using marijuana and alcohol at a recreational level support this. The study was presented on October 26th, 2009 at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and was summarized in the Medscape medical news. The study showed that the antidepressant response was significantly reduced in depressed teenagers using marijuana or alcohol on a recreational basis. They studied 334 adolescents with major depressive disorder of which 28.1% used marijuana or alcohol on a recreational basis. The researchers also found that those that quit marijuana/alcohol during the study showed a good response to antidepressants and those that started using marijuana/alcohol during the study had a reduced response to antidepressants.

I would not be surprised if the findings outlined in Dr.Goldstein’s study regarding teenage marijuana and alcohol use apply to college kids and even older adults.

Here is the take home message for depressed teenagers on antidepressants:

You Use, You Lose

In other words, you lose antidepressant response. Remember, recreational use of alcohol and marijuana interferes wIth the antidepressant response.

If you want to feel better, let the antidepressants do their job in your brain without mixing its effects with other drugs you may want to experiment with. According to this study, antidepressants are most effective for your age group if you are not using drugs or alcohol.

Alcohol allergy – what an embarrassing disorder to have grown up with. Give me asthma, hayfever, migraines, you name it, but not an alcohol allergy. At least with the other disorders you can sit back, relax and have a drink to forget about your disorder stricken existence – but with this particularly annoying form of allergy, you can’t even do that!

The term alcohol allergy is quite broad and has been colloquially used to describe a wide variety of alcohol related disorders ranging from simple alcohol related headaches & nausea, to more severe red facial flushing and hives, and even in the most extreme cases, seizures and unconsciousness.

It should be made very clear at the outset that if you are in the latter category of experiencing seizures, unconsciousness, or any potentially life threatening symptoms, then alcohol is simply not for you. An allergy specialist may or may not have the cure for you, I don’t know. But what I do know is that, whilst a cold beer on a hot sunny day can be a pleasant experience, it is certainly not worth risking your life over.

If, however, you don’t fit into this category and your alcohol allergy is merely causing unpleasant symptoms such as a red face, headaches, nausea, itching, etc., then perhaps there are a few things you can do to lessen and in some cases totally eliminate your alcohol allergy symptoms each and every time you consume alcohol.

First and foremost, know what you are drinking. Alcoholic beverages are made from a plethora of different ingredients ranging from grapes, yeast, potatoes, rice, plum, etc. In addition to this, in some cases, egg and seafood proteins are sometimes used in the production process of some alcoholic beverages to remove fine particles from the liquid. Any one of these ingredients may be the cause of the supposed ‘alcohol allergy’ rather than the alcohol itself.

So the lesson to be learned here is: Know your allergy, and know your alcohol. If you have a grape allergy, don’t drink wine. If you have a yeast allergy, don’t drink beer brewed with yeast. It sounds quite simple when simple examples are used, but this does not negate the importance of knowing precisely what you are drinking – even down to the particular fining agents used in the production process if you have allergies relating to eggs or seafood.

Secondly, if you have any kind of intolerance to alcohol at all, including an alcohol allergy, then the rate at which you consume and alcoholic beverage is of paramount importance in determining how intensely you will experience your allergy to alcohol. Think of each drink as a poison. Your body is equipped with the requisite tools to defend against this harmful substance entering your body but can only operate at its own pace. For some people this is lightning fast, and they are the lucky ones who can slam down 5 beers in a row and dance around a nightclub feeling fine and dandy. If you are like me, and like the rest of the people most likely reading this article, you probably cannot slam down 5 beers in a row without spiraling into a symptom ridden nightmare of throbbing headaches, extreme red flushing and facial swelling, unbearable itching, etc, etc.

For us, drinking requires a very finely tuned judgment as to precisely how much or how little alcohol we can consume before our symptoms start to appear, and if this is one sip, then one sip it is. The skill is to become accustomed to knowing exactly how much to drink and when to stop – again, if its after one sip, then so be it. For some it might be 1 beer, others 3 sips of beer. For me it used to be about 1 quarter of a beer before I needed to stop drinking and let my body do its thing as it metabolized the alcohol.

Are you suffering from external piles? Then you should know that certain foods can cause your external piles. Certain foods just dont agree with some people, while the same food dont bother other people. External piles can sometimes be cured by eliminating certain foods and by eating more of other kinds of food. 1st, let us examine some foods that you should avoid to help you eliminate your external piles.

Hot And Spicy Foods

Spicy hot foods can really make your external piles flare up. There is a saying ” Hot & spicy food burns twice, 1st when you eat it and the the 2nd time when you go to the bath room the next day “. Since external piles are located in the anus, anything that causes discomfort to the anus, will also effect your external piles. So if you are suffering from external hemorrhoids, you might do your self the favor & avoid spicy hot food for some time.

Added Sugars And Junk Food

No matter what the creative T.V. commercials tell us, fast food is not healthy. Nor will it ever be. Fast food usually contains more artificial additives than it does natural ingredients. Take a look at the ingredients in any fast food restaurants menu, which should be posted in a public place by law in most countries. Also, added sugars to food will also cause your external piles to flare up & make themselves known to you. In this day & age, almost all of the processed food that we eat has sugar added to it.

Alcohol

Large amounts of alcohol has a negative effect on your external piles. Alcohol has a large amount of sugar and artificial colorings. Both of these things provoke the external piles into flaring up. If you are a alcohol drinker, you should only try to drink alcohol that is a clean or pure as possible. A good example of clean alcohol is a good scotch whiskey. It is is distilled and aged in a natural way. There are no additives or sugars added. Now dont use this reason as an excuse to go & get drunk, all in the name of finding a external hemorrhoids cure.

A good brandy or Cognac is another beneficial alcohol to drink. It is made from the left over grapes skins, after removing the juice in wine making. These left over grape skins are then collected and fermented in barrels for a number of years. Cognac is a very clean and a very healthy alcoholic beverage. But once again, only drink quality Cognac as the cheap stuff could probably compared to paint thinner. Cognac can only be called Cognac if it is made in the province of Cognac, France. If it is made any where outside of this region, it is called Brandy.

Red, Rose or White wine are also a very beneficial alcoholic beverage. Unfortunately, most of the wine sold today have sulphate added to it. Sulphates can be a real external piles provoker. Try to avoid wines that have a high content of sulphates.

Beer, drunken in small quantities, has a lot of salt and minerals, that are very beneficial, to you if you are sweat a lot. This helps to replenish the body of necessary nutrients that you have sweated out. There is alcohol free beer available on the market today. Has the great taste of beer, all the minerals & salts that your body needs but without any alcohol. But be aware that some beers that claim that they are alcohol free, actually do contain a small amount of alcohol.

As with anything, drinking in moderation is good advice. Do not use this advice as a excuse to get pissed drunk now as a excuse for finding a external piles cure! If you suffer from external piles, the next time you drink a large amount of alcohol, see how your piles are the next day when you go to the bathroom. Feeling is believing!

Additives And Artificial Colorings

Artificial colorings and additives can be the cause of your external piles. Since most of the food we eat today is manipulated in some manner, adding colorings to make it more appetizing is a normal practice. Additives are added so the shelf life of the food item is longer. But all this adding junk to our food has had a serious detrimental effect on our general health. Unfortunately for some, external hemorrhoids can be the result of this unhealthy diet.

So, the best piles treatment is a healthy diet and avoiding junk food. External piles seem to be the punishment we get for our unhealthy eating habits. Eat yourself to a hemorrhoids free lifestyle! Finding a natural external hemorrhoids cure is the best solution. Your body will thank you for this positive change in your diet. Then you will find that your external piles have suddenly disappeared or do not seem to flare up so often.

Natural External Hemorrhoids Cure

After many hours spent researching on drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, I discovered that many people attending rehab centers often have problem going back to their former state of life. This is worrisome. But there is a solution for you so that your case does not become like several others out there. Make use of the following tested and proven hints.

One, I urge you to consider the length of period at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center you want to attend. This is very important. Many people, because they’re in hurry enter into a drug rehab center that host them for three weeks. However, they often find themselves back in the problem. I discovered the length of stay at the center matters very much. If you stay for more than three months, you’re sure of getting off addiction. But anything less won’t work. Your body won’t be able to resist the temptation after leaving the center.

Two, another discovery is that what you or the victim does after leaving a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center plays an important role in relapse cases. If the victim does not engage in productive ventures, he or she may find himself or herself in drugs and alcohol again. This is why it’s very important that the victim change his way of life after leaving the center. If his friends are still the same old drunkards and drug addicts, there is tendency of relapsing into the old habit. If he still works in environment prone to drug and alcohol, he or she will easily give in.

Three, from the last point, I discovered that people that attended a Christian rehab center often have more success than those that do not. Though this is subjective, but I want you or a loved one having problem with drug addiction to try out any of the Christian drug and alcohol rehab centers out there. These centers provide good care while you’re there and after you left. You’ll be introduced to the Christian recovery approach which uses the power of God to get and stay off addiction. After leaving the center, you may be counseled on engaging in worthy activities that will keep you at bay from drugs and alcohol.

In all, I want to advise you to enter drug rehabilitation center alcohol rehab. It’s far better than trying to deal with the problem yourself. My research has proved that only the right center can help you out. Please avoid many of the quack drug and alcohol rehab centers charging clients low fees because of inefficient service. On the other hand, you don’t have to go broke to pay for a drug rehab center’s service. Look for affordable one without compromising quality.