The doctor deals with alcoholism: what rules should be followed for relatives who suffer

Negative illness

As the doctor said on the show, developing addiction has its own cycles and stages, so it’s not so easy to notice at first.

“Another aspect is the disease of denial. Most people, even with reasonable evidence of certain symptoms of the disease, deny it for a long time without acknowledging that it is a disease, says V. Andrejauskienė.

Alcoholism is one of the rare diseases that has the name of a negating disease. Not even in the world with light we will find such a special disease with improvisations like alcoholism. People without other illness deny their illness as sincerely as people with addictive illness. This disease is really special. “

According to a psychiatrist, alcohol generally becomes a very convenient way to get intoxicated because it is legal, easy to find, and can be justified much more easily than any other remedy. However, according to the doctor, the number of cases of this addiction in Lithuania should not increase significantly during quarantine. However, quarantine will cause psychological problems.

“If our resuscitation medical colleagues were on the front line now, I think we mental health professionals will have a lot of work to do in the fall or when the pandemic is under control,” the interlocutor told Health Prescription.

We consume alcohol more consciously

According to the doctor, at this time we can solve all our problems and, as a result, we can cover the most frequent alcohol consumption with the crisis that is coming.

“After the end of any crisis in the country, we have seen an exacerbation of mental health illnesses. Therefore, even in the area of ​​addictions, we will not avoid a certain number of jumps. But there is another side to the coin. If this crisis had taken place 10-15 years ago, I think we would have had very serious consequences. Right now, people are getting smarter, the attitude towards alcohol consumption is changing, “said the doctor.

This trend is particularly noticeable in the young age group. For them, it is no longer a first choice means to relax and have fun. According to V. Andrejauskienė, the growing awareness of people in recent years will now give better results.

In addition, according to the doctor, some people refrain from excessive alcohol consumption during quarantine because they realize that, in case of problems, they will not be able to get to the hospital as easily as before. Therefore, before allowing themselves to start consuming large amounts of alcohol, a person first thinks about whether it is really worth it.

“It often happens that while waiting for help, a person notices how much power he has to correct a disturbed state. However, this crisis situation did not prevent other people from drinking at all,” said V. Andrejauskienė.

Reflects when the body itself is not hated

According to the interlocutor, most people think of the alcohol problem when the body itself begins to send signals that begin to interfere with the body.

“Everyone is looking for a way out of the situation. However, alcohol has always been the cheapest and cheapest way to change states and remain legal. When a person starts consuming alcohol, they think they can control the situation, but in the long run, they fall asleep with total confidence and begin to ignore certain signs that warn about the development of the disease, and only stumble when they see consequences that also affect the social and personal sphere, harm the body, “said V. Andrejauskienė.

Quarantine time was a good opportunity for people to think about it before taking anything. According to the psychiatrist, access to alcohol during strict quarantine was more limited than before.

“If it is necessary to drink alcohol, become intoxicated, the possibilities are a bit limited. And then another aspect arises: do I need it?” When a person begins to think if I need alcohol in this situation so much that I cannot do without it, as soon as a person allows himself to analyze in more detail, he does the best work for himself, “said the interlocutor.

There are several mandatory rules for family members.

Victims of alcohol addiction also torture their loved ones. Therefore, according to the doctor, it is simply not possible for loved ones to remain silent about this problem.

“I don’t think there are such miraculous cases when, from the first episode of alcohol use, family members would say directly: You have a problem.” The process takes shape over time. For a long time, some processes have not been recorded and accepted as a small misunderstanding, “said V. Andrejauskienė.

Before becoming addicted, a person goes through the whole tactic of creating himself as a patient. And relatives living nearby have tried not to talk about this problem at all for a long time.

“One of the tips for people close to you is not to wait for the right moment and tell how you are feeling. Don’t say what your loved one has to do, don’t say” go for treatment, “but tell me how difficult and unacceptable it is for you to live like this, “said the psychiatrist.

Most people who hear the word tolerance would say it is a good thing. Sometimes, however, it is a little suffering. What we notice about loved ones living with a person who drinks for a long time is that they have infinite tolerance for the misbehavior of that loved one and that creates an environment conducive to continuing that addiction. There can be no tolerance for this. There may be what is painful for me and what I disagree with. It must be clear that I will not be and will not help him continue his illness. “

According to the interlocutor, there is a lot of information readily available on how to behave when a loved one is addicted these days. There are even anonymous clubs of alcoholic loved ones. But sometimes a person thinks that he does not need it and he himself knows better what to do in such a situation. And this is one of the biggest mistakes.

“Then he repeats his wrongdoing, waiting for a brilliant stage when a loved one does not drink. But the process then returns to the same place and the same suffering must be experienced again, – said V. Andrejauskienė.

– It also happens that when a person stops drinking, family members are left without a type of job and do not know what to do next, how to proceed. They are afraid of the future and wait with fear “and if it happens again.” That fear becomes very apparent and often becomes one of the main reasons why a person returns to the alcohol consumption process. “

Therefore, as the doctor says, even for loved ones, it is a university of life where you must relearn, even when a family member stops drinking. The problem is that loved ones don’t want to change their habits because they fear that the same problems will happen again.