How to Help an Alcoholic

How you can help an alcoholic is something that many people find themselves thinking when a family member, a loved one, friend or colleague is suffering from alcoholism. It most certainly is not an easy question to ask, nor to answer, as it is really only the alcoholic themselves who can be the one to decide to help themselves. However, there are some techniques that you can use which will encourage the alcoholic to take a hard look at their addiction, which in turn can help them seek help for their alcohol addiction sooner rather than later.

Unless someone is sectioned under the mental health act, you cannot force them to do anything against their will, this includes seeking treatment for their alcohol addiction. The best way to broach their problems with alcohol is to approach the situation as a concerned party rather than someone trying to pile on the pressure. Offering information about treatments can help the alcoholic realise that they need to look for help themselves rather than forcing them into getting help.

When speaking to an alcoholic it is best not get emotional or confrontational, simply taking a step back and speaking with information and facts instead is more beneficial. Sometimes professional intervention works best as you have others to support you and offer a bigger support group for the alcoholic themselves.

Often alcoholic will suffer from a type of severely deluded thinking and cannot see or simply refuse to accept the reality of their situation. This includes not being able to care about pleads for them to stop or sternly worded health warning from a medical professional. They will ignore them with the belief that they are in control of their drinking even though it is obvious that they are not.

Trying to help an alcoholic will most likely leave you feeling frustrated, helpless and at a complete loss on what to do. What you need to remember is that these feelings are completely normal and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over these feeling. Instead focus on not ‘enabling’ someone drinking, this means not making excusing for them or trying to ‘work around’ their drinking problem. This means that if the alcoholic comes home and passes out at the bottom of the stairs then do not move them to a comfortable position, instead leave them there.

This is because the sooner the realistic effects of alcoholism starts to impact a person’s life then the sooner they will realise that there is a problem with their drinking behaviour and the quicker they will get help for their addiction. This is far easier than trying to convince them that they have a problem.

If you are worried about someone that you love and feel they may need treatment for their alcohol addiction, then contact Timetostop on 0808 163 6005 if you want advice, support or more information about alcoholism.You can also complete an online self-assessment to see the scale of yours or their alcohol addiction on the Time to Stop site.

Addiction to Painkillers

Addiction to painkillers is often overlooked when talking about drug addiction. Prescription drugs are normally the main culprit but much pain medication is just as problematic as it is available over the counter with little or none confirmation from GPs. Just because these drugs are easy to acquire does not mean that they aren’t addictive. Instead, it means that it is even easier for people to develop a physical and psychological addiction to their painkillers as the following trainee dental nurse’s story shows.

A 29 year old trainee dental nurse has recently pleaded guilty of forging prescriptions and stealing from pharmacies throughout the county of Gwet in South-East Wales over a period of six months to fund her codeine addiction. In total she stole around 23 prescription forms from the workplace which were then forged and fulfilled at different pharmacies.

Her first theft was just eleven days after she started work at the dental practice where she worked. She began taking codeine when she began to suffer from chronic migraines and used the drug to help alleviate her problem. Her defence stated that the ‘medication she was on has had a significant effect on her rational thinking’, ‘that she shows a significant degree of remorse’ and has since had her addiction to codeine fully addressed.

Her prosecutor stated during her trial that she had ‘been dependent on the dihydrocodeine pain killers and said she was not in her right frame of mind’ but that there was ‘some planning involved in the offences as she forged the names in her own name, her maiden name, mother, sister, next door neighbour, her friends and a variety of addresses and members of the public who were registered as patients where she worked’.

Codeine in particular, is easy to become addicted to due to the feel good side effects of the drug such as elation or sleepiness. The drug is safe to take under medical instructions but taking large or frequent doses can cause severe side effects including nausea, constipation, breathing problems and seizures. Codeine is particularly dangerous when combined with alcohol or other drugs and can even result in death.

Common signs of codeine addiction include..

·         The user becoming aggressive or defensive when confronted about their painkiller use.

·         The user experiencing nausea, constipation, breathing problems or/and seizures.

·         The user becoming secretive or embarrassed about their use of the painkiller.

If these common signs seem familiar then you could be looking at someone or be someone with a genuinely dangerous addiction.

Contact Rehab Recovery for free help and advice on 0800 088 66 86 today, or send us a message requesting a call back and we’ll give you a discreet ring for a chat about your concerns.

For the full story of the dental nurse, please see the SouthWales Argus .

Confusion Over Official Alcohol Guidelines

With half of the medical world wagging fingers about limiting alcohol intake and the other half advising that a little can be a good thing for us, it is easy to see why even those attempting to drink healthily and sensibly can be confused by the messages presented by the authorities.

The government generally recommends that men drink no more than 3-4 units a day and women no more than 2-3, and that you take 48 hours off if you’ve drunk more than that. Medical students, on the other hand, learn about the curve which argues that a bit of alcohol is actually good for you…so which is the case?

Alcohol Addiction Treatment

The one upside of drinking alcohol is possible protection against heart diseases, but the risks include a significant increased risk of liver disease and even liver cancer. The downside actually very rapidly outweighs the upside, as Dr Peter Scarborough from Oxford University explains, with anyone drinking more than about a quarter of a glass of wine (or half a unit) in a day consuming more than the “opimum” amount.

"If you're drinking any more than that,” Dr Scarborough warns, ‘’Then you are not at the best level for reduced risk."

Conflicting information comes from other sources. Sir Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, says

"I think it's fair to say the jury's still out. There certainly isn't enough evidence to say people that don't drink should start drinking because of their health."

while Henry Ashworth from the Portman Group representing UK drinks producers somewhat predictably says most people drink within the limits and will be fine if they follow the government’s advice.

"Guidelines are hugely important because we want to have more informed consumers. It's really important they stay consistent because the last thing you want to be doing is chopping and changing so people get confused."

Even the two day “recovery” period in between drinking sessions is being called into question, with Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist from the University of Southampton, warning that this is nothing to do with letting your liver recover and is designed to alert people to signs of alcohol dependency.

"What is clear is that if you are dependent on alcohol then cutting it out two or three days a week is going to be very difficult, and actually it's a real warning sign that you are somewhere on the dependency scale."

While the government and health authorities debate over units and measures, health benefits versus risks, however, many people are unwittingly developing serious alcohol problems due to the lack of clarity in understanding units of alcohol as a safety measurement, and the conflicting messages from authorities versus drinks manufacturers and marketers.

Here the golden rule becomes the two day rest guideline – if you or someone you know is developing an alcohol addiction, attempting to cease all alcohol consumption for at least 48 hours is likely to present issues for the drinker. If you know someone who has trouble avoiding drink for even a few hours, let alone a few days, it may be time to seek help. Give TimeToStop a call now on 0808 256 3602 today for some advice, or complete our online self assessment , and you could help someone take control of their drinking and even save their life by visiting a expert London alcohol treatment center. 

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