Overcoming Alcohol Addiction

how to support an alcoholic

You’re likely to start by seeing your primary health care provider. If your provider suspects that you have a problem with alcohol, you may be referred to a mental health provider. Have you ever thought to yourself “my friend drinks too much” or “is my friend an alcoholic”?

Make it comfortable to talk about the underlying cause contributing to their drinking.

how to support an alcoholic

If your goal is to reduce your drinking, decide which days you will drink alcohol and how many drinks you will allow yourself per day. Try to commit to at least two days each week when you won’t drink at all. Are you ready to quit drinking or cut down to healthier levels? These tips can help you get started on the road to recovery. The challenge of this stage is to essentially develop and maintain healthy life skills that will serve you for a lifetime.

Support Before Rehab

Ask about new strategies that they learned in treatment or meetings. ” When you’re talking to your loved one, don’t forget to offer help and support as well. People with alcoholism feel an overwhelming need or compulsion to drink. This is despite serious health, mental health, work, or home life consequences as a result of their behavior. They also develop a tolerance so they have to keep increasing how much alcohol they drink. This is in order not to experience withdrawal symptoms once the effects wear off.

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how to support an alcoholic

A support group such as Al-Anon Family Groups may also be a helpful source of support when you have someone in your life with a drinking problem. The group can give you a place to get social support and encouragement from others going through a similar situation. If family members try to “help” by covering up for their drinking and making excuses for them, they are playing right into their loved one’s denial game.

If you’re reluctant to turn to your loved ones because you’ve let them down before, consider going to couples counseling or family therapy. Jellinek viewed alcohol addiction as a chronic relapsing condition that needed to be treated by health professionals and developed a theory on the progression of the disease through various stages. If you don’t control codependency, can alcohol make your hot flashes feel worse during menopause it can lead into more serious complications such as obsessive behavior, blame, and mental health issues. Treatment of alcohol use disorder is an ongoing process. Don’t consider your part done after your friend or family member is in therapy. Offer to help out with work, childcare, and household tasks if they get in the way of treatment sessions.

  1. However, it is crucial that an individual with AUD receives professional medical help, as well.
  2. Group therapy or a support group can help during rehab and help you stay on track as life gets back to normal.
  3. Currently, there are three medications approved for AUD in the United States, and they are an effective and important aid in the treatment of people with this condition.
  4. You just happen to love someone who is probably going to need professional treatment to get healthy again.

how to support an alcoholic

From a very young age, kids see advertising messages showing beautiful people enjoying life — and alcohol. And because many parents and other adults use alcohol socially — having beer or wine with dinner, for example — alcohol seems harmless to many teens. It’s like the old story with the blind men and the elephant.

Make sure your person is not upset or preoccupied with other issues. There may be very little you can do to help someone with AUD until they are ready to get help, but you can stop letting someone’s drinking problem dominate your thoughts and your life. It’s OK to make choices that are good for your own physical and mental health.

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Trying to tough it out on your own can be like trying to cure appendicitis with cheerful thoughts. Enabling an addict means that your behavior somehow allows them to continue their use. This could mean making excuses for them or bailing post-acute withdrawal syndrome symptoms, treatment them out of bad situations. While it may be difficult to practice tough love, it will be beneficial for the addict in the end. The longer people allow their use to continue, the longer they will take advantage of that fact.

While the addict is the only person who can stop their own alcohol use, loved ones can still take certain steps to try and curb addictive behaviors. If you’re exploring how to help an alcoholic stop drinking, the following methods may help bring light to your loved one’s drinking or drug problem. Here are some tips on how to help an alcoholic stop drinking.

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It may even be necessary for you to script your intervention before conducting it with your loved one. Group therapy or a support group can help during rehab and help you stay on track as life gets back to normal. Drugs used for other conditions — like smoking, pain, or epilepsy — also may help with alcohol use disorder. Talk to your doctor to see of one of those might be right for you.

Once you’ve made the decision to change, the next step is establishing clear drinking goals. The more specific, realistic, and clear your goals, the better. As a result, overcoming guilt and negative self-talk is vital. Some people may feel so “broken” that they almost feel they can no longer experience joy and confidence, or have healthy relationships again.