These stages can help prevent relapse and support people to live healthier, fuller lives. Dependency is often accompanied by certain mood or mental health conditions like depression or anxiety. Along with your treatment for AUD, you may need to seek medical care for other complications you experience. If you or someone you know is living with an AUD, the good news is that there are many different treatment options, and your doctor can help you choose the best one for you. They may recommend detoxification, medication, or relapse prevention training.

How to help someone stop drinking

• Even after admitting you have a drinking problem, you may make excuses and drag your feet.
• It may also be helpful to determine whether the treatment will be adapted to meet changing needs as they arise.
• Your health care provider or mental health provider will ask additional questions based on your responses, symptoms and needs.
• Since withdrawal symptoms tend to ebb and flow, you may be tempted to feel like you’re not making progress ― even though in reality, you’ve come a long way.
• The more symptoms you have, the more urgent the need for change.
• Recovery can take a long time, so you may need ongoing treatment.
• One drawback is that you must take two pills three times every day.

People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) cannot control how much they need and desire alcohol and, as a result, consume it in amounts that can lead to severe health issues. Genetics may make some individuals more susceptible, but a person’s environment plays an important part. Alcoholism, now known as alcohol use disorder, is a condition in which a person has a desire or physical need to consume alcohol.

Stage 2: Research possible treatment options

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. Support can come from family members, friends, counselors, other recovering alcoholics, your healthcare providers, and people from your faith community. Whether you choose to tackle your alcohol addiction by going to rehab, getting therapy, or taking a self-directed treatment approach, support is essential. Recovering from alcohol addiction or abuse is much easier when you have people you can lean on for encouragement, comfort, and guidance.

• Take our free, 5-minute alcohol use self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with alcohol misuse.
• Professionally led alcohol treatment now takes place in a variety of settings, including outpatient care that can help many people recover while still living at home.
• It is dangerous to take chlordiazepoxide along with opiate-based medicines, such as methadone, or illegal opiate drugs, such as heroin.
• These heightened dopamine levels may make the drinking experience more gratifying.

How to offer support

American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information. We strive to create content that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. If someone has AUD, they must not blame themselves for the condition. However, they may want to try and understand how their actions might be affecting those they care about.

This means they can be especially helpful to individuals at risk for relapse to drinking. Combined with medications and behavioral treatment provided by health care professionals, mutual-support groups can offer a valuable added layer of support. Overcoming an addiction to alcohol how to treat alcoholism can be a long and bumpy road. And you don’t have to wait until you hit rock bottom; you can make a change at any time. Whether you want to quit drinking altogether or cut down to healthier levels, these guidelines can help you get started on the road to recovery today.

Staying Social When You Quit Drinking

Recovery from alcohol addiction generally follows the stages of abstinence, withdrawal, repair, and growth. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism both describe drinking that causes negative consequences for the drinker. Alcoholism often describes a person’s chemical dependency on alcohol and their inclination to prioritize drinking in their lives.

• Millions of readers rely on HelpGuide.org for free, evidence-based resources to understand and navigate mental health challenges.
• The problems relating to alcohol dependence are extensive, and its effects can be physical, psychological, and social.
• Acamprosate works by affecting levels of a chemical in the brain called gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA).
• Or they might experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking, like shaking, sweating, or nausea.

Relationships might start to crumble under the weight of broken promises and unpredictable behavior. Work performance could suffer, leading to lost opportunities or even job loss. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and it’s heartbreaking.

Remember that relapse is part of recovery for many individuals, and your loved one may be one of them. Instead, relapse indicates that additional and/or a different form of treatment https://ecosoberhouse.com/ is necessary. Alcohol recovery is a process—one that often involves setbacks. A drinking relapse doesn’t mean you’re a failure or that you’ll never be able to reach your goal.

Types of Behavioral Treatments

The treatment plan promoted by AA is based on a 12-step programme designed to help you overcome your addiction. The treatment options for alcohol misuse depend on the extent of your drinking and whether you’re trying to drink less (moderation) or give up drinking completely (abstinence). It’s estimated that about 14.5 million people in the United States alone struggle with alcohol use disorder. It’s like a stone thrown into a pond, creating ripples that affect not just the individual, but their families, friends, and society as a whole. Two other drugs, gabapentin and topiramate, also interact with GABA and glutamate systems. The FDA approved them to treat seizures, but health care professionals sometimes prescribe them “off-label” for alcohol use disorder.