Alcohol Abuse Treatment

The official definition of Alcohol Addiction by The U.S. National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence is: "Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychological, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortion in thinking, most notably denial."

Well over 15 million Americans are currently full blown alcoholics, and there are tens of millions more people in the United States engaging the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol on a regular basis. The cost to the nation adds up to the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Alcohol Abuse Treatment is the clinically proven best way to rehabilitation for these alcoholics.

Regardless under what guise alcoholism presents itself, it generally has three characteristics: Compulsive use, loss of Control, and Continued use despite adverse consequences. These characteristics are often referred to as the Three Cs. At any given time an alcoholic may not necessarily display all three, but will be facing a serious and critical problem with at least one.

The signs and symptoms of alcoholism include: Anticipation of the next bout of drinking; Frustration when alcohol is not present; Increased traffic offenses; Increasing problems at the workplace; Modifications in sexual functioning; Personal bravado in excess; Cancellations or rescheduling of plans due to hangovers; Changes in frustration tolerance; Changes in sleep; Decrease in productivity; and decreased ability to engage in normal daily activities.

One of the main approaches of Alcohol Abuse Treatment is to realize that the compulsive consumption of alcohol to excess has three elements: reinforcement, craving, and habit. Reinforcement occurs when the process of drinking alcohol is begun. The effect of the alcohol rewarding the alcoholic with pleasure, relief from pain and stress reinforces the behaviour pattern that consuming alcohol is a positive activity. As the alcoholic continues to consume excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages, tolerance develops and it takes larger amounts of alcohol in order to obtain the sought-after pleasure or relief. Craving is defined in the way that the body and brain transmit powerful signals that a drink of alcohol is currently required. Repeated bouts of heavy consumption of alcohol significantly changes the underlying and fundamental chemical balance of the brain.

Withdrawal symptoms are extremely unpleasant physical symptoms which seem to counteract the pleasure derived from excessive drinking of alcohol. These withdrawal symptoms will be triggered when access to alcohol is restricted. Psychological cravings related to the experience of consuming excessive amounts of alcohol can also occur. Habit is the third element in this definition of compulsive use, and results from deeply etched patterns in the memories incorporated in the brain and nervous system's autonomic responses.

Alcohol Abuse Treatment centers have discovered that the usual pattern is that alcoholics cannot accurately predict or determine how much alcohol they will consume or when they will consume it. However, once the drinking starts, they may find that they cannot stop until they lose consciousness. This may be due in part to the impairment of the brain and memory functions that are triggered by alcohol.

The latest medical research on alcohol addiction for Alcohol Abuse Treatments has shown that intoxication can cause “alcohol myopia,” which is strictly defined as a condition that decreases judgment, decision making, and planning skills, as well as negatively affects the perception and capabilities necessary to evaluate the individual's environment accurately.

Alcoholism has many negative consequences. Alcoholics may not be aware of these consequences although individuals associated with the alcoholics certainly are. If the alcoholic is aware, they may feel that the pleasurable or pain-relieving features of excessive drinking outweigh the problems caused with their interpersonal relationships.

When any drug is used over a period of time and in excess, the human body adapts to and begins to acclimatize to the drug’s psychological effects. As a result, the user needs more and more of the drug to achieve the intensity and duration of the initial experience. Since alcohol is a drug, this reality definitely displays itself in the field of alcoholic treatment. The habitual and continual drinker must continue to drink to avoid the physical distress and psychological disorientations that accompany withdrawal.

Alcohol Abuse Treatment has discovered that there are essentially two types of tolerance:

1) Metabolic tolerance, when the body increases its efficiency in breaking down alcohol for elimination.

2) Functional tolerance, when the central nervous system becomes less sensitive to the effects of alcohol.

When access to alcohol is removed, the alcoholic suffers extremely unpleasant effects that are usually the exact opposite of those induced by alcohol on the human body. Because the body has adapted to the presence of alcohol in the system, withdrawal not only is agonizing, but may be life-threatening as well, unless it is carefully monitored and managed by the professionals of Alcohol Abuse Treatment.

Withdrawal has been known to create an effect known as an Effect of Rebound. This rebound effect has some of the particular identifiers of a chemical compound to produce the opposite of the effect originally intended when the influence of the addictive substance is no longer effective or the patient fails to continue to respond to it. Alcohol withdrawal without the immediate presence of trained medical professionals can escalate to the point where the individual may experience delirium tremens, a condition that can create seizures, disorientation, and even be fatal if it occurs outside the purview of Alcohol Abuse Treatment.

All addictive drugs such as alcohol disrupt normal neurotransmission in the brain. A recent study showed that addictive drugs modify the cranial communication system by creating an interference pattern with various synaptic transmissions. Some narcotics mimic a number of neurotransmitters and pass along false messages. Other narcotics act as blockages for neurotransmitters and keep real messages from being passed along. By changing the modalities whereby the brain works, it has the impact of changing how the addict can perceive the world, their own self-image and the image of their world, as well as how they behave. The behavior of addicts is certainly under the powerful influence of the maladaptive sequence of learning which occurs as addiction evolves. As a result, recovering from drug addiction does not necessarily lead to a condition identical to that which existed before narcotics abuse began. It is important to note that addicts must evolve into a new level of self-awareness, by the adoption of entirely new patterns of behavior. That is just one of the many justifications as to why the treatment of addiction to narcotics is such a challenging task.

That statement applies to alcoholism across the board and fortunately Alcohol Abuse Treatment is available everywhere in the country today.