Alcohol Treatments

The problem of alcohol dependence is much more widespread than you think. The onset is usually in adolescence, when the problem is not seen as such and young people begin to get used to have a drink, grappa ol’amaro after lunch, beer, etc.. Drinking becomes a way to socialize, to stay with friends, not realizing, however, that serious problems are developing insidiously in the body. Indeed, unlike other substances, alcohol dependence is not found immediatamente.In particular it is necessary to distinguish “compulsive drinking (binge drinking, ie, taking five drinks in a short time, eg one hour) and the “heavy drinking” (drinking heavy use), or drinking five drinks on the same occasion, five or more times in a period of 30 days. Compulsive drinking can have serious consequences: The estimates indicate that in the U.S. die each year up to 1400 students for accidents related to alcohol consumption (as to drive a car drunk), 600,000 assaults by students who have drunk and 70,000 students are victims of sexual assault (Kring, Davison, Neale & Johnson, 2007; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002). It often happens that the abuse and dependence on alcohol are part of a framework of multi-drug abusers, namely the abuse of several substances at the same time. It has been found for example that between 80 and 85% of subjects who abuse alcohol are also smokers. Also, because alcohol stimulates the desire to smoke, the smoker smokes twice as habits. Some researchers have even speculated that there may be some consequences associated neurocognitive because of the abuse of alcohol and smoking (Glass, Adams, Nigg, Wong, Puttler, Buu, Jester, Fitzgerald & Zucker, 2006). As regards the consequences Short-term impacts of alcohol after a person has been drinking alcohol, they pass through the stomach before being metabolized from the enzyme. Then the alcohol goes largely in the small intestine and then absorbed into the blood. The alcohol is then metabolized in the liver (in about an hour is able to dispose of 30 grams of liquor with an alcohol content at 50 °). The excess amounts remain in the blood, so while the absorption of alcohol can be very fast, its elimination is always slow (Kring, Davison, Neale & Johnson, 2007). In the long term alcohol abuse causes no only a psychological deterioration, such as problems with cognitive and emotional (Makris, Oscar-Berman, Jaffin, Hodge, Kennedy, Caviness, Marinkovic, Breiter, Gasic & Harris, 2008), but also serious consequences for the organism. Alcoholics usually reduces the amount of food consumed, since alcohol itself is high in calories (half a liter of alcoholic beverage to 40 ° provides about half the daily caloric needs). Therefore, the alcohol tends to feed off evil as the calories of alcohol do not provide the nutrients that it needs the body. The chronic abuse of alcohol and in reducing protein contribute to the development of liver cirrhosis, twelfth case of death in the U.S.. Among other organic changes frequently include: damage to the endocrine glands and the pancreas, heart failure, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, stroke and bleeding capillaries, the latter resulting in swollen and red face, particularly the nose, typical of alcoholics. The chronic abuse of alcohol by a woman during pregnancy is the leading cause of mental retardation in the unborn. It shows a slowdown in the development of the fetus and malformations of the skull appear, face and limbs, a condition called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS, fetal alcohol syndrome). This leads the alcoholic to suffer severe social consequences with problems at work , relationship difficulties and family that often lead to separation. For this reason the treatment of those suffering from alcohol dependence is essential, but very difficult: the detoxification can be difficult both physiologically and psychologically. It is essential for a successful outcome of therapy have the courage to talk about this problem by applying the proper facilities so they can intervene as soon as possible and increase the chances of falling out of the abyss in which sufferers alcolismo.La largest worldwide association of Self-help for people who have problems with alcohol is the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The program of AA primarily argues that alcohol dependence is a disease from which he never recovers permanently and therefore requires continued vigilance to avoid falling into temptation to drink even a cup and sinking again in the abuse of alcohol or uncontrolled . One of the basic principles of AA is that a person, even if not consumed alcohol for 15 years or older, must continue to be increasingly defined “alcohol” in spite of the disease is under control. In addition to self-help groups, other types of treatment involving the couple and family therapy, cognitive therapy, behavioral or farmacologici.Vi are still disagreements among researchers about the goal of therapy is used: it is preferable to abstinence or consumption controlled? More recent studies confirm that consumption control is the more realistic goal, even in serious cases of abuse of alcohol. Definitely different therapeutic approaches may be more appropriate for different types of drinker. It is therefore important to recognize the factors that lead individuals to prefer one type of treatment rather than another (Kadden, 2001; Kring, Davison, Neale & Johnson, 2007; Moos, 2007; Pettinati & Rabinowitz, 2005).