Aresenicum album:

This homeopathic medication is prescribed to patients who are experiencing symptoms like depression and compulsiveness while trying to get rid of alcohol addiction. Patients treated with Aresenicum album might also suffer from other alcohol withdrawal symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. A patient, who easily gets exhausted, finds it difficult to stay in cold weather and fails to stay relaxed might also be benefited immensely by this homeopathic remedy.

Staphysagria:

This homeopathic medication is particularly prescribed to individuals becoming prey of alcohol addiction for suppressing their emotions. Individuals, who are accommodating and mild mannered, but harbor intense anger within themselves (these traits are extremely common among victims of ignorance and abuse during the childhood) are known to be benefited most significantly by Staphysagria. These patients might get involved in actions like throwing things when they fail in suppressing their emotions through alcohol abuse. Staphysagria works by helping these patients for controlling their emotions.

Nux vomica:

Patients experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms like bowel discomforts, vomiting, or nausea are often treated with this homeopathic medication. Generally, doctors don’t recommend Nux vomica to patients showing up obsessive compulsive behavior or restlessness as alcohol withdrawal symptoms. This medicine is more effective for patients experiencing withdrawal symptoms like over-sensitiveness towards sound, light and touch. Patients treated with Nux vomica are also found to be extremely sensitive emotionally. They tend to erupt ot react angrily even in reply of a general comment.

Any individual could turn alcoholic. Individuals could belong to any age group, profession, social class, or ethnic group. Most alcoholics deny that they have a problem. They believe they are in control of the circumstances. Recognizing the problem is crucial to successful treatment. Hence, the symptoms of alcoholism must be understood and accepted. Alcoholism could have serious repercussions. It should be treated during the early stages.

The following are some of the symptoms of alcoholism:

• Finding excuses for drinking
• No control over the number of drinks. Alcoholics find it difficult to stop
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• Flatly denying drinking problems
• High tolerance to alcohol effects. Alcoholics consume vast amounts of alcohol before showing any signs and symptoms.
• A sense of anger during criticism
• Hiding bottles of alcohol in unusual places
• Consuming alcohol in the morning to prevent hangovers
• Displaying aggressive and violent behavior
• Driving under alcohol’s influence
• Drinking when solitary
• Occurrence of mood swings
• Skipping work
• Loss of interest in activities that are social in nature
• Contemplation of suicide
• Paranoia and unnatural fears
• Neglecting one’s physical appearance
• Poor memory with regard to drinking episodes
• Depression
• Confusion and problems with clear thinking
• A sense of irritability
• Poor diet and eating disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Anxious thoughts and feelings
• Pain in the abdomen
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Reddening of the eyes and a puffy face due to enlarged capillaries
• Numbness and weakness in the legs and arms

Alcohol affects several body organs. It causes liver disease, which is also known as hepatic cirrhosis. The affected liver fails to eliminate toxins present in the blood. Consuming alcohol during pregnancy could give rise to fetal alcohol syndrome.

Proper absorption of vitamins becomes difficult. Thiamine or vitamin B12 deficiency causes memory loss and coordination problems. This can prove fatal in the long run. Anemia may manifest due to deficiency of folic acid and iron.

Vast amount of alcohol could raise pressure and lead to heart ailments. Some of the health problems arising out of alcoholism include cardiovascular disease, disease of the pancreas, neurological problems, low immunity, and sexual impotency.

Individuals first need to admit that they have an alcoholic problem. Changes can be made at any time of an individual’s life. There are umpteen alcohol treatment strategies that are very efficient. Individuals can be successful, without the need for rehab programs and professional help. Following are some of the holistic, self-help strategies that are quite helpful.

Make a Deep Commitment

Most individuals displaying alcohol problems fail to bring sudden and rapid change in their lives. Drinking habits are not transformed overnight. Recovery from alcohol addiction is a gradual and slow process. During the early stages, a huge obstacle could be denial. Individuals could develop excuses even after they admit to having a problem. Acknowledging your own ambivalence about quitting drinking is important. A good way of coping with the decision is to ruminate about the benefits of each decision.

Set Appropriate Goals

The next holistic step toward getting rid of alcohol addiction is to establish clear goals. Goals need to be realistic, clear, and specific.

• It is important for you to decide whether you want to give up alcohol on a permanent basis. Some individuals merely want to reduce intake of alcohol. If your goal is to reduce intake, determine the number of drinks to be consumed on a daily basis. Individuals need to set aside two days in a week where no alcohol is consumed.
• Individuals also need to decide the date from which they will be quitting. It could be two weeks or six months from now. Some individuals may want to quit drinking cold turkey. Set aside a specific date for quitting alcohol if you plan on quitting drinking.

After the setting of goals, you would want to execute them. Write down the steps you need to undertake to accomplish your goals. There should be a proper roadmap to recovery from addiction to alcohol.

Some of the self-help strategies are listed below:

• Reduce temptations: Get rid of all alcohol and barware from your house. There should not be any reminders to alcohol consumption at home or in office.
• Make your goal public: Friends, loved ones, and colleagues should know about your plans. They can lend extensive support, especially if they do not drink. If they consume alcohol, make sure they do not drink in front of you.

What Do You Mean By Alcohol Detox?

The term alcohol detox refers to the removal of alcohol from the alcoholic’s body. It is a state that is brought about by abstinence from alcohol, medication and by altering the dietary patterns of the patient. Detox is not possible without adequate support from friends and family, and a strong commitment on part of the recovering alcoholic.

The organs of the body that are responsible for the process are the kidneys and the liver. However, in the case of hardcore alcoholics, other methods of detoxification might be required.

In most cases, the process of detox can be conducted at home. This works well in the case of patients with moderate intake of alcohol.

In extreme cases, it might be necessary to engage medical help and be dependent on medical drugs to help the person. This process is termed as pharmacological detoxification. In these cases, the person will be forewarned about the possibilities of insomnia and/or anxiety for a couple of days to come.

A session of detox will generally last for a period of 5 – 6 weeks; and during this time the person will have to be a protein rich diet which will contain generous amounts of fluids and fiber; and there will be the need to consume huge doses of water throughout the day.

What To Watch Out For:

The process of detoxifying your body from the effects and remains of alcohol is a pretty serious process. If you’re having a case of a body that has become heavily reliant on alcohol; you might end up experiencing a host of health problems when you begin detoxifying. You might lose consciousness and begin trembling. If you’ve gone too long without alcohol in your system, chances are that you might have even experienced this before and know what it feels like.

Detox Won’t Happen To Everyone:

If you’re the occasional drinker or the social drinker, chances are that you will not experience too many problems when you decide to quit. The binge drinkers will be the ones to see more severe effects when they do eventually end up quitting drinking.

As per reports, regular alcoholics have been known to experience a high amount of pain and discomfort during the initial stages of quitting.

If you end up consuming alcohol just to simply feel good about yourself, or to not feel bad, then chances are that your drinking could also turn out to be problematic. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism could end up sneaking up on you before you know; which is why knowing the signs of alcoholism becomes of utmost importance. This is because awareness of the problem is the first step to overcoming an addiction of this sort.

Is It A Drinking Problem?

It might be a drinking problem if you –

• Feel guilty about your drinking patterns
• Need to lie to others so that you cover up your drinking habits
• Need to drink so that you could relax or feel good about yourself
• Have family members, friends and well-wishers who are genuinely concerned about your drinking habits
• ‘Blank out’ or completely forget what you were doing while you were drinking
• Regularly drink much more than you intended drinking

Signs of Alcoholism:

Alcoholism is also known as alcohol dependence. This is perhaps the most severe of all the drinking related problems that society has to deal with. Alcoholism includes almost all the symptoms of alcohol abuse (neglecting responsibilities; using alcohol in dangerous situations; experiencing legal troubles due to your drinking; and continuing to drink even after alcohol starts taking a toll on your relationships). But there is one thing that separates alcohol abuse from alcoholism – physical dependence on alcohol. If you feel physically compelled to drink in order to function, you are a definite alcoholic.

Warning Sign of Alcoholism – Number One: TOLERANCE

Do you need a lot of alcohol in your system before you actually begin feeling buzzed or relaxed? Can you drink much more than other people before you actually begin getting drunk? Do your friends have a nickname for you that sound like the likes of ‘alcohol immune’? These are sure shot signs of alcoholism. Being tolerant to alcohol would mean that you would need higher levels of alcohol in the future so that you could derive the same effects.

Warning Sign of Alcohol – Number Two: Withdrawal

If you need a drink early in the morning just so that you can steady the shakes, then chances are that you are in trouble. If you drink to relieve yourself or to avoid any sort of withdrawal symptoms, then it would be a sure shot sign of alcoholism, and this time it will be waving a big red flag in your face. If you turn into a heavy drinker, your body will get dependent on the alcohol, and you will eventually experience withdrawal symptoms if this alcohol is taken away from you. Some of the symptoms would include –

• Nausea or vomiting
• Shakiness or trembling
• Jumpiness or anxiety
• Depression
• Chronic fatigue
• Horrid headaches
• Loss of appetite
• High levels of irritability
• Sweating
• Insomnia

Other Signs and Symptoms of Alcoholism:

• You have lost all sort of control over your drinking
• You want to quit, but you just can’t seem to come around it
• You may have given up on other activities because alcohol has taken over
• Alcohol has taken over your focus and energies
• You will drink even after you know it’s causing problems for you

As a result of growing up in a house where alcohol flows as freely as water, children of alcoholics may actually develop characteristics that are similar to their alcoholic parents.

Dr. Jan Woititz, in the year 1983, came out with a book titled ‘Adult Children of Alcoholics’ wherein she went on to outline 13 different characteristics that were likely to occur in the case of adult children who’d grown up in an environment where they were overly exposed to alcoholism.

According to Dr. Jan, most of these characteristics could also be prevalent among children who grew up in families where there were other sorts of compulsive behaviors doing the rounds; gambling, overeating and drug abuse to name a few.

There was another list that was published in the year 1978, which was called the ‘Laundry List’ and was written by Tony A. He himself had been a victim of growing up in a house that was overly exposed to the traits of alcoholism. His list is today adopted by the Adult Children of Alcoholics World Service (ACAWS).

Traits Found In the Adult Child of an Alcoholic:

• Becoming overly isolated
• Fearing people in authority
• Becoming approval seekers
• Being terrified of any sort of criticism directed at them
• Being frightened of people who are angry
• Viewing life from the standpoint of a victim
• Becoming alcoholics or marrying one (both in some cases)
• Have overwhelming sense of responsibilities
• Feeling guilty when they stand up for themselves
• Being concerned with others matters more than matters of themselves
• Becoming addicted to excitement
• Confusing love and pity
• Falling in love with people who need some serious ‘rescuing’
• Stuffing their feelings
• Becoming terrified of being abandoned
• Doing anything to hold onto even a failing relationship
• Having extremely low levels of self esteem
• Becoming reactors instead of actors
• Judging themselves too harshly
• Becoming ‘para-alcoholics’ without drinking

(The points given above are taken from Tony A’s ‘Laundry List’.)

Being Attracted To Compulsive Personalities:

Children with alcoholic parents will end up losing themselves when in a relationship. They will very often find themselves attracted to alcoholics or will be attracted to people with similar compulsive personalities. For instance, they might date a workaholic, who is also a person who is emotionally unavailable.

Adult children might end up forming relationships with people who need their help or need to be rescued in some form or the other. This will end up taking the limelight away from their individual needs. Adult children might often take on the characteristics of alcoholics – poor problem solving capabilities, poor skills of coping, or being in constant denial. This might happen even without them having ever picked up a drink.

The study was conducted by David Nutt, a sacked government drugs adviser and his colleagues; all of whom were sacked with him. As per the study, if drugs were to be ranked on the basis of the harm they can cause for, alcohol should come into Class A, alongside crack cocaine and heroin.

Last year, Nutt and his colleagues were sacked because they went against the committee that claimed that cannabis were not as harmful, and thus should be downsized to being a Class C drug. Nutt, then, went on to trigger a debate claiming that the alcohol drug and tobacco that were legally available were even more dangerous than the illegally available set of drugs.

As per the newer study, there are said to be about 9 different categories of the drugs that could end up causing for harm to the person/user. The maximum harm score was put at 100 and the minimum was put at zero.

On the overall, alcohol drug was seen to rate at around 72, and this was way higher than heroin that came in at 55 and crack that came in at 54. There are many alcohol dangers. The most dangerous of all these drugs were said to be heroin, crack and then crystal meth – when it came to the user hurting their own self; but when it came to damage being caused to others around them, the list looked like alcohol, heroin and crack at the top 3.

The Drug Rankings:

Crystal Meth – 33

Cocaine – 27

Tobacco – 26

Amphetamine/Speed – 23

Cannabis – 20

GHB – 18

Benzodiazepines – 15

Ketamine – 15

Methadone – 13

Butane – 10

Qat – 9

Ecstacy – 9

Anabolic Steroids – 9

LSD – 7

Buprenorphine – 6

Magic Mushrooms – 5

Authors Speak:

According to the authors of the study, this latest study has added to a body of work that is trying to confirm the fact that the present system of drug classification isn’t the best possible method in place. Alcohol harm is said to be a valid vice which needs some serious thinking and strategy in place from the public health sector.

• Depression
• Low Income
• Heredity
• Peer Pressure
• Escape

Although there are many other factors that cause people to turn to drugs or alcohol these are often some of the most common ones. How a person reacts to different issues depends on a lot of things and how each person chooses to cope with the issues of everyday life often varies from one person to another.

Depression is a medical condition that affects many people and in a lot of cases people affected by this condition turn to drugs and alcohol as a way of dealing with the overwhelming sadness that plagues them. This is often how drug and alcohol abuse starts because it gives a false sense of feeling better. Many times when a person is on a high or intoxicated they think they feel better but then that feeling wears off and pretty soon they are on a downward spiral that they cannot control. As time goes by it takes more and more to achieve this same feeling.

In families that are low income individuals tend to lean toward drugs or alcohol as a way to forget even for a little while about their lack of money or inability to provide a better life for themselves. Although this doesn’t really help people tend to not have to think so much about these issues when they are under the influence.

In some cases people drink or turn to drugs simply because their parents or some other family did and they believe they can’t escape the process. The truth of the matter is it takes a lot of strength and will power to turn away from drugs and alcohol especially in situations like this.

Peer pressure is one of the top reasons that many people become victims of drug and alcohol abuse. Peer pressure is a very powerful thing especially in children and adolescents and many of these individuals give in to this pressure as a way of fitting in with certain crowds.

Some individuals see drugs or alcohol as a way of escaping the reality of their lives. This is especially true when those lives involve a difficult or painful home life. In many cases this home life may include violence or other issues that a person feels they must find a way or means to escape from. In these cases drugs or alcohol may be seen as a way of leaving the violence for a while.

Many people do not understand when they become involved with drugs or alcohol that it is only a temporary solution to their problems. It may seem that this helps the problem but in truth the problem is still there long after the effects of the drugs or alcohol have worn off.

In most cases the hardest part for an alcoholic in making the decision to get treatment for this disease is admitting they have a problem. One thing that makes this difficult is the fact that many alcoholics deny that they are out of control and need help. This is the first step in getting treatment called denial. Almost every alcoholic goes through this in the beginning some much longer than others.

The next step in the process is determining what kind of help you are willing to accept. There are different types of treatment available including inpatient, outpatient and weekly meetings. There are other treatments available as well but these are often the most common.

There are several stages of alcohol abuse treatment including detoxification, outpatient, partial and inpatient. How treatment is determined depends on the severity of the disease and how much family support is available to aid in this treatment.

Detoxification is the process in which an individual stops the consumption of alcohol altogether all at once. This process is generally done with constant monitoring by medical professionals due to the effects of the withdrawal process.

In an outpatient setting a person is allowed to attend group or individual meetings or counseling sessions on a weekly basis. In some cases this may be done more than once per week however the individual is usually allowed to return to their own home each day.

Partial programs usually require that you attend sessions in a hospital like facility for several hours each day and go home each evening.

If inpatient alcohol abuse treatment is the course that is determined to be in a person’s best interests it consists of the individual remaining in a hospital like facility much like being in the hospital usually for a predetermined amount of time. In some cases progress is evaluated at specific intervals to determine a person’s ability to maintain the remainder of their treatment in a less professional setting such as inpatient or partial programs and eventually they can work down to weekly or twice weekly meetings.

Regardless of what method of treatment is chosen there are benefits to each one and it really depends on the person and the severity of the circumstances which one will be most beneficial and the most effective in each particular case. Once a treatment plan is determined the most important factor in your treatment is you and how well you respond to the chosen treatment.

There are different types of effects that alcohol abuse may have on a person including physical and psychological. Some of these signs may not be immediately noticed by strangers but can most likely be visible to family or close friends who know a person very well.

The psychological effects of alcohol abuse can be devastating not only to the person that is experiencing these effects directly but also to all of those around them. In the beginning a person may think they have the problem under control but what many people don’t understand is that alcohol abuse is more than just a problem, it is a disease and many times this disease is very hard to fight. Continued alcohol abuse typically results in alcoholism and this is often impossible to maintain without help. When alcoholism becomes an issue the first reaction to anyone that may suggest a problem is usually denial. The abuser will say things like they have the ability to stop drinking at any time or that they do not really have a problem it just makes them feel better. The truth of the matter is that many alcoholics dealing with alcohol abuse effects continue to drink because they simply can’t control themselves. This is why many individuals in this situation end up going to treatment facilities that specialize in helping alcoholics see the problem and thus do something to help correct the problem. In many cases mental problems such as depression or anxiety contribute to this problem because the individual thinks they feel better when they are under the influence of alcohol. This is a common misconception because although it may seem like the problems go away while a person is drinking when the effects of that wear off the problems are still there and eventually must be faced and dealt with.

Aside from the psychological aspect of alcohol abuse there is another serious issue related to alcohol abuse effects and that is the physical aspect of the disease. Not only does the abuse of alcohol change the way you think about things but it also changes many things in your body. Excessive drinking over a prolonged period of time can cause serious damage to your body that can come in many forms. Some of these include different diseases and cancers that can affect the liver, pancreas and many other regions of the body. The more you drink over an extended period of time the more negative effects this will have on your body. It is very important that a person pays attention to any signs or symptoms that may indicate that there is a problem however the best way to avoid this is to refrain from becoming so dependent on alcohol that it gets to that level.