Mary G. McKinley, past president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses wrote in the journal "Critical Care Nurse" in 2005 that about 27 percent of Americans meet the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism. When trauma patients are admitted to the ER, she wrote, alcohol is often involved. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicates that people who abuse alcohol have mortality rates two to four times higher than the general population.
Identifying
The American Psychiatric Association suggests these criteria for determining whether you are alcohol dependent: your drinking results in the failure to fulfill personal or professional obligations; getting into dangerous situations when drinking or in order to drink; continuing to drink even after your drinking has had a negative impact on your life; and continuing to tolerate more alcohol to achieve the same level of high. If you identify with any of these points, you likely already qualify as using alcohol abusively.
Talk With an Addiction Specialist
Once you know that your relationship with alcohol is abusive, you must gauge the level of your dependence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Alcohol dependence is a diagnosable disease characterized by a number of different factors. Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that can lead to alcoholism. While an alcohol-dependent person can suffer from a variety of physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms, a person who abuses alcohol will experience just emotional withdrawal symptoms rather than physical.
Detoxification
Nearly 50 percent of patients who withdraw from alcohol will develop symptoms that require medication to stop drinking, according to a study by Dr. Michael James Burns, of the University of California Irvine School of Medicine. There are three levels of treatment provided to detoxing patients: a fixed-scheduled medication plan, symptom-triggered plan and vital-statistic monitoring.
Rehabilitation
There are a variety of treatment methods you can pursue to achieve sobriety. At inpatient rehabilitation, you'll be in a supportive community of other recovering peers. You will receive one-on-one interaction with a drug counselor, group therapy and alcohol-abuse education and relapse prevention. Outpatient rehabilitation is a part-time program. You can find programs that operate in the mornings, afternoons or evenings. Outpatient rehab is similar to inpatient treatment but is not residential.
Behavioral Therapy
The National Institutes on Drug Abuse indicates that behavioral therapy is a crucial part of addiction treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps patients identify, avoid and cope with situations that can cause craving. Family therapy addresses how the family functions. Motivational interviewing helps the patient ready himself for treatment. Motivational incentives use positive reinforcement to encourage recovery.
