Alcoholism Is a Disease That Requires Treatment

 

Alcoholism is real. For people who are skeptical, all they need do is find a loved one or someone they know who has a drinking problem. Before long, it will become glaringly apparent that addiction is not only real but it can kill. Alcoholism treatment is slowly becoming more accepted not only by the alcoholics themselves but also the people that love them.

Any twelve step program will tell an alcoholic that the first thing he needs to do is be willing to admit that he has a problem. Once he can do that, then the treatment can not only start but be effective.

Alcohol detox centers are there to take an alcoholic through what might just be the most difficult part of his treatment. Before any alcoholism medications or any other meds can be administered for treatment, the patient must get the alcohol out of his system. This can take a couple of days or even a week or more, depending on how severe the case. Once the detox has completed, then the rehab can begin.

Alcoholism affects everyone and all ages; it doesn’t discriminate based on your gender, your race, or your religion. Right now, more than 10% of children in the United States have at least one alcoholic parent. That means that they are not getting the kind of care that they need and desire. Getting that parent into alcoholism treatment might not only save the parent but save the family, as well.

Sadly, alcoholism does not only plague adults. College students everywhere are faced with the temptation to drink and many indulge too much. Over 20% of college students meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder; otherwise known as an alcoholic. Undergoing alcoholism treatment at this young age can quite possibly save a young person’s life, altering the rest of their life in a very positive way.

It doesn’t take too much investigating to uncover the fact that drug addiction is rampant in the United States and alcohol is the number one drug problem of them all. Alcoholism treatment should not be looked upon as something that the weak go through. We have stigmatized alcoholism far too much in our society. Alcoholism is a disease of the mind and body and needs to be treated as such.

An alcoholic will never simply level off, drinking just the same amount. Alcoholism is a progressive disease. That means that if left untreated, the alcoholic will do serious damage to their bodies and eventually die as a result of the disease.

The good news is that there is treatment available. Detox and rehab are the beginning, but constant work by the alcoholic on his own in with other alcoholics is what creates the mental and emotional changes needed to restore the alcoholic to life. Alcoholism has been around for as many centuries as there has been alcohol. What we know now is that not everyone handles it the same way. They are not less than; they are simply in need of treatment.