Transcript of Julia Escamilla – Grade 12 What Is Alcoholism ? Dealing with denial Social Drinker Early Stage...
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- Julia Escamilla Grade 12 What Is Alcoholism ? Dealing with
denial Social Drinker Early Stage Middle Stage Late Stage Treat
ment Relapse Prevention Additional Resources Citations
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- What Is Alcoholism ? What is alcoholism? According to the
American Medical Association, alcoholism is an illness
characterized by significant impairment that is directly associated
with persistent and excessive use of alcohol. Impairment may
involve physiological, psychological or social dysfunction.
Psychologically speaking, alcoholism has less to do with how much
someone is drinking, and more to do with what happens when they
drink. If you have problems when you drink, you have a drinking
problem. The reality is that alcohol is often abused because it
initially offers a very tempting promise. With mild intoxication,
many people become more relaxed. They feel more carefree. Any
preexisting problems tend to fade into the background. Alcohol can
be used to enhance a good mood or change a bad mood. At first,
alcohol allows the drinker to feel quite pleasant, with no
emotional costs. As an individuals drinking progresses, however, it
takes more and more alcohol to achieve the same high. Eventually
the high is hardly present.
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- Dealing With Denial Denial is a characteristic distortion in
thinking experienced by people with alcoholism. For decades, people
who treat alcoholics, and recovering alcoholics themselves, have
puzzled over why alcoholics continue to drink when the link between
alcohol and the losses they suffer is so clear. Denial is an
integral part of the disease of alcoholism and a major obstacle to
recovery. Although the term denial is not specifically used in the
wording of the diagnostic criteria, it underlies the primary
symptom described as drinking despite adverse consequences.
Treatment professionals are beginning to recognize that not all
individuals with alcoholism have the same level of denial. In fact,
people have various levels of awareness of their alcohol use
problems, which means they are in different stages of readiness to
change their behavior. Professionals have taken advantage of this
insight about alcoholism to develop treatment approaches that are
matched to a persons readiness to change and that motivate people
to enter the change process even when they are frightened of whats
in store. However, despite these advances in treatment, many
individuals with alcoholism persist in denying their problem, and
typically, the more severe the addiction, the stronger the
denial.
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- The Social Drinker Social drinkers have few problems with
alcohol. A social drinker can basically take or leave it. There is
no preoccupation with drinking. A social drinker is able to control
the amount of alcohol consumed and rarely drinks to the point of
intoxication. For these individuals, drinking is a secondary
activity. It is the party, the meal, the wedding that interests the
social drinker, not the opportunity to drink. Social drinkers are
those individuals who drink in low-risk patterns. According to the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
"low-risk" drinking for females consists of no more than 7 drinks
per week and no more than 3 drinks per sitting. For males, it
consists of no more than 14 drinks per week and no more than 4
drinks per day.
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- Early Stage An individual who is experiencing the early stages
of alcoholism will begin to have an assortment of problems
associated with drinking. In early stage alcoholism, a person may
start to sneak drinks, begin to feel guilty about his or her
drinking, and become preoccupied with alcohol. Blackouts, drinking
to the point of drunkenness, and increased tolerance (needing more
alcohol to achieve the same effect) are all signs of early
alcoholism. An individual who is entering the early stage of
alcoholism will seek out companions who are heavy drinkers and lose
interest in activities not associated with drinking. Family and
friends may begin to express concern about the persons consumption
of alcohol. Work problems, such as missing work or tardiness, may
also take place.
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- Middle Stage By the time someone has entered the middle stages
of alcoholism, his or her life has become quite unmanageable,
although the alcoholic still denies that he or she has a problem.
At this point, the alcoholic will often drink more than intended.
He or she will drink in an attempt to erase feelings such as anger,
depression and social discomfort. Drinking in the morning to
relieve a bad hangover may also take place. The alcoholics health
care provider may begin to suggest that the alcoholic stop
drinking. The individual may try to stop drinking, but without
success. Job loss, medical problems, and serious family conflicts
occur during this phase.
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- Late Stage At this stage, the alcoholics life has become
completely unmanageable. Medical complications are numerous and
include liver diseases such as cirrhosis or hepatitis. Acute
pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), high blood pressure,
and bleeding of the esophageal lining can result from prolonged
use. The heart and brain are compromised so that an alcoholic is at
a higher risk for a heart attack or stroke. Depression and insomnia
and even suicide are more prevalent at this stage. A condition
known as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, which involves memory loss,
indicates that the individual has sustained brain damage from
drinking. A child born to a woman who drinks during her pregnancy
may have a condition called fetal alcohol syndrome, causing a
number of birth defects. An alcoholic at this stage has become
physically addicted to alcohol and will experience seizures or
delirium tremens (DTs) if he or she stops drinking. It is extremely
important to seek out medical care at this point in the disease
process
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- Treatment If an individual is dependent on alcohol, he or she
should be supervised medically during a detoxification process.
Further treatment may include individual or group counseling.
Mental health professionals have been trained to treat substance
abuse problems. You can seek out treatment with an individual
counselor or by entering an inpatient or outpatient substance abuse
treatment program. Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous,
Smart Recovery, and Rational Recovery have helped many alcoholics
to stay sober, allowing them to live productive lives.
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- Relapse Prevention Preventing relapse requires that the person
develop a plan tailored to maintaining new behavior. The plan
involves integrating into their behavior diversion activities,
coping skills, and emotional support. The persons decision to cope
with cravings is aided by knowing: (1) there is a difference
between a lapse and a relapse; and (2) continued coping with the
craving while maintaining the new behavior will eventually reduce
the craving. Coping Skills: Ask for help from an experienced peer
and use relaxation skills to reduce the intensity of the anxiety
associated with cravings. Develop alternative activities, recognize
red flags, avoid situations of known danger to maintaining new
behavior, find alternative ways of dealing with negative emotional
states, rehearse responses to predictably difficult events, and use
stress management techniques to create options when the pressure is
intense. Reward yourself in a way that does not undermine your
self-caring efforts. Pay attention to diet and exercise to improve
mood, reduce mood swings, and provide added strength to deal with
stressful circumstances and secondary stress symptoms, including
loss of sleep, eating or elimination problems, sexual difficulties,
and breathing irregularities.
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- Additional Resources Alcoholics Anonymous: AA World Services,
Inc., Box 459, New York, NY 10163, Phone:(212) 870-3400 www.aa.org.
Rational Recovery Systems, Inc.: www.rational.org Smart Recovery:
24000 Mercantile Road, Suite 11, Beachwood, OH 44122, Phone:(216)
292-0220 www.smartrecovery.org
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- Citations Pictures from slide 2:
http://www.breakingthecycles.com/blog/2012/06/25/trying-to-
decide-is-it-alcoholism-or-____/
http://www.breakingthecycles.com/blog/2012/06/25/trying-to-
decide-is-it-alcoholism-or-____/
http://www.scienceclarified.com/A-Al/Alcoholism.html Pictures from
slide 3: http://licensedmentalhealthcounselor.org/2012/05/page/2/
http://www.griefhealingblog.com/2013/06/tips-for-coping-with-
disbelief-and.html Pictures from slide 4:
http://www.recoveryconnection.org/what-type-of-drinker-are-you/
https://www.live-well.org.uk/richmond/health/am-i-drinking-
sensibly.aspx Pictures from slide 5:
http://www.oncolink.org/experts/article.cfm?c=72&id=2591
http://mcc4h.com/category/that-alcoholism-comes/ Pictures from
slide 6:
http://justwannabehealthy.com/3-stages-of-alcoholism-you-should-
know.html
http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/01/23/alcohol-and-sleep-booze-
before-bed-leads-to-disrupted-nighttime-patterns-u-k-researchers/
Pictures from slide 7:
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/06/where-alcoholics-can-drink-
themselves-to-death/
http://addiction.lovetoknow.com/final-stage-alcoholism Pictures
from slide 8:
http://www.alcoholic.org/research/affordable-alcohol-treatment/
http://www.alcoholic.org/research/alcoholism-and-chemical-
dependency-treatment/ Pictures from slide 9:
http://www.ascendrecovery.com/blog/relapse-prevention/
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- Citations Mascott, C. (2006). An Introduction to Alcoholism.
Psych Central Bronson, Mary H. Glencoe Health. Student Ed. [S.l.]:
McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 2009. Print. "Alcoholics Anonymous :."
Alcoholics Anonymous :. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.