YURI: Hello everyone! I'm Yuri, a former alcoholic from St. Petersburg. If someone is unable to break out of alcoholism and needs support, we can also communicate through a microphone. Don't be shy, I'll be glad if I can support you.
If someone tells you that there are no former alcoholics, do not believe it, this is a widespread myth. I decided to write the story of my alcoholism from the very beginning. And it started in childhood...
ALINA: I want to tell you about my love affair with alcohol. Thanks to him, my third marriage is collapsing!!!)) My first husband and I drank together, we drank only beer, we didn’t look at the temperature. Five seven liters on weekends and 3-4 liters on weekdays. We lived for 10 years and somehow we managed to stop at the end of the marriage, or rather, I almost succeeded. I quit and my husband continued to drink two liters every day, but in a smaller dose. And then my friend arrives from Moscow and ... I went into a break. Result: fight with husband, hysteria and divorce...
TITO: Breaking alcohol addiction. My experience.
Last use - from 09.23 to 25.09.2016.
According to a strict scheme. In the morning, everything that burns. Before passing out. On Monday 26.09 I felt like a deflated balloon, penetrated in one place. I only began to come to my senses on Thursday, September 29th.
All these days have been knocked out of life and play. Systematic use makes it impossible to achieve goals. Unfortunately, any technique leads to a rigid scheme...
INGA: Good morning! I don’t even know where to start... apparently I have come to the point that I realize and understand that I need help and support. It always seemed to me that I could handle everything on my own, but apparently this is not the case. I'm 33, my daughter is 1.6. I didn’t drink during my entire pregnancy, and very rarely wine. As a child, my father drank heavily. My addiction started at 26, but there were no binges. Everything began to get worse after giving birth. Of course, I can refer to post-mortem depression, but I’m afraid that by doing so I’m only trying to justify...
ROMAN: Hello! My name is Roman, I’m 47 years old, I live in Moscow and I consider myself an alcoholic. To be honest, this social status does not suit me at all!!
My story is banal, but not yet resolved, and therefore I come to you for help...
I'll start my confusion with the positive. I have a family, two children (girls 21 years old and 6 years old, I love them very much) and a wonderful wife, by the way, who drinks extremely rarely. Things are generally going well! You have your own comfortable housing and your own business...
VLADIMIR: Hello. I’m 24 years old, my story is this... It all started when I was 13 years old, after classes my classmates and I liked to drink a bottle of beer, but there wasn’t much craving, we only drank in the spring when it was warm, in winter no one thought about beer .At the age of 14, I tried vodka for the first time and polished it with beer, after that I thought that I would never drink again. For a long time I didn’t think about alcohol at all, I developed completely different hobbies, music, sports, meeting girls, disco, I was crazy...
Hello, beloved reader! Today I want to talk to you about whether alcoholism is curable. My experience in narcology is 25 years. At the beginning, when they asked me: “Is alcoholism curable or not?”, I answered without a doubt: “Of course! Yes!" Now I am sure that we can only talk about long-term remission of the disease.
Alcoholism is a chronic disease.
Imagine a diabetic patient, he must take pills for life and follow a strict diet. What happens if you stop doing this? That's right, the disease will take its toll, and blood sugar will be high again.
So it is here. A “former” alcoholic should forget about alcohol completely. Otherwise, a breakdown is inevitable.
Addiction to alcohol can hardly be called a bad habit - it is a disease that anyone can succumb to, but only a few can be cured.
Every time, knocking back a glass, the drinker at the bottom of the bottle hopes to find the answer to an unresolved question, to escape from the hardships of gray everyday life, to relax. Only alcohol is an unreliable friend, it will not help in solving accumulated problems, but it will willingly lead you to drug addiction and the grave.
Although alcoholic drinks are sold according to an age limit, anyone can get hooked on the green serpent. But before you start drinking, remember: you can't get off the hook.
Let’s first understand what alcoholism is as a diagnosis. Alcoholism is characterized by mental and physical dependence on alcohol.
The more often a person drinks strong drinks, the greater his need for them. To achieve a state of intoxication and “pleasure,” a drinker is forced to constantly increase the dose; if in the first “sitting” 1–2 glasses are enough for him, then after a week, two, a month he may not be limited to a full decanter. The desire to drink becomes an obsession. People suffering from this disease, in most cases, note that for them the desire to drink is comparable to the need to satisfy hunger.
I had a patient who said: “I want to drink so much that my nails itch.”
Illustrative examples from life
"I am 27 years old. I drank vodka for the first time with my school friends when we were 12. Like any child who does nasty things behind adults’ backs, he thought it was cool. The “coolness” didn’t end overnight; we drank “chekushka” almost every weekend. The parents, of course, did not know; few would have guessed that his 12-year-old child was drinking vodka. Eventually, it became a need that challenges me every day. I'm married, I have children, I work. But every day after work I go to the bar. I see how this affects my loved ones, how my sons avoid me, sometimes I hear my wife crying. Every morning I vow not to drink, but I want to drink so much that the pit of my stomach starts to suck, as if I’m hungry.”
“I’m almost fifty dollars, my youth was spent in the “fun” 90s, then there was a lot of health, and it was easy to get a scorched “kosorytka”. To say that we drank it is an understatement; we “ate” it for 2-3 days in a row. The hangover passed quickly. With age, the binges became longer, and the withdrawals turned into quiet horror. It’s simply disgusting to remember all the drunken adventures: I slept drunk on the asphalt, I could have put on different shoes, I hallucinated. I went to work swollen and bruised. And I got a hangover - and again it became addictive... As a result, all that was left of my health were memories. Now I'm learning to live soberly. I haven't drunk for almost 3 years. I don’t drink at all, because I understand that no matter what happens, no matter who suggests it, no matter how you suggest it, you can’t drink first! After it you will 100% go crazy. During my sober life, I began to garden. But alcohol still lives in the brain and wants to push me back into my butt.”
Doctors and psychologists often hear such stories.
A little history
The term “chronic alcoholism” first appeared back in 1849, thanks to observations of the processes of change in the behavior and body of a drinking person by the Swedish doctor M. Huss.
But it took researchers of this addiction more than a century to classify alcoholism as a disease, the mechanism of which is not yet clear, but the source is known - “strong” drinks.
Under their influence, the outwardly alcoholic looks, to put it mildly, impartial, and those around him shun him. But the external is just a reflection of the internal. Why does a drunk person have trouble standing on his feet, quickly become irritated, losing control over his actions, and react sharply to external stimuli?
Because the whole body is poisoned. Just as when you use painkillers, their effect is not limited to a targeted muting of pain, but extends to the entire body, and when drinking alcohol, both internal organs and the brain suffer equally.
Ethanol, which is part of alcohol, is quickly absorbed, promotes the absorption of toxins and inhibits the absorption of beneficial substances. Ethanol has a complex effect on the brain and nervous system, is excreted by the lungs, kidneys, sweat glands, through biotransformation in the liver and with feces.
Lovers and chronicles. What is the difference?
Another problem is that a person addicted to alcohol often refuses treatment. It is also not uncommon for a person to drink to be treated with understanding, but the family’s reaction to a person’s addiction to alcohol is condemned.
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The brother did not go into deep drinking, but drank every day. He stopped helping at home and could sit on a bench for hours while his wife took care of the children and household chores, and also worked part-time. She became nervous and pale. Everyone who didn’t know the reason why she looked like that called her hysterical behind her back, because it’s easy to judge behind her back without knowing what’s going on. Drug treatment helped, my brother doesn’t drink, my daughter-in-law has blossomed again.”
In this case, the family took advantage of a small but real chance for a cure.
Will explain. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are not identical concepts. If the first can be conditionally placed at the top of the ladder, then the second is several steps lower and closer to returning to a controlled and conscious life.
When a person abuses alcohol, he drinks a lot, but at the same time he realizes that this is not possible, he remembers his family and sympathizes with them. No hangover yet. At the same time, the patient is unable to carry out his duties in everyday life normally, since his brain is under the direct harmful influence of active chemical or biological compounds that disrupt the mental, psychological and physical processes of life.
An alcohol abuser is not yet a chronic alcoholic. He “sorts through”, but does not destroy his entire “human” life.
Chronik will exchange his last shirt for booze, since he cannot and does not want to stop either physically or psychologically. He is addicted to alcohol. Chronic alcoholics are not able to control their actions; under the direct influence of alcohol, they are able to get involved in conflicts and create conflict situations themselves, and can break the law.
If the disease is known, there is a chance to cure it
We have come to the main question: is alcoholism curable or not? As the heroine of the film said: “You can teach a hare to smoke.”
So, today dozens and hundreds of theories and programs for getting rid of alcohol addiction have been developed. Patients also resort to “traditional” medicine, turn to healers, and are coded.
But! Wondering if alcoholism is curable, I say, “No!”
The benefit of treatment will only be with the “deep” work of a doctor - a narcologist, a qualified psychotherapist and a medical psychologist, “plus” the patient himself must want to overcome his addiction to alcohol.
Remember, bad habits are easy to acquire, but very difficult to get rid of.
Even after successful treatment, chronic alcoholics can relapse after a while, and for some this is a week, and for others it can take 10 to 20 years. “There are no former alcoholics?” Yes it is!
After treatment you should not drink alcohol under any circumstances! Otherwise, the problem will return again.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones and remember: a healthy mind is the basis of a healthy body.
See you later, friends!
After school I entered the Faculty of Journalism. In my second year, I got married and transferred to correspondence courses: I was too lazy to go to college.
She got married simply to get away from her parents. No, I remember being deeply in love, but I also remember my own thoughts before the wedding.
I smoke in the yard and think: maybe, why am I doing this? But there is nowhere to go - the banquet is scheduled. Okay, I think I’ll go, and if anything happens, I’ll get a divorce.
I almost don’t remember that wedding: when my parents left, I started drinking vodka with my friends - and that’s it, then failure. Memory lapses, by the way, are also a bad sign.
At that time, the future husband lived in the editorial office of the newspaper where he worked. My parents rented an apartment for us and we started living together.
I always considered myself ugly and unworthy of love and respect. Perhaps for this reason all my men were either drinkers or drug addicts, or both. One day my husband brought heroin and we got hooked. Gradually they sold everything that could be sold. There was often no food at home, but there was almost always heroin, cheap vodka or port.
One day my mother and I went to buy clothes for me. July, it's hot, I'm wearing a T-shirt. Mom noticed traces of injections on her arm and asked: “Are you injecting yourself?” “The mosquitoes bit me,” I answer. And mom believes.
About trying to quit drinking
I was hostile when someone hinted to me about my problems with alcohol. At the same time, I considered myself so terrible that when people laughed on the street, I looked around, sure that they were laughing at me, and if they said a compliment, I snapped back - they were probably mocking me or wanted to borrow money.
There was a time when I thought about committing suicide, but after making a couple of demonstrative attempts, I realized that I didn’t have enough gunpowder to actually commit suicide. I considered the world a disgusting place, and myself the most unfortunate person on earth, it was unclear why I ended up here.
Alcohol helped me survive, with it I at least occasionally felt some semblance of peace and joy, but it also brought more and more problems. All this resembled a pit into which stones were flying at great speed.
It was bound to overflow at some point.
The last straw was the story of the stolen money. Summer of 2005, I'm working on a reality show.
There is a lot of work, the launch is coming soon, we work twelve hours a day, seven days a week. And here's luck - for once we were released early, at 20.
00. My friend and I grab some cognac and fly to relieve stress in grandma’s long-suffering apartment.
Afterwards (I don’t remember this), my friend put me in a taxi and told me the address of my parents. I had about $1,200 with me - it wasn’t my money, it was “working money”, it was the taxi driver who stole it from me. And, judging by the state of my clothes, he simply threw me out of the car.
Thank you for not raping or killing me.
I remember how, having distinguished myself once again, I told my mother: maybe I should get coded? She answered: “What are you making up? You just need to pull yourself together. You’re not an alcoholic!” Mom didn’t want to acknowledge reality simply because she didn’t know what to do with it.
Out of desperation, I still went to get coded. I wanted to take a break from the troubles that kept befalling me every now and then. I wasn’t planning on quitting drinking forever, but rather taking a sober vacation.
About the pain peak
I didn’t think about having a child (to be honest, I’m still not sure that motherhood is for me), but my mother constantly said: “I was born when your grandmother was 27, I also gave birth to you at 27, it’s time for you to give birth to a girl.” .
I thought that maybe my mother was right: I’m married, and besides, all people give birth. At the same time, I didn’t ask myself: “Why do you need a child? Do you want to look after him, be responsible for him?” Then I didn’t ask myself questions, I didn’t know how to talk to myself, to hear myself.
About living with sobriety
Alcohol is a very difficult form of recreation. Now I’m amazed how my body survived all this. I was treated, tried to quit and relapsed again, almost lost faith in myself.
I finally quit drinking on March 22, 2010. It’s not that I decided that it was on the 22nd, on the bright day of the spring equinox, that I would stop drinking, hurray. It was just one of the many attempts that led to me not drinking for almost seven years. Not a bit. My husband doesn’t drink, my parents don’t drink - without this support, I think nothing would have worked out.
At first I thought something like this: when he saw that I had stopped drinking, God would come down to me and say: “Yulyasha, how smart you are, well, we finally waited, now everything will be fine! I will now reward you as expected - you will be the happiest with me.”
To my surprise, everything was wrong. Gifts did not fall from the sky.
I was sober - and that was it. Here it is, my whole life - the light is like in an operating room, you can’t hide.
Mostly I felt lonely and terribly unhappy. But amid this global misfortune, for the first time I tried to do other things, for example, talk about my feelings or train my willpower.
This is the most important thing - if you can’t walk in the other direction, you need to at least lie down in that direction and make at least some kind of body movement.
The answer to this question lies in the fields of psychology and psychiatry at the same time. It is impossible to cure any person's alcoholism without addressing the root of the problem.
But if they talk often and a lot about male alcoholism, then it is believed that female alcoholism is incurable due to the special structure of the female psyche.
.
This is a false statement!
It is difficult to treat for the reason that a woman who drinks is deliberately condemned, often without even giving her a chance to correct her behavior. A man in a family may drink, but a woman who drinks will a priori receive less attention from society.
As a result, treatment of female alcoholism begins only when the second and even third stage of the disease occurs, and at this stage it is always more difficult to treat the disease.
Hence the sad statistics.
.
So, why is female alcoholism incurable, as most believe?
Knowing the causes of alcoholism, it is easier to find a way out of the maze.
At one time, the theme “two worlds - two ways of life” was actively cultivated. Today there is no one to fight with, the name of the dispute has changed, but the essence remains: we are the best in everything.
But when discussions of the problem of alcoholism are supplemented with digital illustrations, “optimists” have no choice but to appeal that people in the West also drink.
But, as one of the site visitors noted, Czechs and Germans prefer beer, the French prefer wine. And in the former CIS they still drink vodka.
So already a superficial look at the problem suggests that the causes of alcoholism have different starts, but they are still classified.
According to the results of studies by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the problem of alcoholism in the world, the post-Soviet space really remains ahead.
The average European drinks just over 12 liters of alcohol per year. Moldovan - 19, Russian - 15, Ukrainian and Belarusian - a little less.
For comparison: Czechs prefer beer – 57%, French wine – 62%. In Russia, Ukraine and Belarus they are given less preference, respectively from 33% to 20% and from 1% to 9%.
The highest prevalence of severe forms of alcohol use was observed in Ukraine – 31.5% (among men).
1.7% of the Russian population are hopeless alcoholics and are officially registered. In Belarus and Kazakhstan – 1.6%, in Ukraine – 1.5%. And this is only according to official data, but how many such, but not taken into account, sufferers are hiding in basements and attics!
Thus, the topic of alcohol does not lose its urgency with changes in the political and social sphere of society. Regardless of who drinks, how much and where, all people are divided into two categories.
Some do this with a sense of proportion and do not fall into the hands of the green serpent. And for others, the first glass is a start to the deceptive world of pleasures and satisfaction.
Who and how does alcohol choose?
The activity of the human central nervous system is often compared to the operation of a computer. Let’s use this analogy that is understandable to modern people.
What happens to a computer when it is attacked by viruses? That’s right: it starts to “glitch”, or even fails altogether. It all depends on what file the Trojan infects.
For humans, alcohol is the same virus, poison. Once in the body, it affects almost all organs, but most of all – the liver, kidneys and central nervous system (CNS). Let's take a closer look at the last one.
By affecting individual areas of cells, alcohol modifies the composition of their chemical substances:
- gamma-aminobutyric acid, which controls impulsive actions, changes its function and drops noticeably;
- glutamate, being a central nervous system stimulant, also undergoes changes;
- the level of dopamine, which is responsible for triggering the “pleasure” mechanism, also changes.
These and other changes at the level of the chemical composition of the brain require restoration of the level of tone achieved by enriching with new portions of alcohol, and with a plus to the achieved level.
A person is constantly drawn to the best. Not realizing in this case the imaginary nature of the best, he reaches for another portion of vodka in order to fall back into euphoria.
If this craving becomes noticeable in a person, this is already a warning signal. This means that the risk of alcohol dependence has increased, and the disease begins to progress.
The person requires immediate outside help.
Factors and reasons for the development of alcoholism
If the same chemical formulas “work” in the brain of all people, then why are the results different? Why do some people move to another level - an alcoholic, while others do not become alcohol dependent?
Stages of female alcoholism: is there any point in treatment at home?
The first and most dangerous stage of female alcoholism, which only a woman can recognize, is almost invisible outwardly. However, it is at this stage that the alarm should be sounded.
Signs of the first stage of alcoholism:
Drinking alcohol 2-3 times a week, mostly for no reason.
Loss of the gag reflex and the ability to drink increasing amounts of alcohol without getting drunk.
The desire to drink alcohol and attempts to find excuses for this desire.
Female alcoholism. Binges
If the majority believes that female alcoholism cannot be treated, then how can addiction be treated?
The treatment process and its sequence depend on the stage at which the drinking woman is.
At the first stage, the woman drinks excessively, experiencing memory loss and a severe hangover the next day. When drinking alcohol, he does not control himself, behaves extremely incorrectly and unusually for others.
After breaking up with my beloved guy, I couldn’t come to my senses for a long time. For days on end all I did was cry, looking at the ceiling, or paint pictures.
Naturally, they all turned out in dark tones. How else can a person who has a black night in his soul create? I poured out all my emotional state onto the canvas...
And then a heavy binge began. Monthly.
Time passed, but it did not heal my mental wound. On the contrary, a new problem has emerged - female binge drinking. But at first I didn’t understand it.
And then it was as if some kind of turning point occurred in me. I saw many things in a completely different light. And finally I realized: life has many colors, not just shades of black!
In the morning she rose before dawn and opened the curtained windows wide. She turned on the music and took the easel. Out of habit, I dipped my brush into black, but immediately came to my senses.
I looked at the colors for a long time and chose red, then green, and... a rainbow appeared. The painting reflected all the colors of life: bright tones and halftones, its diversity and versatility... Having finished, I stood for a long time and looked at my creation.
And I decided to give up alcohol forever and completely. To support this decision, I signed up for a session using the method of removing subconscious barriers and was given protection from drinking alcohol using the method of removing subconscious barriers. Goodbye female alcoholism!
Then she called Edik and invited him to come and take a look. In the evening he was with me.
“You inspired me to create a new painting for your cafe,” she said, showing him the drying canvas.
- Anya, this is just wonderful! - he exclaimed. - Exactly what I was looking for. Everything is so bright. Juicy! Thank you!
And I suddenly thought that I seemed to have come to life again with new feelings. Therefore, when, leaving home, Edik nevertheless invited me on a date, without hesitation, I agreed. Vitaly is right: his friend is a wonderful person. I love the colors of his world!
It is impossible to cure alcoholism at home without the knowledge of the patient. Unless it’s a magical conspiracy and shamanism. I have my own experience in treating drunkenness.
My name is Ignatius. I live in Lipetsk. Age 49 years.
On my own initiative I stopped drinking alcohol 6 years ago. I don’t get upset even on holidays.
In real life, an alcoholic is driven by an addiction that grows every week.
Damn, I wish it was Friday, that was going through my head.
I took a check, then a second one, so that not somewhere with my friends, but at home, I could “heal” a little.
Lord, damn this Friday,” my wife wailed, persuading me that I was a strong-willed person.
From the history of drunkards, I understood that they do not recognize themselves as such.
We don’t lie around, well, sometimes we swear, but the brave fellows justify themselves as “domestic alcoholics.”
Cure alcoholism - the wording is incorrect. How can you distill Duchess from a bottle of alcohol?
You, who do not consider yourself alcoholics, have you ever thought about the fact that you are raising the same children?
They look at you and adopt a bad way to “relieve tension.”
What if the wife, who is responsible for cooking, washing, cleaning, shopping and being a Friday drunk, suddenly starts drinking alcohol at home?
Who will treat her? Women's wisdom and responsibility for those around you!
A person himself can recover from alcoholism by snatching a tub of alcohol from his mouth.
It’s just the fastest way to get drunk at home, because they’ll serve you snacks and take the cops away.
During hangover hours, your heart starts beating. My head is pounding and my blood pressure is rising.
I knew how to look around, watching how “recovered” alcoholics passed away one by one.
And these are Friday drunks who, out of fatigue, did not calculate their own strength, or swallowed burnt alcohol.
My real story of getting rid of alcoholism lies in a once strong family that helped me not only with advice, but also with a devoted will.
To recover from alcoholism, you need to exchange it, the bastard, for something.
After all, this is a temporary effect that gives way to a terrible hangover.
I got on my skis.
I started going to the pool adjacent to the gym. As it turned out, some athletes also once abused alcoholic beverages. Until you get a micro stroke.
When Friday came, my wife and I went on a hike near a pond so we could go fishing.
This is the excitement - not getting drunk, but pulling out a kilogram of one and a half fish - completely sober, and not in an alcoholic dope.
I started helping my wife around the house. Before that, I simply didn’t notice how she managed everything on her own.
And he doesn’t go to someone else, you know.
I don't know if I convinced you.
You can cure alcoholism at home, because next to you are those whom you make suffer.
A real life story was told to us by: Ignatius from the city of Lipetsk.
The material was prepared by me, Edwin Vostryakovsky.
