Alcoholism Help: The Ideal Time to Help a Problem Drinker

As with so many other things in life, timing can be all important when you are trying to help someone with a drink problem. Exactly what you can or should do will depend to a large extent on the stage of their drinking career that they have reached. At the earliest stage that the alarm bells start ringing it is quite possible that you may start to recognise that all is not well before the drinker does themselves. This does not mean that the drinker is in denial but it means that they haven’t yet given the matter due consideration. It is therefore commonly known by experts as the “pre-contemplative stage”. At this stage friends and family often can’t do much more than provide information on safe drinking guidelines. But things tend to get much easier once a drinker reaches the “contemplation stage,” when they begin to consider the possibility that alcohol could be a problem and that they need to do something about it. This is the best stage at which you can help someone and, if you weren’t able to successfully bring sources of help to their attention at the pre-contemplation stage, it might be worth trying again now.

At the contemplation stage a drinker starts to want to explore the potential benefits of drinking less. They might, for example, start becoming open to the idea that cutting down might result in them having more money, enable them to drop the kids off at school, and improve their health and appearance and dietary intake. This is the stage at which to seek to challenge the positive beliefs that an individual might have about alcohol.

For example, people often think that alcohol helps with stress and that it makes them more sociable but that you can discuss the fact that stress is still going to be there the next morning. You can also point out that once they’ve had a few too many they might not always be quite the life and soul of the party that they think they are. The drink may make them overpowering and they may not realise that people are stepping back from them.

The contemplation stage is the ideal time to get someone with a drink problem to consider whether they might want to phone their employee assistance programme (EAP) at work or other relevant helpline or to seek advice from their GP or, if they have one, their occupational health department at work. You might also wish to consider introducing them to online services that can help people cut down such as Moderation Management ( http://www.moderation.org ) or lookatyourdrinking.com.

Another way of helping them is recommending that they carry a drink diary to monitor exactly what and how much they are drinking, when and where they are drinking it, with whom they are drinking it and how they feel both before and after their drinking sessions. This should help them to identify the triggers that make them both drink and drink to excess.

Pointing someone trying to cut down in the direction of some of the better quality de-alcoholised beers and wines that have become available during recent years could also prove valuable. There are some potentially good reasons why those seeking to go completely dry should be wary of such alcohol substitutes but they can be quite useful for those cutting down or for pregnant women and others who are seeking only to give up for an initial period. Some of the newer substitute wines can taste so realistic that they have even won international awards in blind taste tests against wines containing alcohol.

At this contemplation stage it’s important to give them as much encouragement as possible, and the more people they have support from the better. In particular, try and ensure that you do the bulk of your own drinking outside the home. It helps to cement the impression that you are on their side and reduces the chances of them coming across temptation.

Commentary: Navy treatment and AA saved my life — and career
Filed under: alcoholism help

Through my command's drug and alcohol team and with the support of my executive officer (I still owe that man my life and career), I went to treatment at the Naval Alcohol Rehabilitation Center at Naval Air Station, Miramar, Calif. During six weeks of …
{Source}

Russell Brand made drugs documentary to help addicts
Filed under: alcoholism help

The British funnyman fought substance abuse and alcohol addiction for many years, but turned his back on drugs in 2002. He looks back on his health battle in new show Russell Brand: From Addiction to Recovery, and he admits the 2011 death of his friend …
{Source}

Alcoholism case study: Drink ruined my childhood and ended my dad's life
Filed under: alcoholism help

And him being so drunk he couldn't stand or speak and having to help my mum shoulder him up to bed. And sitting on the stairs with my brother, when we should have been in bed, listening to them fighting about his drinking. I remember mum forcing him to …
{Source}