How to Help an Alcoholic

Do you have a loved one that is addicted to alcohol?

If your answer was ‘yes’, you have now made a positive step in helping them overcome their alcohol addiction .

In this article, we’ll tell you how to help an alcoholic and also provide you with some guidelines on what treatment is best for your loved one.

But first, let’s define alcohol addiction .

What is Alcohol Addiction ?

Alcohol addiction , also known as alcoholism, is an illness that causes individuals to become physically and mentally dependent on alcohol, despite seeing the harmful effects its causing not only to themselves, but to those closest to them as well.

People start drink alcohol for many reasons. For example, drinking helps people become more confident about themselves or it helps release any stress or anxiety the individual may be experiencing.

Whatever the reason, when someone drinks excessively over a long period of time, a dependency to alcohol will develop.

Alcohol addiction usually has 4 common symptoms, namely:

• Experiencing strong cravings to drink alcohol.

• The inability to control the amount of alcohol being consumed.

• Experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms when alcohol isn't available, which can range from nausea, sweating, anxiety and many more.

• Needing to drink more and more alcohol than before to become intoxicated. This is also known as increased tolerance.

If you can link any of the symptoms above to your loved one, then it’s clear that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. But how does one do that?

Helping an Alcoholic

When we mention “helping an alcoholic’, it’s important to understand how to do this correctly as so many times before, family members think that they are helping the alcoholic overcome their addiction, but in fact they are actually making it easier for the individual to continue their excessive drinking habits .

Here are some helpful tips on how you can help your alcoholic loved one:

• Let your loved one take the fall for his or her actions - refrain from helping the individual get out of trouble that is caused by excessive drinking habits .

• Explain to the alcoholic what their drinking is affecting the people around them - provide evidence and show them how it affected yourself or another family member.

• Speak to the alcoholic after another heavy drinking session - listen to what they have to say regarding their heavy alcohol consumption.

• Talk to other family members and the alcoholics closest and most trustworthy friends about the alcoholics drinking problem and discuss how you can help them. Staging an intervention is an excellent way to help alcoholics realise the full extent of their alcohol usage.

• Speak to an addiction counsellor and find out how you should approach the situation.

Alcoholic Treatment

If your loved one is addicted to alcohol, I urge you to seek professional medical help immediately.

The best and safest way to help them is by admitting them into an alcoholism rehabilitation centre, where they will receive the best possible medical care available.