Thousands of alcoholics can't stop drinking. Not only do we see many alcoholics die of drinking-from "D.T." or convulsions, or cirrhosis caused by drinking, but we also see many deaths caused by drinking that are not caused by alcoholism. Moreover, when car accidents, drowning, suicide, homicide, heart disease, fire, pneumonia or stroke are listed as the direct factors of death, the fact is that the serious drinking behavior of alcoholics leads to the conditions and direct causes of death.
Most of us haven't reached the final stage of terrible alcoholism, so now we feel far from that fate when drinking. But if we keep drinking, there is no doubt that we will only die.
Many alcoholics who can't give up drinking will blame themselves for their weak moral values, or think it's because of their unbalanced mentality. However, drinking is not morally wrong, because it is a disease. At this stage, it can't be overcome by one's own will, because alcoholics have lost the ability to choose freely in the face of alcohol.
So we don't have to be embarrassed about our illness. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not our fault. We don't want to be alcoholics. We don't want to get this disease, just like no one wants to get pneumonia. Experience shows that as long as you have a strong desire to quit drinking, fully realize the seriousness of the problem, and take care of yourself in an alcohol-free and happy way, you can still live a happy, healthy and valuable life like a normal person.
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1, alcohol dependence syndrome is a special psychological and physiological state caused by repeated drinking. Patients have a thirst for alcohol and an impulse to drink continuously or intermittently. If they stop drinking, they will have psychological and life withdrawal symptoms. The syndrome has the following clinical features:
(1) The desire for drinking water is uncontrollable;
② Fixed drinking mode, patients must drink alcohol at a fixed time no matter where they are, so as to avoid or alleviate withdrawal symptoms;
③ Drinking becomes the center of all activities, which obviously affects work, family life and social activities;
(4) With the increasing tolerance, patients need to drink more alcohol to achieve the initial effect of drinking or prevent the occurrence of physiological withdrawal symptoms;
⑤ Withdrawal syndrome occurs repeatedly. If the patient reduces the amount of alcohol consumed or prolongs the interval between drinks, the alcohol concentration in the body will decrease and withdrawal syndrome will appear. The most common symptoms are tremor of hands, feet, limbs and trunk, ataxia, impatience, and easy to be frightened; Hyperhidrosis and nausea and vomiting can also be seen.
2, tremor delirium, patients suddenly reduce the amount of drinking or stop drinking after long-term drinking can quickly produce a short-term disturbance of consciousness. During the attack, the patient is unconscious, has obstacles in time and place, and has vivid hallucinations and delusions of murder; So show extreme fear or impulsive behavior. At the same time, the patient's limbs are trembling and ataxia, often accompanied by fever, sweating, tachycardia, elevated blood pressure and dilated pupils. Severe cases can be life-threatening. The duration of delirium tremens varies from 3 days to 5 days. After recovery, the patient partially or completely forgot his illness.
3. Toxic hallucinations in wine are hallucinations caused by long-term drinking. After the patient suddenly reduced or stopped drinking, a large number of vivid hallucinations appeared within 1 ~ 2 days, mainly hallucinations. Common primitive hallucinations and critical and imperative hallucinations. On the basis of hallucinations, there may be fragmentary delusions and corresponding nervousness, fear or depression. At the time of onset, the patient's conscious state was clear, and there were no obvious symptoms of psychomotor excitement and vegetative hyperfunction.
4, alcohol poisoning paranoia, patients in the case of clear consciousness appear jealousy delusion and delusion of being killed, the former is more common in clinic. Patients have no reason to suspect that their spouses are unfaithful, which often leads to furious reactions, attacks on suspected objects or spouses, and sometimes leads to the consequences of murder. It used to be called toxic jealousy in wine.
5, alcoholic encephalopathy This is the most serious mental state of chronic alcoholism, which is the result of organic brain damage caused by long-term heavy drinking. The main clinical manifestations are delirium, hypomnesia, dementia and personality changes, and most patients can not completely return to normal.
We summarized some common drinking patterns: 1. We regard drinking as the most important or very important thing in life, occupying a central position in our hearts and never forgetting it. 2. Compared with the initial drinking, the amount of drinking increased gradually. 3. the speed of drinking is getting faster and faster. 4. Often drink secretly alone or behind your family's back. 5. Take wine as medicine to relieve emotional distress. 6. Possession of alcohol. 7. Often forget things after drinking. 8. Unplanned drinking often leads to accidents after drinking. 9. Drinking in the morning, commonly known as "open-eyed wine", some people even drink after waking up at night. 10. Drink before going to bed. 1 1. Like to drink on an empty stomach, and seldom eat vegetables when drinking. 12. Choose the brand of wine if possible. 13. Because drinking and quarreling with family members affect family harmony, or drinking affects work. 14. I once gave up drinking, but it didn't take long for my old illness to recur and get out of hand. Generally speaking, if a person's drinking behavior has more than three manifestations, it is highly suspected that it is alcohol dependence. It is often seen that some alcohol addicts have brought many adverse effects on their health, family harmony and work because of drinking, and even have some illegal behaviors after drinking. Although they feel guilty and regret for these consequences, they still can't completely stop drinking, stop drinking and drink again and again. Do they have no ambition and perseverance? No, this is because alcohol dependence is a disease, and it is a worsening disease. This disease, like diabetes and hypertension, cannot be completely eradicated. But it can be controlled. The reason for drinking again is related to the sensitivity of the body to alcohol and the psychological impulse to drink. No matter what bad consequences will be brought about by drinking again, you can't overcome it by your own perseverance. Like other diseases, there will be some characteristic clinical manifestations. Once you become dependent on alcohol, suddenly stop drinking or suddenly reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, there will be many physical discomfort symptoms, which is called alcohol withdrawal syndrome. For convenience, some people divide alcohol withdrawal syndrome into three stages according to time and severity: the first stage of alcohol withdrawal syndrome: it usually appears 6 ~ 12 hours after drinking, showing tremors in both hands. In severe cases, it can accumulate the whole upper limb or even the trunk. In severe cases, besides common symptoms such as anorexia, insomnia and irritability, tongue trembling may also occur. The second stage of alcohol withdrawal syndrome: it occurs 24 ~ 72 hours after alcohol withdrawal. In addition to the above symptoms, auditory hallucinations often occur, and the content is mostly abuse or persecution, which can lead to impulsive behavior and less excitement. Three-stage alcohol withdrawal syndrome: delirium tremens, which often occurs 72 hours after the last drinking. At this time, the patient is unconscious, has obvious tremor, walks unsteadily, and may have various vivid hallucinations, such as seeing various small animals, and the patient shows nervousness, anxiety and fear. The memory of patients is obviously impaired, and some patients may have epileptic convulsions. Even in developed countries, once delirium tremens occurs, the total mortality rate of treated patients can still reach 10% ~ 15%, and even higher for untreated patients. Therefore, it is impossible for long-term drinkers to suddenly stop drinking. If you highly suspect alcohol dependence, you should go to a specialized hospital for treatment as soon as possible. People who form alcohol dependence can't control their drinking behavior or their drinking quantity, so can they still drink normally after a period of abstinence? As far as we know, no one has ever been able to drink "normally", or just stopped drinking for months or years in social situations. Once a person develops from binge drinking to uncontrolled and desperate binge drinking, there is no turning back. Alcoholics don't deliberately drink to cause trouble, but excessive drinking is bound to cause trouble. Many people who depend on alcohol think that it is okay to drink a few cans of beer or a few glasses of light wine after a period of abstinence. Not many people get drunk after drinking a bottle or two of beer. So I mistakenly thought that I could quit by drinking only two or three bottles of beer every day. Occasionally, they can do it in a few days or weeks. Then it will be concluded that even drinking will be "comfortable". However, they will drink more and more beer or wine at a time, and before long, they will drink as much as before. Another wrong idea is to replace high alcohol with low alcohol. For alcoholics, wine is wine. No matter whether it is martini, whisky and soda water, champagne or a small glass of beer, no matter what wine you drink, it will lead to excessive drinking and repeated drinking. Therefore, it is very dangerous for alcoholics to try to control their own alcohol consumption or to drink only low-concentration alcohol after abstinence for a period of time. But in order to ensure complete abstinence from alcohol, it can only be a teetotaler. How can we do that? In addition to completing the treatment of alcohol withdrawal under the guidance of a doctor, you should also receive long-term rehabilitation treatment, including the treatment of related psychological or mental diseases, anti-relapse drugs, psychotherapy and joining some self-help rehabilitation organizations. As long as you have the desire to give up drinking and make unremitting efforts, you will succeed.