Alternative Alcoholism TreatmentAlcoholism is one of the most common drug abuse problems in the United States. This drug is easy to obtain and it's legal to get as long as you're over the age of 21 in most areas of the country. As with social drinkers, who really do drink to "have fun," so, too, will people who drink to excess tell you that they drink "to have fun," or that they don't have a problem with drinking and can stop any time they want. How can you tell when someone has a problem with drinking too much or is showing signs of becoming dependent on alcohol?
Oftentimes, these people begin their addiction by becoming frequently intoxicated, "binge drinking," drinking with the express goal of getting drunk, and drinking to the point of passing out or blacking out on a regular basis.
As the disease progresses, the person who drinks too much will continue this behavior, to the point where it begins to interfere with his or her social life, work, friends, and so on. He or she may begin to exhibit dangerous behaviors, such as driving while drunk, or may begin to miss work because of illness, or because he or she is drunk. This individual may also exhibit other irresponsible behavior or have encounters with the law because of excessive drinking. Tolerance also increases for this drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if this individual cannot drink. Financial problems are also common, because spending on this drug escalates to the point where other bills are not getting paid and/or work-related responsibilities are increasingly ignored because drinking has gotten out of control.
The conventional thinking is that these individuals must become abstinent and sometimes may take medication to help them quell their cravings for this drug in the short term while they're in recovery. However, the alternative to conventional thinking is that this problem can indeed be overcome and in some cases moderate drinking can be reestablished once the underlying reasons for the problem to begin with are addressed.
Most people who become heavy drinkers do so as a means of escape. They may also have been raised in an environment where this drug was a common escape for the people around them. There's also a strong indication that in fact this type of dependence is hereditary and can be passed from generation to generation, just as any other propensity for a certain disease might be. Drinking to excess usually starts as a means for the individual to "escape" from problems instead of facing them and solving them. Psychological help may be necessary in order to help the alcoholic face these problems head-on in a responsible and rational manner instead of escaping from them. This can be done through work with a trained therapist, and/or group therapy; Alcoholics Anonymous uses a type of "group support" to help its members work through varying stages of this type of drug addiction into recovery.
Scientific research suggests that these individuals in fact are trying to "self medicate" as a means to correct chemical imbalances in the brain. Specifically, lack of so called "neurotransmitters" can mean unpleasant feelings like anxiety, emotional instability, or stress. Replenishing these neurotransmitters by using dietary substances like vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as amino acids like phenylalanine, glutamine, and 5 hydroxy tryptophan, may greatly help ease the cravings once chemical imbalances are rectified.
Conventional wisdom states that "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic," so that abstinence is the only means to avoid relapsing back into full-blown alcoholic behavior. However, many proponents of alternative remedies in fact state that once these chemical imbalances are rectified AND this individual has developed truly competent coping and problem-solving skills, he or she may indeed be able to return to a pattern of moderate drinking, with careful attention to avoiding overindulgence. Of course, this can only be addressed on a case-by-case basis, so that one person may indeed be able to return to moderate drinking, while another chooses permanent abstinence as a means to recovery from this disease.
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