These days it can be tough to get help if you or a loved one is struggling with alcoholism. Detox is the obvious first step of recovery, but for many alcoholics, taking that first step can seem like climbing Mt. Everest on your knees. That’s why we wanted to give some helpful thoughts to help you understand what needs to happen around helping a loved one get sober.
Detox: What Not To Do
First, it’s important to understand that when someone has been drinking consistently over time, his or hers body has become used to having a high level of alcohol in their system. This is important to note because a sudden absence of this level of alcohol can through a body into shock. This shock can actually cause hallucinations and even death, so alcohol detox isn’t something to be taken lightly. Since detoxing from alcohol is a medically managed detoxification process, it’s always best to do so under the care of medical professionals. It’s a horrible idea to try detoxing someone from alcohol at home.
How To Start The Process Of Alcohol Detox
It’s important to take note that most people that struggle with alcoholism struggle for years. They go through some highs but mostly terrible lows. They suffer a string of consequences that they tend to rationalize occurred for some reason other than alcohol. But, make no mistake, these people are not stupid. They often understand on a deep level what the real issue is. It’s the fear of living without alcohol that drives them to behave the way they do. The idea of living without alcohol, while appealing in terms of avoiding further consequences, is often too frightening to consider for long.
What most people don’t realize is that on some level, most alcoholics want to get better. Intelligence is rarely an issue with people suffering addiction. Just imagine how hard it is to live the double life that’s so necessary to maintain the addiction. Alcoholics understand that addiction doesn’t end well, but both seeing and taking the exit ramp from the highway to hell is something that most alcoholics can’t muster up what it takes on their own.
Interventions 101
So, how do we help the alcoholic in trouble? It begins with an intervention of some sort. Most people have a preconceived notion about what an intervention is, but not all interventions are equal. There’s the surprise party model where the addict or alcoholic is met by family and friends in a pre-arranged way and told to go to treatment “or else”. These interventions have a high margin of error and not a wonderful success rate when it comes to people actually getting sober although the person usually goes to treatment. The problem is that they often see treatment as a prison sentence versus something designed to save their life. Plus, these “traditional” types of interventions (as seen on TV) focus almost entirely on the alcoholic and do very little to help the family. If the system remains sick, imagine the chances of that alcoholic coming home to the same sick system.
Other interventions take more of an educational approach and focus on the entire family system rather than the individual addict or alcoholic. It’s a simple concept: if the system gets healthier, everyone in that system benefits. The educational intervention is exactly how it sounds- it’s where the family is taught ins and outs of addiction and enabling where everyone develops a plan for improving to which they’re held accountable.
At Pathfinders Interventions, we take a more respectful and kind way of intervening on alcoholics and their families. No secrets. No surprises. No drama. Just an honest, straightforward approach. Our interventions make lousy TV, but what’s interesting is that we end up having better results for both the alcoholic and their family.
Located here in Atlanta, our interventionists travel wherever they are needed especially Macon, Athens, Augusta and other parts of Georgia. Call us for a free consultation.