The importance of drug treatment for alcoholism

Alcohol is the most widely consumed drug in the world, and although the habitual use of this substance is very normalized in practically all societies and cultures, it is still true that the addiction to which it can give rise has very severe effects on physical and mental.

Perhaps because of how common people with alcoholism problems are, there are a whole series of stereotypes and preconceptions about the figure of what has been historically considered the "drunk"; beliefs and topics that lead to criminalize those who suffer this type of addiction because it is assumed that what happens to them is a problem of "mental weakness", of unwillingness to improve and integrate correctly into the society.

However, the truth is that alcoholism exists far beyond the preferences, personal decisions and the way of establishing priorities of each person. In other words, it has nothing to do with a specific philosophy of life. It is an addictive type disorder that includes behavioral alterations and modifications of the functioning of the nervous system, which implies that it is a pathology with a psychological and other biological. And the latter implies that,

When treating alcoholism, it is usually necessary to rely on the use of drugs. Let's see why.

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Why do addictions require psychiatric support?

Addictions have a psychological and social side, and a biological and medical side.. Intervening in both facets of the problem is essential to provide long-term solutions to people with addictive disorders, and therefore, psychiatric support is essential.

What is the "psychiatric" side of alcohol addiction? This has to do with the way in which this substance interacts with our nerve cells. While other beverages and foods intervene in our psychological processes more indirectly through taste, in the case of alcohol it is not the stimuli captured by the taste buds that lead us to "get hooked" to this class of products (in fact, most first experiences with alcohol are unpleasant in this sense).

What generates addiction is the way in which alcohol interacts with the neurons of our brain, because unlike other molecules, it has the ability to cross the barrier that separates the circulatory system from the nervous system, and this allows it to be captured by our neurons.

Thus, when alcohol reaches nerve cells, it activates them in a similar way that our own cells do. neurotransmitters, molecules present in our nervous system and that are used by neurons to communicate with each other. But the nervous reaction that alcohol generates is abnormal, and in fact, it makes our reward system, the part of the brain in charge of detecting pleasant situations that we must repeat over and over again, becomes very active. Thus, alcohol It "hacks" our brain making it take as a good experience for us one that doesn't really suit us: the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

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The usefulness of drug treatment for alcoholism

As we have seen, alcoholism is an addiction in which the individual develops a physical and psychological dependence on the alcohol available in beverages. Usually, the consumption of these products begins in recreational contexts and gradually invades all aspects of a person's day-to-day life, including work and activities done at home.

As in other drug addictions, alcohol not only interferes with the functioning of neurons in the person, but is transforming their way of interconnecting with each other and establishing patterns of neuronal activation; in this way, the individual's nervous system gets “used” to working with a large amount of alcohol available in the blood, some of which crosses the blood-brain barrier and attaches to cell receptors nervous

In this way, the simple fact of stopping consuming alcohol causes a strong discomfort to arise, among other things because the person's brain "limps" momentarily due to an imbalance in its levels of available chemicals; This is what produces withdrawal syndrome.

In addition, as as time passes the brain adapts more and more to the presence of alcohol in the body, the person increasingly you need to consume more to get the feeling of being full, and on the other hand, you also need to consume more to maintain the withdrawal syndrome at bay. The result of this is a vicious cycle: the more time that goes without alcoholism being treated, the more ingrained is psychopathology both in the habits of the individual and in the functioning of their own system highly strung.

The use of psychotropic drugs to help people with alcoholism arises from the idea that to overcome this addiction it is not enough to simply stop drinking. It is necessary to accompany the person in this process, which is always gradual and lasts between several months and several years, and be aware that “dismounting” from alcoholism implies maintaining a relatively delicate balance in the functioning of your system nervous, since in many cases, if the brain suddenly runs out of alcohol, this can trigger health problems derived from that chemical imbalance.

In addition, it should not be forgotten that the challenge of leaving behind the consumption of a drug involves the management of very intense emotions. Typically, the early stages of drug cessation treatment go hand in hand with times of high anxiety and stress, and Psychotropic drugs can be of great help to prevent the symptoms of these emotional imbalances from leading the person to relapse or get into in trouble.

Furthermore, as many psychotropic drugs have in themselves the potential to generate addictions, these processes must always be supervised by medical professionals, who prescribe specific medications and adjust the dose and frequency of taking.

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Do you need to start addiction treatment?

If you are looking for psychological therapy services and psychiatric assistance in detoxification, withdrawal and rehabilitation processes, get in touch with us.

On Llaurant la Llum you will find a team of professionals who are experts in the treatment of addictions and belonging to various fields of health and supporting patients, from medicine to medicine and healthcare, through physical therapy and work Social.

We offer outpatient and residential treatment, the latter in our fully equipped income module. Our work is characterized by combining professionalism and vocation, giving a very personalized and assisting a very limited number of patients, to guarantee the correct coverage of all their needs. You will find us in Picassent, Valencia.