Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol is one of the most dangerous legal substances available. When consumed in moderation, it can cause relaxation and happiness, but when misused, it can lead to addiction and illness.
Understanding
Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to consume more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism or alcohol abuse.
Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where someone drinks a large amount of alcohol over a short period of time, with the intention of becoming intoxicated. Binge drinking can cause significant health and safety risks.
If your pattern of drinking results in repeated problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder or alcohol addiction. It can range from mild to severe. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important.
Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse
The signs and symptoms of alcohol addiction can vary from person to person. Some of the symptoms will be more difficult to spot than others, and factors like the amount of alcohol that you are drinking and the frequency of your alcohol consumption will all play a role in whether you develop a dependency.
Behavioural and Social
- Secretive or dishonest behaviour in relation to alcohol
- Drinking heavily alone
- Heavy drinking or binge drinking
- Drinking at inappropriate times such as first thing in the morning
- Avoiding contact with loved ones
- Withdrawing from responsibilities at home or work
- Continuing to drink despite the negative effects that this has had on your home, work or social life
- Losing interest in activities, hobbies or events that were once important to you
Physical
- Finding that you have built a tolerance to alcohol, meaning that you need to drink increasingly higher amounts of alcohol in order to feel ‘drunk’
- Lethargy and headaches
- Excessive sweating in the absence of physical exertion
- Weight loss or gain as a result of changes in appetite
- Lack of concern over physical appearance/personal hygiene
- Disrupted sleep patterns, including insomnia
- Appearance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms if you haven’t consumed alcohol for a certain amount of time
Withdrawal symptoms
If you drink alcohol heavily for weeks, months, or years, you may have both mental and physical problems when you stop or seriously cut back on how much you drink. This is called alcohol withdrawal. Symptoms can range from mild to serious.
Causes of Alcohol Withdrawal
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is the name for the symptoms that occur when a heavy drinker suddenly stops drinking or significantly reduces their alcohol intake.
With AWS, you may experience a combination of physical and emotional symptoms, from mild anxiety and fatigue to nausea to symptoms as severe as hallucinations and seizures. At its most extreme, AWS can be life threatening.
What are the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome?
Signs and symptoms of the various stages of alcohol withdrawal may include:
- headaches
- anxiety
- tremors or shakes
- insomnia
- fatigue
- mood changes
- gastrointestinal disturbances
- heart palpitations
- increased blood pressure or heart rate
- hyperthermia
- rapid abnormal breathing
- hallucinations
- seizures
Alcohol Withdrawal management
Withdrawal management at Jintara Rehab focuses on:
- prevention of severe withdrawal
- reducing the risk of injury (self/others) due to altered mental state
reducing the risk of dehydration, electrolyte and nutritional imbalance - preventing seizures
- identification and treatment of concurrent medical conditions that can mask or mimic withdrawal or complicate the withdrawal process.
How Alcohol Addiction is treated at Jintara Rehab
Treatment for Alcohol Addiction starts long before you arrive at Jintara Rehab. We conduct detailed phone/Zoom assessments with one of our International Therapy Team to understand your unique needs, so we can make sure that you get the proper treatment and care from the moment you arrive.
We assess your immediate condition and if you need medication for detox and to help with withdrawal management, safety and comfort. This assessment is done at our Partner hospitals and always under medical supervision and prescription. The actual detox process is done on site at Jintara and managed by our 24-hour Nursing team, who will check on you regularly.
Soon after your arrival, we will take you to one of our Partner Hospitals for a detailed medical checkup. This includes full blood-work, liver function test, kidney function test and EKG at a minimum. Jintara is the only Thai rehab to include these detailed tests as part of the standard fees, and gives both you and us peace of mind that you are in good physical shape, and if not, we can address it during your stay with us.
Counseling and therapy for groups and individuals help you better understand your problem with alcohol and support recovery from the psychological aspects of alcohol use. At Jintara you will receive approximately 70-hours of clinician face time per month. We are unique at Jintara in that we treat the causes of addiction and not just the symptoms. We call this dual diagnosis and you can read more about that here.
This process usually involves alcohol treatment specialists. It may include goal setting, behavior change techniques, use of self-help manuals, counseling and follow-up care.
Aftercare is optional (but highly recommended) and you can continue working with your Focal Counselor after you leave Jintara.
Why Jintara might be the best treatment option for you.
Jintara Rehab is a small boutique rehab that specializes in support for alcohol addiction, accepting only 10 private clients in a beautiful boutique rehab setting – so you wont be overlooked or overwhelmed. Our focus is on providing the best client experience we can – from our highly experienced and credentialed International Therapy Team, attentive and caring Thai staff, wonderful resort-like facilities and amazing holistic, fitness and nutritional options at a reasonable price.
But if you are still not sure on which rehab is best for you, contact us for a no obligation chat about you or someone you care about.
We are here to help.
Jintara Rehab – Escape to Recovery.
