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Narcology is a medical science that specializes in the consequences of drug, tobacco and alcohol addictions, as well as methods for their elimination and preventive measures.
A narcologist is a specialist who, in his professional activity, is able to solve the problems of drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking through outpatient or inpatient treatment.
Competence of a narcologist: diseases, symptoms and factors
A narcologist helps a person to give up an obsessive and bad habit that has actively taken root in life and has begun to interfere with the patient’s normal social role. In addition, many types of addiction have a very negative impact on human health, which is why they should be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.
Pathological conditions that are treated by a narcologist include alcoholism, any kind of drug addiction, smoking, as well as new forms of addictions – Internet addiction and gambling addiction. Among the diseases that arise in the process of these addictions and which are subject to therapeutic sessions with narcologists, there are delirium tremens, alcoholic hallucinosis, depression, epilepsy, paranoid, delirium, encephalopathy, pseudoparalysis, Korsakov’s psychosis. After a course of treatment with a narcologist, this specialist continues to guide the patient, preventing the recurrence of the occurrence of pathological conditions.
Based on the practice of narcologists, people with very advanced stages of their own diseases, which are difficult to treat, turn to them. Narcologists constantly say that with early diagnosis of diseases of their profile, treatment can be carried out very quickly, it will be 100% effective and there will be no possibility of serious complications.
It is important to remember that aggressive states of a person that arise for no apparent reason, loss of self-control, sharp mood swings, followed by complete apathy and depression, panic feelings of fear and anxiety, suicidal thoughts or actions, psychological disorders. In the presence of the above factors in a person, it is quite possible to develop a clinical picture of any type of addiction. If you immediately recognize the problem and turn to narcology, you can correct the current situation with preventive measures and means. However, all this is possible if the patient himself recognizes his problem and wants to get rid of it. Otherwise, the attempts of the surrounding people and doctors may be ineffective.
The main symptoms of addictions, which urgently need to contact a narcologist, include:
- hot flashes, redness of the face;
- severe drowsiness, when a person often wants to sleep;
- impaired concentration and memory;
- the occurrence of hallucinations;
- a sharp interest in things that a person did not understand before. Here it is important to distinguish between a simple interest in new areas and the lack of self-control on the part of the patient under the influence of narcotic factors, when the patient is “knee-deep” and he starts arguing stupidly about those things in which he is completely unaware;
- lowering the pain threshold, when a person ceases to feel pain from obvious painful conditions or procedures;
- constant constriction of the pupils of the eyes, which cease to react with narrowing or expansion to darkness and bright light.
In the presence of alcohol dependence, narcologists recommend supplementing the entire list of symptoms with incoherent speech, impaired coordination of the patient’s movements and a characteristic sharp alcoholic smell. If you have the above symptoms, you should immediately seek help from narcology in order to prevent the development of the disease and exclude the possibility of serious consequences for the patient’s body and society.
Reception of a narcologist: tests, methods of diagnosis and treatment
After applying for medical help to a drug addiction specialist, it is important to be absolutely honest with the doctor, answering all his questions and trying not to hide any information from the narcologist. Very often, narcologists conduct anonymous closed appointments with patients or appointments that can only be attended by the next of kin of the patient.
For the correct diagnosis of the stage of dependence and the presence of complications of the disease, the narcologist often requires the results of the following laboratory or instrumental analyzes of patients:
- general blood analysis;
- biochemistry of blood;
- general urine analysis;
- CT scan;
- Magnetic resonance imaging;
- analysis of the patient’s hair to identify the type of drug used;
- blood screening for the presence of drugs in it;
- ultrasound examination of the peritoneum.
Further, depending on the state of the patient and what stage of this or that dependence he is identified, the narcologist may need to consult other medical specialists and doctors, in particular psychologists, psychiatrists, gastroenterologists, endoscopists (with obvious complications of alcoholism in the form of a stomach ulcer, for example). Due to the destructive effects of many drugs and alcohol, the patient may be affected by many internal organs and systems that will require parallel long-term treatment from different doctors.
The narcologist himself, depending on the stage of the disease and the state of health of the patient, can carry out his therapy, both in inpatient and outpatient settings. At the same time, in addition to medication, the patient must also undergo a course of psychotherapy aimed at understanding the basics of his addiction, its detrimental effect on life values, and avoiding the recurrence of such conditions in the future.
What do narcologists recommend to potential patients?
In the case of diseases within the competence of narcologists, we can say that this is the only area of medicine that works with those diseases that a person himself can allow or not allow in his own life. In other words, with a healthy psyche, each person must independently understand all the negative experience both for his own health and for his own consciousness, which comes to him in combination with one or another substance, which becomes a source of emerging addiction.
When drug specialists talk about preventive measures in their work, they mean just a few simple rules that help people not turn into their potential patients, it is always important to remember the measure when drinking alcohol, it does not matter – champagne or vodka. It is also necessary to think about the degree of responsibility to one’s own body, which arises from the daily use of nicotine. In the case of narcotic substances, only one postulate can act as the main rule – no drugs can be tried under any circumstances.
Addiction to narcotic substances can occur after 1-2 doses, which is why it is important to understand that those new incredible sensations that someone promises after using a dose are not worth a whole human life, which can be paid for such curiosity.
A narcologist helps a person who is addicted to any substance stop, cure his need and prevent its subsequent resumption. However, this is only possible with timely application for drug treatment and the realization that without treatment, further life on the slope does not have a happy ending.