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Together with experts, we figured out how addiction occurs, and why people who abuse alcohol should be supported, not condemned
The material was provided to Trends by the Need Help Foundation.
Alcoholism in our modern country
There are no official statistics showing how many people currently suffer from alcoholism in our country. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, in 2016 our country ranked second in the number of people suffering from alcohol use disorders.
In 2019, a survey by the project “Our Sober Country” showed that more than 85% of our countries aged 16-65 years used alcohol. The most popular alcoholic beverages then were beer (8,5 billion liters per year) and vodka (1 billion liters per year). According to the To Be Exact platform, in 2019, 1 people sought help for alcohol or drug-related disorders, and 898 people died due to the use of these substances.
Why Addiction Occurs
According to experts, any chemical addiction is a whole complex of causes and effects that are formed for a long time and eventually transform into an unhealthy craving for the substance.
Aleksey Dolgalev, director of the Independence Charitable Foundation and an expert on chemical addiction issues, identifies the following possible reasons:
- neutral or positive attitude towards alcohol in the family, its availability and acceptability;
- the strong influence of the media and the immediate environment, which together form false beliefs about alcohol;
- psychological traumas and complexes, difficulties with the perception of oneself and others, life crises and inability to adapt to changes;
- genetic predisposition to chemical addictions.
Alexander Savitsky, psychologist, lead trainer at the School for the Training of Counselors Working in the Field of Addiction Rehabilitation at the Moscow International Academy:
“Drinking alcohol is, roughly speaking, “entrance to heaven through the back door.” It artificially causes positive experiences, gives a person a feeling of euphoria and self-sufficiency, and thus performs the function of adaptation: under its influence, a person can show those qualities that he is not able to realize when sober. The brain fixes this effect and remembers – this is how addictive behavior is formed. The process of formation itself occurs differently for everyone and occurs for different reasons. For some, this is an innate reaction to alcohol, while for others it is an acquired problem.
How to recognize addiction early
Alcoholism, like any disease, has stages of development and criteria by which a diagnosis can be determined. According to Alexander Savitsky, three of the following symptoms are enough to make a diagnosis if they periodically occur over a period of one year:
- strong, uncontrollable desire to drink;
- reduced ability to control dose, resulting in drinking in larger quantities and for a longer period than planned; unsuccessful attempts to reduce the dose;
- withdrawal syndrome – a condition that occurs when the dose is reduced or the complete cessation of alcohol consumption and is characterized by a complex of disorders;
- increased tolerance to alcohol, as evidenced by the need to increase the dose in order to achieve the same effect;
- complete or partial abandonment of alternative forms of entertainment that used to bring pleasure and arouse interest in favor of alcohol;
- inability to stop drinking, even with clear signs of harmful effects.
What to do if I suspect a loved one has an alcohol addiction
Alexey Dolgalev:
“The first thing to do is not to panic. The second is to find a specialist who has sufficient qualifications and practical experience in working with chemically dependent people. Thirdly, try to follow absolutely all of his recommendations. And the last thing is to be patient and not despair if something does not work right away. The process of overcoming chemical addictions is long and laborious, but the responsibility for its implementation lies with the person himself.
According to many experts, the most difficult thing is not to encourage a relative or friend to seek help and begin the treatment process, but to keep it from falling apart after that. A person who has completed a rehabilitation course and allegedly quit alcohol forever, in fact, remains vulnerable for a long time. A small trigger is enough for him to take up the bottle again, and this is not at all a matter of poor treatment or weak willpower.
Alexander Savitsky:
“Quitting drinking is not difficult, it is difficult not to break again. Because as soon as a person refuses alcohol, he returns to the original state in which he began to abuse alcohol. And everything is the same there: unformed thinking, infantilism, shattered expectations. Few life skills, many problems. It is quite difficult to live this period on your own. The main mistake of many alcohol addicts and their relatives is that they consider detoxification (droppers, coding, taking pills) as a complete solution to the problem. In fact, this is only the first step, and then complex professional help is needed, including contacting an addiction specialist, visiting self-help groups (Alcoholics Anonymous or Smart Recovery communities), and undergoing rehabilitation.”
“Another important point that is often forgotten after rehabilitation is the influence of the environment. The environment (first of all, close ones) plays a big role in a person’s life, so when he decides to fight addiction, his relatives, who are often part of the problem, should also be included in this. Family members should ask questions such as: “What role do I play in my brother/husband’s illness?”, “What can I change to make a difference?” They should also go to self-help groups or talk to a psychologist about this topic,” says Mikhail Manuilov, head of the rehabilitation program at the Diakoniya Foundation.
Who, how and why helps alcohol addicts in our country
Alexey Dolgalev:
“It is important to remember that chemical addiction is a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual disease. It is a disease, not weakness or promiscuity. Therefore, an appropriate approach is needed here – with its own specifics, but definitely without condemnation, stigmatization and discrimination.”
In the past few years, the situation with attitudes towards alcohol addicts has begun to change for the better, but, according to many experts, it takes a lot of time, effort and training to fully establish a system for helping people in trouble.
Alexander Fokin, clinical psychologist at the Diaconia Foundation:
“Now there are many rehabilitation centers (mostly paid), and the employees of these centers would like to be reminded of the main ethical principle – do no harm. It seems to me that it is very important to improve the skills of employees, from hotline consultants to nurses and doctors, so that the main task is to help a person who is in trouble, and not to make money. It is necessary to inform the society, talk about the nature of alcoholism and ways to deal with it, carry out preventive work with schoolchildren, since addictions appear at very early stages.”
According to Olga Romanova, PR-specialist of the Diakonia Foundation, the wards of their foundation have become very “younger” – recently more and more requests come from people aged 18-25. Most likely, this is due to a change in the market towards its availability: now it is much easier to get both alcohol and drugs using the Internet. In our country, there are not enough specialized rehabilitation centers for both teenagers and people over 50 years old. There are very few rehabilitations for women, although in practice it is much more efficient to separate men and women so as not to complicate the already energy-intensive process of treatment. That is why the Diakonia center accepts only men – this allows them to focus exclusively on recovery and not be distracted by anything else (including falling in love, which also causes stress and increased emotionality).
Where to go for help
Charitable Foundation “Independence”, Nizhny Tagil
One of the foundation’s priorities is social support and resocialization of people with chemical addictions. On the basis of the organization there is a rehabilitation center, the program “Sober. Healthy. Alive” (it includes prevention of addictions among young people, parents and teachers, training of volunteers, organization of social projects and actions, work with the media and support for families who are faced with the problem of addiction). The foundation also has consulting rooms for appeals, a helpline, and self-help groups for dependent people. All support is provided on a voluntary basis, anonymously and free of charge.
8 (3435) 922-923
[email protected]
Charitable Foundation “Diakonia”, St. Petersburg
The Foundation provides support to homeless people, including those with limited mobility, conducts HIV prevention, trains specialists from NGOs and government agencies, and helps people with chemical addictions. For the latter, there is a free rehabilitation program at the Poshitni Orthodox Center. It lasts a year: the first six months the participants spend in the Pskov region in a rehabilitation center, and over the next six months they undergo social adaptation at the foundation’s branch in St. Petersburg. Counselors and psychologists work with the wards of Diaconia, who, among other things, also provide support to the close circle of addicts.
+7 (812) 916-92-24,
[email protected]
Regional public organization “House of Hope”, Omsk
A non-profit organization that provides food support to low-income and large families, as well as assistance to people who find themselves in a difficult life situation (those who lost their homes, got out of prison, fell into chemical addiction). The “House of Hope” social adaptation program includes full coverage of all vital needs (temporary residence in the CSA, food, clothing, comfortable living conditions), assistance in restoring the social status of a person and in restoring documents, assistance with employment.
+7 (950) 955-90-40 (XNUMX/XNUMX)
e-mail: [email protected]
Fund for Social Support and Protection of the Population “Mission of Love”, Ust-Ilimsk
A charitable foundation that helps families with children in a difficult life or financial situation, children with serious illnesses, people without a fixed place of residence and people with chemical addictions. For alcohol and drug addicts, there is a free rehabilitation program that involves 6 months of rehabilitation and 3 months of adaptation. The Fund helps with paperwork and works around the clock.
Tel. 8 (964) 812-27-25
Email: [email protected]