Can Former Alcoholics Ever Drink Again
WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...
Kerry Katona: Is it all or nothing for an alcoholic?
When pop singer turned reality TV stalwart Kerry Katona went public with her alcoholism at the weekend, she made a rather surprising access. "Yes, I nonetheless have a drinkable when I desire to, like any other 28-year-old adult female."
Nevertheless the popular prototype of someone who says "I am an alcoholic" is that they will also have sworn off booze. Those at Alcoholics Bearding aim for abstinence one day at a time.
"The basic adage is that the first drink causes the problem," says Michael, whose own road to recovery with the AA started 10 years ago. "It's the first drink that opens the field for a second beverage and then a third."
 | THE Reply For those with severe dependence, abstinence is merely option Others can change their drinking habits - just this isn't easy, and they may opt for abstinence |
But there are treatment programmes, including on the NHS, where abstinence is not the but goal. "To say if yous are alcoholic you must never drink again is over-simplified - alcohol dependence is on a continuum," says Nick Heather, emeritus professor of alcohol at Northumbria Academy.
But this does not mean those heavily dependent on booze - who suffer astringent withdrawal symptoms such equally the DTs, and drink to ward off these effects - tin can aim to be moderate drinkers in the future.
Volition 1 atomic number 82 to some other and another?
"The bear witness clearly shows that those with severe alcohol dependency are far more likely to accomplish recovery with abstinence," warns Professor Heather, a clinical psychologist.
At that place'south no physical definition of what an alcoholic is, rather experts talk of a sliding scale of booze dependency.
But for those at the lower cease of the scale - an estimated eight million in England alone - it's possible to render to drinking in a responsible manner.
"Only it'south not easy. It means giving upwards hard-drinking friends, giving upward going to the pub, taking upwards hobbies they might take put aside long agone."
A major study by the United states of america's National Institute on Alcohol Corruption and Alcoholism in 2002 institute that of the adults surveyed with alcohol dependency, 35.ix% were fully recovered - with roughly equal proportions of abstainers (18.2%) and those who drank moderately (17.7%).
| | WHO, WHAT, WHY? A regular feature in the BBC News Magazine - aiming to reply some of the questions behind the headlines |
For Michael, a mental obsession with alcohol is part of his condition. "Simply i drink sets off the compulsion. If I had a drink, I'd want the next 1. I was always one for sessions, I could never see the signal of stopping at simply one or two."
Even when he began to attend AA meetings, having lost his family unit, his chore and his home, it took a long time to accept that "simply one" would do no impairment.
"Every addict likes to think they're special - 'I'm slightly different and I'll be OK'. Even with the wreckage around me, I thought that."
For Michael, forbearance has turned out to be the answer. But the perception that this is the but cure deters many from seeking aid, says Professor Heather.
Beneath are a selection of your comments.
The idea of battling alcoholism was summed up best in The West Fly by Leo McGarry. "I don't desire one beverage, I want x drinks, and I don't understand how others tin can settle for merely one." Severe alcoholics don't want to have a drink - they want to be drunk. The just mode to escape that is to never impact alcohol again.
Kate Jones, Lancaster, UK
I'1000 being treated for booze abuse at the moment. I'm not addicted - still - but for several years I've been drinking up to 100 units a calendar week. My booze counsellor and I are aiming to reduce my drinking to rubber levels. For me, the problem is not nearly staying away from pubs, but learning not to potable alone, a tough call when you alive on your own and suffer from low. I notice my drinking much easier to manage in company, when I am less probable to drink to absorb out my pain. I'thousand slowly preparation myself not to buy alcohol to drink at home unless I actually, really feel I take "earned" a drink. The NHS has splendid booze programmes and I wouldn't accept managed without their support. My intake is now down to almost xxx units a week so I'1000 seeing real progress. AA is non for me - the Christian ethos underpinning it is not appropriate if your background is in some other faith or you are an atheist.
Anon, Britain
You don't accept to exist an alcoholic to know that the first drink is the easiest to refuse. Designated drivers have note...
Caroline Dark-brown, Rochester, UK
When I was in the Navy, I discovered I had a drinkable problem - whether I would accept been described every bit an alcoholic is a moot point, but information technology was definitely a trouble. I managed to crack it without seeking external handling, but it was extraordinarily difficult. When discussing this with a medico a few years later, he said he idea I probably had a "non-addictive" personality, otherwise I wouldn't take been able to do it on my own. I still relish a drink, but I'm now aware of how much I am drinking, and I know when to call a halt to ensure that I accept a practiced time, without going overboard. As regards abstinence or non, I think it is down to the individual, and how they can cope with their own personality and cravings.
Anne Boyce, Halifax, England
And then Kerry is a moisture alcoholic not a dry one. From my experience, a wet alcoholic is someone that has a trouble and nevertheless drinks, a dry out alcoholic is someone that has a problem just abstains because they accept to. If Kerry can live with being an alcoholic who even so drinks, and so let her get on with it. Is her life in chaos? If it is, so she should abstain for the remainder of her life. So she must become to a wet meeting also, if she attends AA, that is? At that place are many types of AA meetings as well, wet and dry, open and closed, it tin can be quite confusing when you first become involved, the cardinal is, if your life and the lives of others are beingness destroyed past alcoholism, and then forbearance is the only answer for all those concerned.
Brett Sentance, Derby
If the alcoholic or trouble drinker could see the carnage of his association with alcohol then one begs the question, why return to the insanity or belief that ,this time information technology will be different. The obvious answer is this, the alcoholic cannot see it. Thus, after a flow of abstinence, usually a lot shorter than planned, the alcoholic returns to the drink believing information technology was the drink that was the original problem. Information technology never occurs to them that they are the problem and believe alcohol is the solution.
Scott Brooks, Toronto, Canada
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7719522.stm
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