http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/health/lifestyle/living-with-an-alcoholic-some-dos-and-donts.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/lifestyle/living-with-an-alcoholic-some-dos-and-donts.html Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500
There is some good news, however, and that is if you can’t actually stop them drinking then there are things that you can do, or stop doing, that will make it more likely that they will take action and/or seek help for their drinking. Below I have listed a number of things that you should avoid doing as they often have the opposite effect to intended, making the situation even worse. I will discuss the things that you should do in another article.

Don’t protect the drinker from the naturally occurring consequences of drinking. If they embarrass themselves don’t make excuses, or if they fall don’t pick them up. Only intervene if there is a danger of the drinker being injured. For most people this kind of ‘tough love’ is a difficult thing to do, just ignore a loved one when they are drunk goes very much against the grain. However, protecting the drinker means that they never suffer the consequences and so are never aware of the severity of their drinking. Since many believe that problem drinkers only seek help when they are hurting, so protecting the drinker only delays that time coming and that it could be argued is more cruel.

Don’t protect the drinker from other consequences. If they take time off work through being too drunk or too hungover, don’t phone the boss and give an excuse. The problem drinker is only too happy for someone else to accept responsibility whereas they need to accept responsibility for their own behaviour if they are to change.

Don’t collude with the drinker. If they spend all their money on drink don’t lend them money or pay their debts. Again this is protecting and delays recognition of the extent of the problem.

Don’t join in and drink along with the drinker. It may seem a natural thing to do – “if you can’t beat them join them” but this just makes the drinking behaviour appear to be normal, which of course it’s not. Besides if you try and keep up you could end up needing help yourself, and one drunk is more than enough for any household.

Don’t scream and shout and nag about the drinking behaviour. This just provides an excuse to drink even more. That is, the logic that is used here is “I drink because you nag” rather than “You nag because I drink”. Yea, I know that is not logical but hey this is not about logic, its about drinking.

Don’t make threats and give ultimatums. Unless you are actually prepared to carry out these threats and ultimatums they will lose any power to influence the drinker. In fact, they may even provide an excuse for drinking, especially if there is a pattern of drinking to avoid stress and painful circumstances. Therefore you could be left feeling even more frustrated than before.

Don’t cry and sulk and withdraw to punish the drinker. The drinker can again view his as behaviour best avoided by getting drunk, perhaps with the immortal words “No wonder I drink, look at you!”.

Don’t try and have a meaningful conversation about the drinkers behaviour or your lives together when the drinker is intoxicated. It is easy to get lured into a conversation – don’t. Wait till the morning or when they are sober.


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John McMahon Alcohol and Drug Guide.com

I have worked in the addiction field for over 25 years. In that time I have worked as a therapist, university lecturer and researcher and have published about 50 articles in scholarly journals and books.

Alcohol and Drug Guide is conducting a new survey here. We would greatly appreciate if you would take some time to answer it, please. It only takes about 30 seconds.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/medicine/20-signs-that-you-may-have-a-problem-with-booze.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/medicine/20-signs-that-you-may-have-a-problem-with-booze.html Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500
1 before every party or social occasion your partner asks you “not to drink too much tonight”.

2 you feel that everyone in your company drinks too slowly or doesn’t know how to let their hair down and have a good time – like you.

3 you are having extra drinks when you go to the bar, because (see number 2).

4 you hate going to any social occasion if there is no opportunity to drink.

5 you think about drinking constantly, can’t wait to finish work to go and have a drink, can’t wait to be finished ..anything.. to go and have a drink.

6 you hide alcohol around the house, garage, office, wherever.

7 you lie about how much you drink and how often you are drunk, always minimising the amount.

8 you can’t, or find it difficult, to set a limit on the number of drinks and keep to it.

9 you drink too much at inappropriate times, embarrass your family, friends and self.

10 you feel guilty about the night before and have difficulty looking people in the eye.

11 your hands shake in the morning

12 you feel sweaty on waking and for most of the day

13 the previous night’s drinking is a bit of a blur, or worse still a blank.

14 your partner increasingly criticises your drinking

15 your friends increasingly criticise your drinking

16 your co-workers and/or boss increasingly criticise your drinking

17 you don’t count your money in dollars or ponds but in the number of drinks that it will buy

18 you are always the last of your group to leave the bar and the first to suggest another bar or another drink somewhere else.

19 you find it increasingly difficult to talk to people or socialise without having had a drink.

20 you want a drink as soon as you wake up

If you experience a couple of them occasionally it does not necessarily mean that you have a problem with booze. It is when these signs are regular features of your drinking that they are significant. We can all overindulge on occasion but if these occasions are becoming more frequent and you are experiencing an increasing number of these signs then maybe you need to take a hard look at your lifestyle and your drinking. Also you do not need to be experiencing all of these signs to have a problem, a few of them is more than enough. If you do feel that you need help check with your family doctor sooner rather than later. Like most problems, drinking problems are easier to treat when they are detected early.


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John McMahon Alcohol and Drug Guide.com

I have worked in the addiction field for over 25 years. In that time I have worked as a therapist, university lecturer and researcher and have published about 50 articles in scholarly journals and books.

Alcohol and Drug Guide is conducting a new survey here. We would greatly appreciate if you would take some time to answer it, please. It only takes about 30 seconds.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/should-parents-test-adolescents-for-substance-use.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/should-parents-test-adolescents-for-substance-use.html Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500
Do parents really need to use a testing kit to tell if their kids are using drugs. True it can be difficult sometimes. If we read the help books and information pamphlets that tell us the signs and symptoms of alcohol and drug use in adolescents we get a fairly comprehensive list. The signs are that your teenager might have mood swings, might be withdrawn, disrespectful, verbally abusive sneaky, stay out late, neglect their appearance and be manipulative and self-centred. No wonder it is difficult to tell whether adolescents are taking drugs as this list sounds just like a description of adolescents in general. In fact one pamphlet suggests that signs of taking drugs are listening to loud music for hours and associating with strange friends. Again sounds much like normal adolescent activities. So for some parents the ability to test routinely or randomly must seem like the answer to their confusion, fears and problems but is it?

During adolescence the relationship between teenagers and parents often deteriorates as teens test the limits and boundaries set by parents. They also practice being their own person being autonomous and making their own decisions. Introducing a drug testing kit into this cauldron of seething hormones could cause far more problems than it solves. Indeed, it does not require specialised equipment to detect most alcohol and drug use as it is fairly obvious, for example by the smell, lack of co-ordination and dilated pupils. However lets look at a number of facts about drugs and alcohol.

Few adults reach the legal age of drinking without having had an alcoholic drink, unless they are lifelong abstainers. If you are a parent reading this, did you drink before the legal age? Be honest now! Around half the population of the USA and UK under the age of 50 have tried drugs at some stage, but few actually continue and even fewer have tried harder drugs (eg about 10% have tried cocaine with about 1% using regular and 1% tried heroin with about 0.1% regular). So having tried drugs does not mean addiction or even regular use. It is also a myth that someone having used marijuana will necessarily go on to use harder drugs, the so-called gateway theory. Some will and some will develop problems but the truth is in respect of both alcohol and drugs is that the majority of people who use them, do so without incurring any problems. It is also true that, for most users, drug use and excessive alcohol use tend to be behaviours that people grow out of without any interventions. Thus there could be a danger of over-reaction.

Even if the adolescent is does have a genuine problem it is generally recognised that there needs to be a trusting relationship between the user and any helper. The introduction of a breathalyser or drug testing into the home could alienate the teen and erode any trust or make it more difficult to establish. Where testing might be useful is when both parents and teen have agreed its use as a preventative measure. For example if the teen has been using drugs and has developed a problem and wishes help, then parents can suggest that random testing can help. In a negotiated situation as described testing can be beneficial but if imposed it can exacerbate any problem.


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John McMahon Alcohol and Drug Guide.com

I have worked in the addiction field for over 25 years. In that time I have worked as a therapist, university lecturer and researcher and have published about 50 articles in scholarly journals and books.

Alcohol and Drug Guide is conducting a new survey here. We would greatly appreciate if you would take some time to answer it, please. It only takes about 30 seconds.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/medicine/what-is-the-most-addictive-drug.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/medicine/what-is-the-most-addictive-drug.html Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500
The first of these criteria was withdrawal. This is defined as the severity of withdrawal symptoms produced by stopping the use of the drug. Both researchers rated alcohol as having the most severe withdrawal symptoms, for example hallucinations and convulsions, and the fact that withdrawal from alcohol is the only one of the included drugs that is potentially fatal.

The second criterion is reinforcement, that is the drug's tendency to induce users to take it again and again. This is influenced by the feelings that taking the drug brings, that is whether it is a pleasurable high or not, obviously if the feelings are negative there will be little incentive to repeat the experience. Again both researchers were in agreement and rated cocaine as the most reinforcing.

The third criterion was tolerance, this is defined as the user's need to have ever-increasing doses to get the same effect. For the first time the researchers disagree with Henningfield rating heroin first and Benowitz rating cocaine.

The fourth criterion is dependence. This is defined as the difficulty in quitting, or staying off the drug, usually measured by the number of users who eventually become dependent. For many dependence is viewed as the hallmark of addiction and how ‘addiction’ is usually measured by the medical profession. For this criterion both researchers are again in agreement as they rate nicotine highest for dependence. For the other drugs they both rated them in the same order that is highest for dependence, nicotine, then heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and last marijuana.

The final criterion is intoxication. This is the degree of intoxication produced by the drug in typical use. Again the researchers are in agreement and rate alcohol as the most intoxicating of the drugs.

Given the complexity of the addictive process it is not surprising that there is not a clear ‘winner’ in all criteria. What some may find surprising is that for both researchers caffeine ranked higher than marijuana on a number of the criteria and indeed Berowitz rates caffeine higher than marijuana for dependence.

These results have been quoted many times by many researchers, commentators and reporters. They are usually interpreted as nicotine, or tobacco smoking, being named the most addictive substance purely on the definition of the difficulty in refraining. What the results do show is that addiction is a complex and multi-facetted activity and that it is impossible to reduce it to a simple metric.


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John McMahon Alcohol and Drug Guide.com

I have worked in the addiction field for over 25 years. In that time I have worked as a therapist, university lecturer and researcher and have published about 50 articles in scholarly journals and books.

Alcohol and Drug Guide is conducting a new survey here. We would greatly appreciate if you would take some time to answer it, please. It only takes about 30 seconds.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>