Tangled in the Concrete Jungle: New York City
New York city is an intricate web of cultures, ideas, history and innovation. It has served as an emblem of American society for years now. The city is filled with people chasing big dreams among millions of others who are doing the same. The uniform romance that characterizes the city can be either inspiring to people or cause them to stumble.
Given the immense weight of a city like New York, there’s a lot of people who, naturally, can’t take it. Some feel like they have failed in comparison to the standards around them. For those who have internalized the pressure associated with the city, drinking might seem like the only escape from the shame of failure. Abusing alcohol may seem like a good distraction from reality, and it may help alleviate the guilt and shame surrounding not measuring up to whatever standards someone has in their head about success. However, drinking to distract can easily turn into alcohol abuse, which is a road paved with death.
The Facts About Alcohol Abuse
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol consumption is responsible for 10 percent of deaths for working-age adults. It is a serious problem that is not going away anytime soon. When people drink to escape from life, they could end up losing it.
As someone begins to abuse alcohol they are rewiring their brain in a way that makes drinking a necessity. As it becomes a necessity to drink, the person has entered into the stage of dependence. Alcohol dependence can wreak havoc in the person’s life and for those who love them.
How Do Interventions Work?
The good news is that there are ways to intervene and help a person before it’s too late. Family members and loved ones can be a motivating factor in them getting help. An individual who abuses alcohol may have a level of self-loathing to hurt themselves through their abuse, but they might not be okay with hurting other people. In this way, an intervention is a great way to help the person who is abusing alcohol since they might not be aware of the extent their abuse is hurting others.
There are a lot of ways to tell if someone has reached the point of alcohol dependence. For example, the person who is dependent will often neglect their loved ones and become elusive in ways that perpetuate their alcohol abuse. Their mood will change and their work may suffer as a result. When a loved one sees these signs it’s important to act quickly.
For the best results, using a professional interventionist is recommended. At A Better Today we can provide you with the resources to find one. Obtaining an interventionist is important because they are trained in psychology and conflict management. Additionally, they are a neutral party who can effectively administer advice and feedback from a place of objectivity, not emotion.
Before holding an intervention, the interventionist will ask the family a host of questions to get a gauge on the loved one’s abuse history. This could take up to six hours, as the interventionist needs to make sure that they can come up with a substantive plan to address the person’s needs.
After the interview, the family and interventionist will come up with a script outlining what they are going to say. During interventions people read prepared statements to their loved ones. There’s usually an order to the intervention as well where the most impactful statements are bookended. The family members are advised to the script as approved by the interventionist and not veer of wherever their emotions take them.
The goal of the intervention is to get the person to seek out recovery. It is not something that will necessary heal all the past hurt the family has gone through because of the loved one’s behavior. That is going to take time and will come as the person goes through therapy.
The intervention is the first step in recovery. There might be a lot of resistance from the person who is abusing alcohol as it has been a major part of their life, but it is a life-saving choice on the part of the family. There is never a wrong time to have an intervention for someone who is dependent on alcohol. You don’t want to wait until something bad happens to get someone help, because you don’t know how severe the damages will be. It could be too late.
After your loved one decides to get help, it’s time to figure out whether they are going to inpatient or outpatient therapy. Inpatient is the more suggested approach as it is more comprehensive; however, outpatient works for some people depending on their preference. It really just depends on the person.
Going Through Withdrawals with A Better Today
One of the most feared processes that often keeps people from seeking treatment is detox. Detox cleanses the body of the alcohol. The worst part of detox for many people, besides actually quitting alcohol, are the withdrawals. The withdrawal symptoms vary depending on the person, but in some cases they can result in death. Because of this, it’s suggested that the person who is seeking treatment have a medically supervised detox, which we provide in our facilities.
Some of the withdrawal symptoms include nausea, shaking hands, sweating and insomnia. But, in some extreme cases the person going through the detox will experience hallucinations and seizures, the latter of which could be fatal.
The withdrawal symptoms can be mediated through the use of sedative medications, which would be provided by the medical staff. The reason why the person experiences withdrawals is because their brain has grown used to the presence of alcohol and has adjusted to it. Therefore, when it is taken away it can go into a state of shock, which manifests the symptoms described above. When you finish detox, you have completed the first step in the process of recovery—but it is not the last.
Alcohol Treatment at A Better Today
When someone completes detox they are ready to begin treatment. At ABT we specialize in helping people recover from the various cognitive issues that perpetuate alcohol abuse. Alcohol dependence isn’t something that bad people do to hurt others. It is a real illness that impacts the decision making abilities of the individual, keeping them in a never ending cycle of abuse and neglect.
At ABT, we specifically take a cognitive behavioral approach to treating addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy where the negative thought patterns about the self and world are changed so that they can better cope in the world. At the facility, there will be a combination of group and individual therapy to help the client.
In group therapy the client will be able to connect with peers who are going through a similar challenge. Through the group they will be able to re-learn the social skills that may have deteriorated during their alcohol abuse. It can also serve as motivation to see other people recovering with them.
In individual therapy, the client is able to connect with a trained professional who will help them deconstruct the negative thought patterns that have lead them to drink excessively. The individual therapy sessions might also be a way for the person to share things that they wouldn’t necessary admit to a big group.
The length of time someone is in our inpatient facility varies depending on the person. There is no pressure to get done in a certain amount of time as everybody’s journey is different. It’s important to realize that rehab will not cure people of their craving and disposition towards abusing alcohol, but it can go a long way in providing the tools to deal with life.
After rehab, it is strongly suggested that the client go to meetings. In some cases, clients will go to sober living facilities to continue the process of getting back on their feet and avoiding alcohol. Recovery is a lifelong battle, but the freedom it brings is worth all the pain.
Some people feel as though they aren’t able to go to rehab because they can’t afford it. However, ABT provides various payment options to make it easy to get help. In addition, many insurance providers are able to cover most if not all of the costs associated with it. A Better Today strives to meet people of various income levels and lifestyles towards the goal of recovery. When someone makes the decision to get help they are taking a big step, and it’s important to recover in a safe and loving environment. A Better Today can be that supportive community for you.
