Alcohol Problems
Alcohol, the most dangerous drug, is legal and available at a corner shop near you.
Perhaps because it's easier to hide, alcohol dependency and harmful use is rife and lies behind much other mental and physical illness in the UK.
However, for many of our patients, their problem is past hiding as it has already lost them their closest relationships, their jobs and their homes.
If you have a problem with alcohol it's not easy to deal with because the stuff is so available and forms a part of the way most of us socialise.
If you don't have a problem with it and you are sensible you can just enjoy it... But there can be a fine line between the two.
What help is available?
There isn't one easy answer. Accepting you have a problem is the first step. It will help to talk about things with us as that discussion will help to make the problem real for you.
Controlled drinking
Trying to control what you drink is a good next step. Write down or remember what you drink each day, say for a week, and then try cutting down by a small amount each day. Even if you have a heavy drink problem it's safe to do this. Once you have got down to a reasonable level you should try having some days without alcohol. Basically if you get this far it shows you CAN crack the problem. If you can't then you may need more help with it or have to try a different approach.
Specialised help is available from the following agencies who we work with:
CAN - for individual counselling for Alcohol and Drug problems
Aquarius - for group and individual psychological work
Another approach - abstinence
Some people seem to find it so difficult to control what they drink that abstinence - not drinking alcohol at all - is the best thing for them.
A warning here - if you have a heavy alcohol intake and have to have a drink as soin as you wake in the morning or very soon after, you shouldn't try to stop drinking suddenly as you could have an epileptic fit. However it IS ok to cut down slowly - say by 1 can of drink or similar each day. But as we have already said, you may have found this too difficult and so you may find it necessary to ask us for a "detox". For most people we would plan a detox starting on a Monday and see you each day that week for a prescription to relax you and prevent fits and to give you support. Only occasionally do we find it necessary to do this at your home or in hospital.
You can download our leaflet telling you about this service here (available soon)
Keeping abstinent
The organisation most associated with the "abstinence" approach is AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and they have meetings everwhere. This link will take you to a list of local meetings.
Some people love AA, but for others it's not for them. But if you are struggling we would suggest you try them out - you really don't have anything to lose! We all need friends to help us and AA provide that group support. The only down side is that AA don't have a philosophy that sits comfortably with controlled drinking so if you want help with that currently CAN and Aquarius will be more your... cup of tea... or tipple!
Drinking for a reason
There is evidence that genetic factors as well as factors in the environment when you are growing up can make you more likely to get addicted to alcohol, or perhaps just make alcohol more attractive to you. However, some people also may start drinking heavily as a way of dealing with depression, anxiety or other mental health problems. We think its important for you to try and find out reasons if they exist and look at ways of dealing with them. It is however sometimes difficult to treat the underlying problem until you have got your drinking under a degree of control, or become abstinent - this is because alcohol itself, as a drug, can significantly influence your mood and emotions and make a diagnosis of other mental health problems difficult until it is out of the equation.