What is alcoholism?
Alcohol dependence, also known as alcoholism, is the most severe form of high-risk drinking. People who are alcohol dependent have an intense, often uncontrollable desire to consume alcohol. They may continue drinking despite harmful consequences, such as physical or mental health problems.
As well as affecting your well-being, alcohol dependence strains relationships and affects your work and finances. This can contribute to depression and anxiety, creating a cycle of using alcohol to lift your mood. Long-term drinking leads to increased tolerance, requiring more and more so you can feel the same effects. This can make it increasingly difficult to control your drinking.
In England 4% of people aged 16 to 65 experience alcohol dependence. Additionally, more than 24% of the population engage in potentially harmful alcohol consumption, with men more than twice as likely to than women. Alcohol misuse is also on the rise among children and young people.
Everyone’s experience of alcohol dependency is different, and effective treatments are available for varying degrees of severity. These may vary depending on whether your alcohol addiction is mild, moderate, or severe.
There are around 600,000 dependent drinkers in England
Harmful alcohol consumption is the greatest risk factor for death, poor health and disability for ages 15-49
Over 1.2 million violent incidents are linked to alcohol misuse in England each year
Drinking alcohol can make you feel relaxed, carefree, more talkative and sociable. You may start to associate these positive feelings with alcohol, which gradually makes you want to drink more and more. This can eventually lead to psychological and physical dependence.
There are risk factors that can make some people more likely to develop alcohol addiction.
Trauma or stressful life events
Stress and trauma can play large parts in alcohol use, and you’re more likely to abuse alcohol if you are dealing with PTSD. The impact of early trauma also significantly increases your susceptibility to alcohol abuse.
These can lead people to self-medicate with alcohol. It may offer temporary relief, mimicking a sense of wellness. Using alcohol to escape can lead to harmful habits, as it only provides temporary relief from past traumas.
People who drink due to stress are more likely to relapse. Using alcohol as a coping mechanism exacerbates the risk of physiological imbalances
Mental health
People experiencing mental health challenges are more likely to develop issues with alcohol. Drinking can offer temporary relief so people use it to self-medicate. However, alcohol can worsen the effects of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
Early exposure to alcohol
Commencing alcohol consumption early matters; people aged 26 and above who began drinking before 15 were over three times more likely to report problems in the past year compared to those starting at 21 or later.
Family history
Foetal alcohol syndrome, pre-birth brain damage, and post-birth exposure to alcohol are all influencing factors. The constant presence of alcohol in alcoholic homes also plays a substantial role.
Unlike children of social drinkers, those in alcoholic families regularly witness alcohol use, heightening the likelihood of early experimentation. The continuous availability of alcohol, combined with genetic factors, likely contributes to families passing down alcohol problems.
Regardless of family history, it’s important to be aware that risk exists even without a direct familial alcohol background.
What does an alcohol addiction look like?
You may need support if you regularly feel you need to have a drink, if other people have expressed concern about how much you are drinking, or if you think your drinking is causing problems in your life.
You may feel ashamed of your habit, resulting in denial, loneliness, or hiding it. Being stuck in a cycle of addiction leads to pouring money into the habit and ignoring its impact.
Alcohol abuse vs alcohol dependence
Alcohol abuse is drinking too much and keeping up excessive drinking despite legal, social or health worries. Alcohol dependence means you have built up a tolerance and can’t quit drinking without feeling withdrawal symptoms. Both significantly impact your life.
Effects on the brain
Regular, heavy drinking disrupts vital brain chemicals. You may experience poor mental health, including anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Alcohol use can also heighten aggression, starting a cycle when you use it to lift your mood. You may have been defensive when confronted about your drinking. Your previous behaviour may have made people uncomfortable. This could have caused them to distance themselves from you and become less willing to offer support.
Work and relationships
The way alcohol affects your body and behaviour can make it difficult for you to perform your job properly. It can impact your relationships with friends and family, leading to domestic troubles, potential breakups, and divorce. Losing your job, a relationship breakup and spending more of your money on alcohol can all contribute to homelessness.
Physical health
Alcohol affects the part of the brain responsible for judgement and decision making. This can make you more likely to take part in risky behaviours. If you’re regularly drinking excessive amounts, this can lead to frequent injuries.
Chronic alcohol misuse can damage your physical health in numerous ways. It weakens the immune system, increasing the risk of illnesses. It raises blood pressure, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Alcohol misuse also heightens your risk for various cancers and can cause sexual problems like impotence or premature ejaculation.
How can it be overcome?
If you have the right support and motivation, you can either stop drinking or reduce your alcohol consumption to a lower-risk level. However, if you’re alcohol dependent, you should seek medical advice before completely stopping to ensure you follow a safe process.
Where to start
Speak to your GP or another healthcare professional to discuss available treatment options. You need to be honest about how much you’re drinking and any issues it’s causing so they can help you in the best way. They can advise whether you would benefit from medical supervision during a detox.
If you’re alcohol dependent, they may suggest medications to help manage withdrawal symptoms and support your efforts to stop drinking. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms vary in intensity.
Mild symptoms include:
- sweating
- tremors
- fast heart rate
- feeling anxious and nauseous in the morning
- vomiting
Severe symptoms include:
- shaking
- feeling disorientated
- hallucinations
- breathing problems
- seizures or fits
While many symptoms can be addressed at home, severe symptoms can be life threatening. Moderate to severe withdrawal should be supervised by a healthcare professional. In some cases, inpatient treatment may be necessary.
Talking therapies
Consider engaging with therapists to change your drinking behaviour. They will focus on helping you build motivation, learn coping skills, and prevent a return to drinking. A therapist will do this through behavioural treatments like brief interventions and reinforcement approaches. Behavioural therapies aim to modify behaviours and enhance coping mechanisms to prevent alcohol misuse and relapse.
Mindfulness
You can explore mindfulness-based therapies as well. These are designed to support and guide you in transforming your drinking habits. Mindful drinking emphasises awareness of your alcohol consumption, leading to healthier habits and reduced intake. It involves questioning each drink’s purpose and promoting a balanced relationship with alcohol. It’s not aimed at abstinence. It’s part of broader mindfulness therapies aiding recovery and self-control in addiction.
Medication
Your GP may prescribe medications for alcoholism to help reduce your drinking. These will be part of a comprehensive treatment, counselling, and lifestyle changes. Different medications help in different ways. Everyone’s relationship with alcohol varies, so your GP will recommend what is best for you.
Acamprosate helps curb cravings, disulfiram deters drinking with unpleasant reactions to alcohol, and naltrexone lessens alcohol’s pleasurable effects. For severe withdrawal, short-term benzodiazepines may manage symptoms.
Rehab units
Embarking on a residential detox and rehab program provides you with a roadmap for long-term recovery. In rehab, the focus is on treating addiction’s root causes and reshaping your thinking.
Intensive therapy addresses specific addiction roots. It helps ensure the safe removal of substances and improves overall well-being. However, addiction doesn’t vanish overnight; applying the recovery tools learned in rehab is crucial for sustained wellness. This transformative process is both life-changing and lifesaving.
Support groups
Self-help or mutual help groups offer structured programs where people extend support to one another. These groups are typically free, anonymous, and led by peers. They play a vital role in helping people maintain sobriety and offer a secure environment for connecting with fellow addicts in recovery.
These groups aren’t a substitute for professional rehabilitation but can wonderfully complement existing or ongoing treatments. Taking place in various settings, support groups underscore the value of connecting individuals on their unique paths to recovery, fostering a sense of understanding and encouragement.
Hypnotherapy for alcohol addiction addresses underlying issues and transforms your negative thoughts and behaviours through suggestion techniques. Hypnotherapy offers a powerful approach to breaking the cycle of alcohol addiction. It is most effective when combined with other treatments.
Addiction often arises from unaddressed traumas or stressors lingering beneath the surface. Excessive alcohol use is often an attempt to cope with challenging emotions, stress or mental difficulties. Achieving control over alcohol involves gaining control over these challenges. Hypnotherapy for alcoholism directly engages with these deep-seated thoughts and behaviours.
The hypnotherapist induces deep relaxation to improve your mind’s receptiveness to suggestions. Understanding how the brain functions, we work on ‘fine-tuning’ its wiring to react more constructively to stress. Customised suggestions for alcohol addiction target your triggers, reshape reactions, and reduce cravings. Each positive choice helps encode healthier responses into the brain, guiding you towards sustainable change.
In solution-focused hypnotherapy, sessions don’t dwell on past issues. Instead, they focus on creating a positive vision of the future. The emphasis is on what you want in life, promoting a sense of well being. You determine your alcohol-related goals, whether complete abstinence or controlled consumption.
Hypnotherapy for alcoholism sessions celebrates progress, reinforcing feelings of control and encouraging positive choices. In just a few sessions, we empower you to shape a future free from the limitations of alcohol dependence.
Our Alcohol Addiction Specialists
Benn Baker-Pollard
Sittingbourne
Carmen Harrington
Market Harborough
Caroline Prout
Thrapston
Chris Johannes
Spalding
Claire Noyelle
Maidstone East
Gary Johannes
Peterborough
Jill Whitehouse
Newcastle upon Tyne
Keeley Smith
Southend-on-Sea
Kerry Seymour
Weston-super-Mare
Peter Ely
Islington
Victoria Anderson
Sunderland
Why Choose Inspired To Change
Our solution focused hypnotherapists empower you to better understand your brain, helping to guide you towards solutions and achieve the outcomes you want. We have a team of fully trained hypnotherapists, giving you the choice of who to work with and how you want to work with them. Solution focused hypnotherapy is just as effective in-person or online in the comfort of your own home, so you can find the ideal therapist to help you reach your goals.
Every one of our hypnotherapists is recognised by governing bodies like the National Council for Hypnotherapy, the UK’s leading not-for-profit hypnotherapy professional association. They have all trained with Clifton Practice Hypnotherapy Training, one of the leading hypnotherapy schools in the UK.
