Intervention can help an alcoholic overcome the most severe form of alcohol abuse, which involves the inability to stop drinking due to physical and psychological dependence. Alcoholism is categorized as mild, moderate, or severe, but it always worsens over time, regardless of the stage. An alcoholic will not remain in one stage indefinitely.
Overcoming alcoholism is not easy, and it requires extensive well-rounded treatment. One of the biggest struggles that alcoholics face is the constant feeling of emptiness and being alone. Alcohol no longer creates the same effects as did initially and puts the person into risky situations. Alcohol intervention helps an alcoholic overcome their problems by bringing family and friends together. Moreover, the treatment demonstrates that they are not alone, and there are others in recovery struggling with similar issues.
The Current State of Alcoholism in America
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2018, more than half of the US adult population drank alcohol in the past 30 days. About 16% of the adult population reported binge drinking, and 7% reported heavy drinking. Between 2011 and 2015, excessive alcohol use was responsible for an annual average of 95,000 deaths and 2.8 million years of potential life lost. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug and Health, among the 139.7 million current alcohol users aged 12 and older, 65.9 million were past month binge drinkers.
Additionally, among adolescents aged 12 to 17, 17.6% had used alcohol in the past month. The percentage among young adults aged 18 to 25 was 61.4%, and 55% of adults aged 26 and older had used alcohol in the past month. Moreover, 24.9% of people aged 12 and older were past month binge drinkers. Excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20 to 64, and the economic cost of excessive alcohol consumption is hundreds of billions of dollars each year.
Does Intervention Help an Alcoholic?
Among the many Americans who are struggling with alcoholism, only a small percentage ask for help and are willing to attend treatment. Most alcoholics require family intervention to help them understand the importance of treatment. An intervention allows relatives and friends to present their loved ones with the opportunity to accept their problems and make changes. Having family and friends express their genuine concern and reasoning removes some of the loneliness an alcoholic faces, emphasizing becoming sober.
Everyone involved with the intervention offers examples of how alcoholism has been destructive and had a detrimental impact on the addicted person and the people around them. Moreover, it presents the alcoholic with the consequences of their actions if they choose not to accept a treatment plan. All the planning and everything that is said is designed to have a positive and emotional impact. Family intervention demonstrates the severity of the addiction and provides a solution.
Treatment for Alcoholism Begins with a Family Intervention
Alcohol abuse intervention is one of the most common types of intervention that professional interventionists help families with. Most life-long alcoholics are stubborn and difficult to deal with, and because alcohol is legal, many drinkers do not view it as a problem. Moreover, many alcoholics do not view their problem with alcohol to be on the same level as other addictions. Intervention has the potential to be a difficult process if it focuses on how much or how little someone drinks. During the intervention, if everyone verbally attacks the individual and places blame, the intervention will go nowhere.
The treatment process has to start somewhere, and what better time than being surrounded by family and friends all sharing the same concerns. It is an impactful process and demonstrates the severity of alcoholism. The purpose of an intervention is to show the alcoholic how their addiction has impacted the lives of their family and their own life. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are serious problems that affect families in significant ways. Beginning the treatment process with an intervention helps the person struggling with alcoholism and their family.
Everyone involved has the opportunity to begin family counseling to handle problems with codependency, enabling, and old family arguments. Once their loved one enters treatment, it offers an opportunity for the family to enroll in family counseling and have the ability to support their loved one through treatment. With the guidance of a family interventionist, the family and the addict start down the path of healing the family dynamic and overcoming alcoholism.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/excessive-drinking-data/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt29393/2019NSDUHFFRPDFWHTML/2019NSDUHFFR1PDFW090120.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm