When a loved one suffers from alcoholism, the family begins to look for self-treatment options for addiction. Reviews on the Internet, advice from friends and independent selection of medicines are used. They try to help the patient, but often they only make it worse.

Alcoholism is a chronic illness that affects a person’s physical, psychological and spiritual health. Treatment of alcoholism at home will not give results at best, and at worst it will cause irreparable harm.

Why treating alcoholism on your own is dangerous

You can cure a mild cold with raspberry tea and bed rest. But alcoholism is a complex disease that sometimes affects the human body in a very unpredictable manner, and it will not be possible to get by with soothing chamomile teas.

The main danger of self-treatment lies in the lack of knowledge about the state of the patient’s body. During the time of taking alcohol, a person could earn a stomach ulcer, cirrhosis of the liver, disorders in the functioning of the kidneys, heart, veins and blood vessels. Any non-professional intervention and therapy that helped “one of your friends” can lead to the most unexpected consequences for the health and life of an alcoholic.

The worst option for helping a patient is “hidden treatment”. It involves mixing medicinal tinctures and tablets into the alcoholic’s food, which should cause an aversion to alcohol. It should be understood that mixed with alcohol, tablets or tinctures can cause severe intoxication of the body and other dangerous consequences.

What consequences can arise?

Self-treatment can lead to death very quickly. The means by which the patient is trying to “get drunk” can act like a time bomb. At first, there will be no effect, but at one point a person may become ill. If you do not call an ambulance in a timely manner, you can lose your relative. The most dangerous consequences of alcoholism therapy at home include:

• Heart attacks, heart attack.
• Stroke.
• Failure of specific body systems: liver, kidneys.
• Stomach ulcer, erosive gastritis, exacerbation of pancreatitis.
• Convulsive syndromes, including epileptic seizures.
• Mental insanity.
• Internal bleeding.
• Strong intoxication of the body.
• Coma.
• Death.

If a loved one needs urgent drug treatment at home, it is worth contacting a specialized medical institution. If the patient is afraid of publicity and registration, the family can turn to a private narcology clinic, where help is provided anonymously.