Alcohol treatment will be a process designed for anyone who recognises or comes to recognise that they have a problem with alcohol, and are often referred to as alcoholics or people who have alcohol addiction problems.
The nature of alcoholism and alcohol addiction can sometimes be endlessly debated, but in reality the basis for acknowledging there is a problem and what treatment options may be available should be based on the experience and behaviour of the individual, not any academic interpretation of what alcoholism or alcohol addiction may be.
The notion of alcoholism as an illness, now widely accepted in medical circles, was born out of the experience of many doctors and early members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who recognised the abnormal craving and compulsion of people drinking, drinking which was essentially out of their mental control.
In the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, the point is made that alcohol will have a different effect on someone who is an alcoholic, to someone who is not an alcoholic.
The comparison to an individual having an allergy is used, a comparison that some people find helpful and others find slightly confusing.
ALCOHOL TREATMENT
The important thing to realise is that at some level and for some reason an alcoholic drink differently to someone who is not an alcoholic, even a heavy drinker who may externally show some of the same characteristics and behaviour is that of an alcoholic.
Alcohol can be a part of many people’s lives, and may even be a problem in some people’s lives at certain points of their life.
Trying to define an alcoholic, or someone who has an alcohol addiction can be a very difficult and time-consuming process.
There are many people especially in the youth who might exhibit problems associated with alcohol, but who will in effect grow out of them.
There are other people of exactly the same age who may drink the same and exhibit similar behaviours and experiences who are in reality alcoholics but have not yet come to realise it.
Alcohol treatment can come in many forms, ranging from residential rehab addiction programs, through to 12 step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous, through to medical detox, through to an individual simply abstaining.