The NHS standard is to seek treatment if you are at all concerned about your own drinking habits. Treatment can be as minimal as brief intervention counselling or as extensive as residential rehab. Naltrexone works by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, thereby reducing the pleasurable effects of alcohol. It is used to help reduce alcohol consumption or prevent relapse after completing rehab. A typical course of naltrexone lasts for about six months or so.
- Speaking with a therapist, going to group counseling sessions, and attending 12-step programs are important parts of recovery.
- Real recovery takes commitment, strategy, support, and compassion.
- These meetings can come in many forms, the most well-known one being the 12-step program offered by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
The Role of Trauma and Mental Health
Start your recovery journey with peace of mind, knowing your care is covered. To start living life drug or alcohol-free, book an appointment today. We’ve watched families reunite, careers rebuild, and dreams rekindle. Recovery is not just a possibility—it’s a promise waiting to be claimed. Addiction may be a chronic condition, but it doesn’t have to define you. With the right tools, support, and mindset, recovery can become your new normal—filled with clarity, connection, and freedom.
Medication
I’d been dumped by a partner, my first serious break up, after she discovered that I had cheated on her. What would lead me to do something that would destroy my life as I knew it? Relapse is an expected part of the recovery process as you work toward recovery. If you want to take steps to get treatment for AUD, make an appointment with a doctor. They’ll likely ask you a series of questions to determine the severity of your AUD.
Long-term outlook for people with alcohol use disorder
If you are developing your own symptoms of depression or anxiety, think about seeking professional help for yourself. Remember that your loved one is ultimately responsible for managing their own illness. If you have any of these symptoms, alcohol may already be a cause for concern. The more symptoms https://seslaw.co.ke/?p=6954 you have, the more urgent the need for change.

But you have to be honest with yourself and recognize your vulnerabilities so you can take steps to prevent them from becoming dangerous problems again. This is why it is common in the medical and recovery world to acknowledge that there is no cure for addiction. Too many people have gotten clean, built a new life they love, declared they’re “cured,” and multiple drinks later find themselves back where they were a few years ago. As you work through recovery, you’ll lose your physical dependence on alcohol.
What is alcohol use disorder?
Combined with treatment led by health care providers, mutual-support groups can offer a valuable added layer of support. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. Three oral medications — disulfiram (Antabuse®), naltrexone (Depade®, ReVia®) and acamprosate (Campral®) — are currently approved to treat alcohol dependence. In addition, an injectable, long-acting form of naltrexone (Vivitrol®) is available. These medications have been shown to help people with dependence reduce their drinking, avoid relapse to heavy drinking, and achieve and maintain abstinence.
Coping and support
- In an alcoholic, the brain’s pleasure centers, as well as neurotransmitters that affect brain stimulation, are essentially out of whack.
- You take the pill, wait an hour, and then continue to drink moderately.
- Clinicians within the alcohol recovery field like to say that ‘the only cure for alcoholism is abstinence’.
Your friends, the amount of stress in your life and how readily available alcohol is also are factors that may increase your risk for Sobriety alcoholism. First City Recovery Center is proud to be accredited by The Joint Commission, a mark of excellence in healthcare quality and safety. Our treatment center is also certified by the state of Indiana and maintains memberships with leading professional organizations, reflecting our commitment to the highest standards of care.
There Is No Cure for Alcoholism – Only Recovery

If you think you may have alcohol use disorder, you’re not alone. Realizing you may have an issue is the first step toward getting better, so don’t hesitate to talk to a healthcare provider. They’ll recommend treatments and resources to can alcoholism be cured help you recover from alcohol use disorder. Alcohol addiction, clinically known as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), affects millions of people and families worldwide. What often begins as social or occasional drinking can gradually progress into a serious condition that impacts physical health, mental well-being, relationships, and daily responsibilities. One of the most common questions people ask is whether alcohol addiction can truly be cured—or if it is something that must be managed for life.
Treatment Options: Rehab?

And these medicines, for the most part, work by reducing the urge to want to drink and the pleasurable feedback that you get from drinking. Healthcare providers diagnose the condition by doing a physical examination to look for symptoms of conditions that alcohol use disorder may cause. More than one “yes” answers mean it is highly likely that a problem exists. If you think that you or someone you know might have an alcohol problem, it is important to see a doctor or other health care provider right away. They can help you determine if a drinking problem exists and plan the best course of action.
They are not addictive, so you don’t have to worry about trading one addiction for another. This is just like taking medicines to manage a chronic disease such as asthma or diabetes. But in the meantime, we have effective medications that exist, that are easy to prescribe that any doctor can prescribe. So like many health conditions, and many areas of substance use disorder, we’ve seen worsening trends and fawns have of the pandemic.
Heavy drinking in this population is five or more drinks in one day or 15 or more drinks in a week. Heavy drinking in this population is four or more drinks a day or eight drinks a week. Reach out here at Step One Recovery to work through alcoholism rehabilitation.