Alcohol & Addiction - Current Trends

Throughout history, alcohol has played a part in our celebrations, commiserations, relaxation and grief. Consequently, excessive drinking is not a new phenomenon, yet the incidence of alcohol-related illness and injury in the 21st Century is dramatically increasing.

The Therapy Lounge undertakes research into the use of alcohol, addiction and what options are currently available for those who are looking for help.

Over one million British adults were classified "alcohol dependent" in 2011, that's one in 25 people, according to The British Psychological Society and The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Worse still, says alcohol awareness charity, DrinkAware, more than 33,000 people die every year from drink-induced diseases such as cirrhosis, pancreatitis, cancer, heart problems; from mental disorders and from drink-related accidents. Staggeringly, 17 per cent of all road deaths are due to drink driving.

Statistics show that 31 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women consume more than the recommended weekly alcohol limits, with a further ten per cent of adults drinking harmful levels of 35 to 50 units. Little wonder, then, that in just seven years, the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions has more than doubled, from 510,800 in 2002/03 to 1,057,000 in 2009/10 (Daily Mail), costing the British taxpayer millions of pounds.

Unfortunately, it would appear that easy availability and affordability of alcohol is fuelling not only the biggest binge drinking culture in Europe, but is leading to greater prevalence of alcohol dependence in the UK and the government is clearly not taking adequate steps to quell this epidemic. Cheap alcohol promotions, a plethora of alcopops geared at youngsters and the glamorisation of drinking on pre-watershed TV are all, unbelievably, permitted.

David Cameron has pledged a crack down on supermarkets selling alcohol at discounted prices and backed giving increased power to the police to tackle those who are selling to underage customers. Although it would appear the motive behind this is to improve "quality of life in town and city centres," thereby making Britain "a more attractive destination" (BBC News), rather than to save lives.

A minimum pricing scheme (of 50 pence per unit) has been suggested, which research claims could potentially reduce the number of people admitted to hospital through drunken activity annually by 5,000, but this is yet to be implemented. Regardless, many consumer groups and charities are sceptical that raising the price would stop excessive drinking. It should, however, earn more tax for the Treasury.

While it ought to be remembered that the vast majority do not drink excessively, the fact is, alcohol is a drug and an addict will find a way to get it, no matter what the cost. Making it harder to come by could fuel black market sales and an increase in potentially dangerous home-brewed alcohol. Therefore the government needs to do more to educate people on the dangers of drinking and offer more support to those affected, perhaps by officially recognising other forms of treatment.

Traditional treatment options comprise hospitalisation, being admitted to a rehabilitation centre, going 'cold turkey' or group therapy such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Group therapy is tremendously popular, yet the focus is not on the individual and the AA itself says that it does not "make medical or psychological diagnoses or prognoses" nor does it "furnish initial motivation for alcoholics to recover". Research suggests that group therapy works but only if wholly embraced; long-term success rates depend on the degree to which it is incorporated into an individual's life.

The crux of the matter is that many people assume alcohol addiction is an illness and thus treatment approaches vary, as do success rates. The medical profession and many rehab institutions see it as a "progressive illness" according to AA. As such, treatment methods include promoting health and well-being via a change of diet, exercise, developing other interests, reading and education. They aim to cure by using distraction techniques, rather than addressing the fundamental, deeper issues, such as why an individual started drinking in the first place.

Addiction is a personal issue and to even scratch the surface, a far more successful treatment is one-on-one therapy, which really burrows down into the individual's subconscious to identify and tackle reasons for drinking. With traditional methods not doing this, many people fall off the proverbial wagon and return to alcohol.

Therapists believe that alcoholism can be split into "physiological dependence and psychological dependence" (Jayasinghe, 2005) and while medical interventions can control the physical side of the illness, the problems lie with finding a solution which provides "long lasting and an effective form of treatment for psychological dependency" and that's why they so often fail.

Therapists tend to view alcoholism as a behaviour disorder which is of the individual's own making, therefore it can be overcome. It is a learned behaviour which has been developed to 'cope' with a situation and can be 'unlearned' through addressing the root causes.

That's where alternative methods such as hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) come into the fore. Through identifying the reasons for drinking, a bespoke treatment plan can be formulated, specific to the individual's circumstances, to help to re-programme the mind and rebuild emotional strength.

Many alcohol dependent individuals suffer with other, co-occurring mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety, which is not explored in hospital, in AA or necessarily at rehab. That's another reason why therapy is an effective treatment for alcoholism, helping to the change self-defeating thoughts that may provoke the individual to drink.

CBT, in particular, is known as a "broad-spectrum treatment approach - that is, an approach that does not focus primarily on the patient's alcohol consumption but addresses other life areas that are often functionally related to drinking and relapse" (Longabaugh and Morgenstern, 1999). Crucially, it focuses on the circumstances which provoke drinking, identifying thought processes that occur between the trigger and the drinking and looks at the events that occur after the drink.

These techniques are much more appealing to those who struggle with group therapy or the group environment, many don't want to 'confess' in front of strangers. In one on one treatment sessions, family members and carers can also be involved if a patient desires.

Therapy, too, examines what is needed to achieve long-term sobriety, which naturally differs from person to person. The physical drinking is a symptom of a greater issue, but once that has been dealt with, total abstinence may not be necessary for recovery - potentially some successfully treated patients will be able to drink in moderation without losing control.

Recovery has no fixed end date and is not just about abstinence, it's about personal growth and self-change, as Laudet (2007) writes: the "greatest predictor of long term sobriety was improving one's quality of life." Therapy equips individuals with the tools necessary to create this new life: confidence, self-esteem and discipline.

Alcohol dependence, sadly, is a growing phenomenon, made harder by the simple availability of this drug. Recovery is a life-long process that requires the total reclamation of one's life. Until an individual achieves both psychological and physiological harmony with regard to their drinking and mental health, there will always be a very real danger of relapse.

Fortunately, therapy addresses both of these elements to provide individuals with a sound basis for their recovery, something that the traditional, medical treatments omit.

Undoubtedly, alcohol dependence is an all-consuming and damaging disorder, but the prospects are bright for those who seek out the appropriate level of help.

Find out more about The Therapy Lounge or it's Conquer Addiction Hypnotherapy.