The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Helping people get over the habit of drinking

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Helping people get over the habit of drinking

Special Correspondent

Heavy drinking has been associated with road and other accidents, deaths from accidental fires and mishandling of machinery at the workplace

Bangalore: Alcohol may seem like a stress-buster but according to doctors and psychiatrists it is actually a depressant.

If you are on anti-depressant medication, alcohol should preferably be avoided.

The Bangalore chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which held a public information conference here last weekend, stressed on the psychosocial and personality disorders linked to alcoholism.

Heavy drinking has been associated with road and other accidents, deaths from accidental fires and mishandling of machinery in the workplace.

Domestic violence is an inevitable fallout; many marriages have broken down because one or both spouses are into heavy drinking.

AA does not offer a cure but only a way to admit one's addiction and then try to get over it one day at a time through a voluntary programme of abstinence, its members explain. Regular AA meetings are held where members new and old pour out their bad experiences and how they are trying to come out of compulsive drinking.

Members of a group support each other in this effort. Recovered alcoholics are often able to rebuild their lives, get back into careers and even become successful. But they have to constantly avoid the temptation to touch that first drink; they may end up finishing the bottle.

Assistance

A number of voluntary organisations and helplines today come to the assistance of those with a drinking problem.

Universally, the "12 Steps" programme of AA has been found the most cathartic experience.

Many organisations today view alcoholism as a serious problem affecting their employees and their productivity.

They encourage them to enter rehab centres.

There too after medical and psychological therapy are given, the recovering alcoholic is advised to attend AA meetings to gain the best from the treatment. A complete change of attitudes to oneself and others, better self-esteem, the courage to admit past mistakes and the willingness to make amends for such mistakes by starting a new life are what the AA programmes teach its members. Psychiatrists, counsellors, social workers and voluntary organisation now come forward to help in these efforts.

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