How to Help Someone Detox From Alcohol
Alcoholism is an disease that afflicts all kinds of people, regardless of race, age or gender. As an addiction, it can be difficult to overcome, especially for those who take to drinking to solve personal issues such as death in the family or getting laid off from a job. Helping someone detoxify from alcohol use is a challenging process, the likes of which requires not only resolve, but unilateral support from family and friends.
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Instructions
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Support
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1
March your addicted friend to wherever he keeps his alcohol. Make him pour each and every bottle down the drain and put them where they belong -- in the trash.
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2
Offer to accompany your friend to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. As an organization that brings together recovering alcoholics, they help each other to stay sober. Being there can help take the nervousness off the first meeting, eventually to the point where the person can go to them without you.
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3
Provide a helping hand. The detoxification process usually takes 1 to 5 days, a time in which withdrawal symptoms such as hand tremors and seizures can occur. Stay with your friend during this period; let him know he can always contact you should he feel the need to reach for a bottle.
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Involve friends and family in the recovery effort. They will provide a circle of support far stronger than if you went at it alone.
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Remind your friend whenever he passes important milestones in his recovery, such as going a full two months without drinking. Compliment him on his job well done so far; encourage him to continue!
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Tips & Warnings
Stay on him! Keep supporting your friend and believing in him, even if he's stopped believing in himself.
If your friend decides to detox without the aid of counseling or rehab, stay with him for at least two days. The withdrawal symptoms for a heavy drinker can include coma and delirium tremens, a condition in which the brain is unable to normalize its chemistry without alcohol. This can lead to extreme changes in how the body regulates blood circulation and breathing. Heart rates and blood pressure can shoot up unexpectedly, placing the person in danger of heart attack, stroke or death.
