Caring for a person who has problems with alcohol can be very stressful. It is important that as you try to help your loved one, you also find a way to take care of yourself. It may help to seek support from others, including friends, family, community, and support groups. If you are developing your own symptoms of depression or anxiety, think about seeking professional help for yourself.
Therapy and behavioral modification
Beyond the personal tragedy, heavy drinking fuels workplace accidents, family conflict, and soaring healthcare costs. People with alcohol dependence may need to learn skills and coping mechanisms to help avoid alcohol once they leave a treatment center or return to familiar environments. If you drink more alcohol than that, consider cutting back or quitting.
Residential treatment programs
Look for national accreditation from the Joint Commission or CARF, state licenses, and a workforce that includes LPCs, LCSWs, physicians, and registered nurses. The care team huddles every seven days to adjust goals, step you up or down the continuum, and handle insurance re-authorizations, celebrating milestones like your first sober weekend. These red flags signal physiological dependence and heightened medical risk. Take the NIAAA’s brief Rethinking Drinking self-check and share the results with a physician or addiction counselor. Instead, it stems from the complex interaction of genes, environment, and mental health. Support groups aren’t for everyone, and they may not be helpful for some people.
- You may be able to better compare your options by assessing whether and how the program or provider measures success.
- If you’re detoxing at home, you’ll regularly see a nurse or another healthcare professional.
- Alcohol treatment is most successful when starting with the highest level of care necessary, and then slowly working down to lower levels as treatment progresses.
- Some people are surprised to learn that there are medications on the market approved to treat AUD.
Personalized Medicine
Ideally, health care providers will one day be able to identify which AUD treatment is most effective for each person. These advances could optimize how treatment decisions are made in the future. Knowing where to begin with treatment for alcohol addiction can feel overwhelming. But, treatment options like medical detox, specialized alcohol rehab programs, and peer support groups can help you find lasting recovery and healing. Alcohol use disorder (sometimes called alcoholism) is a common medical condition.
How can I prevent alcohol use disorder?
This thinking is more common among primary care providers, many of whom have had little training in behavioral health or addiction treatment. We’ll also explain how FDA-approved medications can ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms, explore telehealth therapy options, and break down the cost of alcohol rehab treatment. Alcohol dependence is often accompanied by certain mood or mental health conditions, like treatment for alcohol problems depression or anxiety.
The three-step road map outlined in the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator offers expert guidance to focus and support your efforts. Learn how to find higher quality, science-backed alcohol treatment to raise your changes for success. Given the diverse biological processes that contribute to AUD, new medications are needed to provide a broader spectrum of treatment options.
Find support groups
Disulfiram (brand name Antabuse) can be used if you’re trying to achieve abstinence but are concerned you may relapse, or if you’ve had previous relapses. You may also have regular blood tests so the health of your liver can be carefully monitored. Expect 30, 90, and 180 day check-ups, possible MAT adjustments, and growing “recovery capital” through employment, hobbies, fitness, and sober community events. When these biological and environmental forces converge, they create a perfect storm for Alcohol Use Disorder. Drinkers with two or more of these factors working against them will have a much harder time getting sober without proper professional help. When yeast ferments sugar it produces ethanol, the only form of alcohol humans can safely drink.
The groups for family and friends listed in the “Resources” section may be a good starting point. AUD is usually treated with a combination of options, including medications, mental health therapies, and support groups. Sometimes detox or rehabilitation programs can also help in severe cases. Talk with a doctor about your desire to quit drinking alcohol so they can work with you to determine the best course of action. A number of health conditions can often go hand in hand with AUD. Common mental health conditions that co-occur with AUD are depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stress-related disorders, other substance use disorders, and sleep disorders.
If your provider suspects that you have a problem with alcohol, you may be referred to a mental health provider. Contact your primary care provider, health insurance plan, local health department, or employee assistance program for information about specialty treatment. It is important to gauge whether the facility provides all the currently available, evidence-based methods or relies on one approach.
- It may help to seek support from others, including friends, family, community, and support groups.
- Telehealth, eHealth, and online rehab options bring alcohol treatment anywhere through video visits, text coaching, breathalyzer-linked apps, and online forums.
- According to a 2021 NIH report, less than 2 percent of the 14 million people living with AUD take an FDA-approved medication for it.
- Nurses monitor vitals every few hours, score withdrawal symptoms, and give comfort meds, hydration, and sleep support so your body can clear alcohol safely.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a mental and physical dependence on alcohol. As your loved one makes an effort, please keep in touch and be supportive. Too often we are so angry or discouraged that we take it for granted when things are going better.
Send a note of thanks to Mayo Clinic researchers who are revolutionizing healthcare and improving patient outcomes. Ultimately, receiving treatment can improve your chances of success. Remember that changing long-standing patterns is hard, takes time, and requires repeated efforts. We usually experience setbacks along the way, learn from them, and then keep going.
Advice for Friends and Family Members
For more information on a return to drinking, see An Ongoing Process. You may be able to better compare your options by assessing whether and how the program or provider measures success. Overall, gather as much information as you can about a program or provider before making a decision on treatment. If you know someone who has firsthand knowledge of a program, it may help to ask about their personal experience. Brief Interventions are short, one-on-one or small-group counseling sessions that are time limited. The counselor provides information about the individual’s drinking pattern and potential risks.
For many, continued follow-up with a treatment provider is critical for overcoming alcohol problems. The provider can help adjust the treatment plan and aid long-term recovery. Just like any other medical condition, people with substance use disorders deserve to have a range of treatment options available to them. Scientists are working to develop a larger menu of pharmaceutical treatments that could be tailored to individual needs.
Telehealth, eHealth, and online rehab options bring alcohol treatment anywhere through video visits, text coaching, breathalyzer-linked apps, and online forums. A 2025 systematic review showed online CBT cut heavy drinking days by roughly 25 percent. For adolescents, family or systemic therapy brings parents and siblings into the process, teaching coping skills and challenging drinking thoughts. Behavioral therapies give alcohol treatment staying power through proven techniques like cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and contingency management. It’s important to note that not all drinking indicates alcohol addiction. AUD is defined by a consistent pattern of unhealthy behaviors surrounding alcohol that, when combined, can cause damage to both the person drinking and others in their life.
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