Alcoholism and Effective Treatment Interventions

Introduction

Alcoholism is a kind of substance abuse in which the person consumes alcohol in high quantities. It is a legal drug in America due to which there has been insufficient focus on its treatment. It is also linked with other substance abuse problems in the society. It results in other ills such as alcohol-related fatalities, fetal alcohol syndrome, child neglect and abuse, and violence. Those interventions are the best that have been proven to be effective with empirical research. Those interventions are also good that are traditional and deal with the problem.

Interventions for alcoholism

There are too many available interventions for alcohol abuse. These are classified into behavioral, disease, and psychodynamic interventions. In the behavioral model it is clear that alcoholism is a bad behavior that has been learnt. Accordingly, the interventions work to deal with de-learning this bad behavior.

The second model of effective alcohol treatment is the disease conception. This model believes that alcoholism is a disease per se that needs to be cured. Then, this model relies on pharmaceuticals to cure the disease of alcoholism. This problem also believes that the person is ill and hence need medical attention. The emotional states are described as resulting from the disease. There is no conception of behavior or attitude here. Alcoholism is treated as a disease that can be cured through medication. Then, prescription drugs are used to deal with the problem.

In contrast, the psychodynamic model believes that alcoholism results from high emotional states. There is a need for the person to consume large amounts of alcohol in order to maintain this high level of emotional ecstasy. Then, the intervention is based on dealing with this high emotional state, rather than curing alcohol as a disease directly. This view considers alcohol as self-medication that needs to be cured.v

Conclusion

It is clear that alcoholism is a major issue in America and beyond. It results in the person consuming large amounts of alcohol. The effective treatment interventions are those that result in the person consuming acceptable amounts of alcohol. There are several effective treatment interventions for alcohol. The disease model believes that alcoholism is a disease to be cured. The behavioral model considers it a bad and learnt behavior. Finally, the psychodynamic model believes that alcoholism results from self-medication through the use of alcohol. Then, people consume alcohol to achieve a higher state of emotions.