Alcohol Addiction Therapy
Why does drinking alcohol have such profound effects on thought, mood, and behaviour, and why does alcohol addiction develop and persist in some people and not in others? Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy.
To function normally, the brain must maintain a careful balance of chemicals called neurotransmitters, small molecules involved in the brain’s communication system that ultimately help regulate the body’s function and behaviour. Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy.
Just as a heavy weight can tip a scale, alcohol intoxication can alter the delicate balance among different types of neurotransmitter chemicals and can lead to drowsiness, loss of coordination, and euphoria, which are hallmarks of alcohol intoxication and with continued use alcohol addiction. Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy.
Remarkably, with ongoing exposure to alcohol, the brain starts to adapt to these chemical changes. When alcohol is present in the brain for long periods, as with long-term heavy drinking the brain seeks to compensate for its effects.
To restore a balanced state, the function of certain neurotransmitters begins to change so that the brain can perform more normally in the presence of alcohol. These long-term chemical changes are believed to be responsible for the harmful effects of alcohol, such as alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction.
Today, thanks to rapidly advancing technology, we know more than ever about how alcohol affects the brain and how the brain responds and adapts to these effects.
HOW ALCOHOL CHANGES THE BRAIN: TOLERANCE AND WITHDRAWAL
As the brain adapts to alcohol’s presence over time, a heavy drinker may begin to respond to alcohol differently than someone who drinks only moderately and alcohol addiction begins.
Some of these changes may be behind alcohol’s effects, including alcohol tolerance (i.e., having to drink more in order to become intoxicated) and alcohol withdrawal symptoms. These effects are associated with alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction.
When the brain is exposed to alcohol, it may become tolerant or insensitive to alcohol’s effects. Consequently, as a person continues to drink heavily, he or she may need more alcohol than before to become intoxicated. As tolerance increases, drinking may escalate, putting a heavy drinker at risk for a number of health problems, including alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction.
Even as the brain becomes tolerant to alcohol, other changes in the brain may increase some people’s sensitivity to alcohol. Desire for alcohol may transition into a pathological craving for these effects. This craving is strongly associated with alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction.
Other changes in the brain increase a heavy drinker’s risk for experiencing alcohol withdrawal, a collection of symptoms that can appear when a person with alcohol dependence suddenly stops drinking. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe, especially during the 48 hours immediately following a bout of drinking.
Typical symptoms include profuse sweating, racing heart rate, and feelings of restlessness and anxiety. Research shows that those with alcohol-dependency and alcohol addiction may continue drinking to avoid experiencing withdrawal.
Feelings of anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal can persist long after the initial withdrawal symptoms have ceased, and some researchers believe that over the long term this anxiety is a driving force behind alcohol-use relapse.
THE BRAIN’S UNIQUE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Tolerance and withdrawal are tangible evidence of alcohol’s influence on the brain. The brain communicates through a complex system of electrical and chemical signals. These signals are vital to brain function, sending messages throughout the brain, which, in turn, regulate every aspect of the body’s function. Neurotransmitter chemicals play a key role in this signal transmission.
Under normal circumstances, the brain’s balance of neurotransmitters allows the body and brain to function unimpaired. Alcohol addiction can cause changes that upset this balance, impairing brain function.
For example, the brain balances the activity of inhibitory neurotransmitters, which work to delay or stop nerve signals, with that of excitatory neurotransmitters, which work to speed up these signals.
Alcohol can slow signal transmission in the brain, contributing to some of the effects associated with alcohol intoxication, including sleepiness and sedation.
Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy at Lytham Hypnotherapy in Lytham, Fylde Coast Lancashire by Annette Brown HPD.
As the brain grows used to alcohol, it compensates for alcohol’s slowing effects by increasing the activity of excitatory neurotransmitters, speeding up signal transmission. In this way, the brain attempts to restore itself to a normal state in the presence of alcohol.
Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy Lytham, Fylde Coast. Please call Annette Brown HPD GQHP to book your free consultation on 01253 279284 or 07730 333833.
If the influence of alcohol is suddenly removed (that is, if a long-term heavy drinker stops drinking suddenly), the brain may have to readjust once again: this may lead to the unpleasant feelings associated with alcohol withdrawal, such as experiencing “the shakes” or increased anxiety.
TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOL ABUSE
As many individuals suffering from alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction find it difficult to acknowledge the existence of their problem, it may remain undetected for years. However, many individuals are able to rebuild their lives and control their alcohol addiction with the right treatment and support.
Hypnotherapy is often useful for the treatment of alcohol addictions. Relaxation techniques can help access an individual’s subconscious mind and uncover the root cause of the addiction. Understanding why alcohol has become a problem and learning techniques to replace the destructive behaviour can often help those with alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction.
Using hypnosis to re-examine an individual’s lifestyle can lead to better coping strategies and create different attitudes towards alcohol. Once the root cause has been identified, dealing with it can begin.
From a hypnotherapy perspective, I help clients to stop owning the identity of being an addict of alcohol addiction. I know that hypnosis is extremely effective in changing a person’s deepest beliefs about who they are.
I believe that when a person quits an addiction, they need to be something other than an “addict in recovery” for the rest of their life. Hypnotherapy is so effective is that it changes a person’s deepest beliefs about who they are.
I truly believe that to end alcohol addiction, people need to surround themselves with positive beliefs about being healthy and having the power to stay strong and in control. And this is where hypnosis makes some deep and lasting changes.
Alcohol Addiction Hypnotherapy Lytham, Fylde Coast. Please call Annette Brown HPD GQHP to book your free consultation on 01253 279284 or 07730 333833.