Maybe you are one of these persons who can go out one evening with your social network, enjoy a couple of drinks without feeling the need for more.
Or maybe, with time, your style of drinking has become more secret and more frequent, until a time comes where you realise you can’t function without alcohol in your system. You can’t stop drinking alcohol. You realise that the negative effects of your drinking habit surpass its benefits and the pleasure you once felt.
Shame and guilt suddenly surface in your mind as you try to keep your compulsions under control. Binge drinking turns into normal activity. Alcohol use becomes part of your diet. Family, friends, work, responsibilities all fall to the waistline – until you finally ask yourself the big question… Am I addicted to alcohol?
A definition of addiction is the fact of using a product like alcohol, drugs or medications in a non-adapted way and loosing control over the consumption of that product.
With this comes a sense of sufferance for the person, as well as for family and friends.
Negative consequences of this sufferance could be that, as the effects of dependency start to surface, you can find yourself more and more isolated. You might lose your job, as concentration becomes more and more challenging. Your social life might become poorer as you withdraw into a place of secrecy in order to feed your addiction more frequently.
What once gave you a sense of freedom and liberty is now holding you captive as your body and mind focus on “how to get my next fix.” Not only does your mental health start to decline, but your physical health also starts to deteriorate as the effects of heavy drinking start to compromise your liver and kidneys — Memory losses, disorientation, dizziness and pain start to be more and more frequent.
Your relationship with your loved one becomes a relationship with alcohol. Every aspect of daily life is driven by when, where and how you can drink. Success equals a drink. Stress equals a drink. Family time equals a drink. Life equals a drink. And you start asking yourself: can I stop drinking? Am I an addict? You start thinking that life is over and that you won’t be able to overcome your addiction. It doesn’t necessarily need to be like that. Clinic Les Alpes is here for you, as you start your journey in recovery.
In other words: why can my neighbour enjoy “just a few drinks” and I can’t?
How is it that when l start to drink I can’t stop? Is there a gene for alcoholism? Why me? How can I quit drinking? I want to stop drinking.
Experts think that although no special gene related to alcohol use disorder has been put into evidence, certain people are more vulnerable to this substance than others. The relationship with alcohol makes the body react in a different way, so instead of quitting drinking when the signs of alcohol abuse makes you sick, you continue consuming it. From that, it can get to the point where you need the alcohol to be able to function. You can’t stop, it is not a question of willpower, your body just responds differently.
Alcoholics Anonymous calls this sign, the “X-factor,” because no one knows exactly why it happens this way. It is just a disease that is shared by a certain group of people.
The first step towards recovery is admitting to yourself and to others that you need help.
How many times have you tried to quit drinking?
How many times have you admitted to a drinking problem?
How many times have withdrawal symptoms or denial got in the way? Your will and mind were ready to quit but a few hours later your body started craving for “just that last drink.” The role alcohol plays in your mind, body and spirit is addictive, and you may need a holistic approach to therapy, or a detoxification treatment plan to assist in the first steps towards recovery.
Clinic Les Alpes is situated in a spectacular setting of outstanding natural beauty in the mountains close to the town of Montreux in Switzerland. The Clinic has a 360 degrees view of alpine meadows, forests, snow-capped mountains and lake Geneva. It is a beautiful, serene and peaceful place. Our professional team of doctors, nurses and counselors will accompany you step by step on your journey.
Escape to a luxurious rehab clinic, where we make it our utmost priority to offer an individual and holistic treatment to all our patients. Thanks to our highly qualified and multidisciplinary team, we can offer you customised therapy programmes composed especially of one-to-one counseling, art therapy, support group and family therapy, among others.
As you enter the clinic for a 28 days rehabilitation program, you will start off by spending a few days under close medical observation so as to minimise as much as possible the alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can accompany alcohol dependence.
Day after day, as you start enjoying a sober way of living, you will find a team of counsellors ready to support you step by step on your journey to a life free from addiction. At the end of your stay, looking back at your old drinking habits and the atmosphere and emotions attached to them, you will find a new freedom and joy as you rediscover your true self.
So why not make this first step towards your recovery and contact us at Clinic Les Alpes.
