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Alcohol Rehab Treatment

Alcohol greatly reduces the activity in the central nervous system in the brain thus making it a downer. After a person has consumed alcohol and has become intoxicated their muscle tone becomes loose and they experience loss of fine motor coordination. Alcohol intoxication will cause eyes to look glossy and their pupils will be slow to respond to light and darkness. Pupils may even become constricted if alcohol is taken in high doses. Alcohol can decrease heart rate, lower respiration rate, lower blood pressure causing a decrease in reflex response and a much slower reaction time. Skin will feel cool to the touch, even though the person may feel hot and will often sweat profusely. see Alcohol Abuse Treatment Centers

The effects of alcohol depend on the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC):

A BAC level of 0.02-0.03 will cause a feeling of slight euphoria and loss of shyness.

A BAC level of 0.04-0.06 will give the person a feeling of well-being, warm sensations, lowered inhibitions.

A BAC level of 0.07-0.09 gives a person impairments of balance, vision, speech, reaction time, and hearing, reasoning, caution, and even memory.

A BAC level of 0.10-0.12.5 will cause a loss of balance, good judgment, and speech is slurred.

A BAC level of 0.13-0.15 will cause a lack of physical control, gross motor impairment, loss of balance, extremely blurred vision, and dysphoria will begin to appear.

A BAC of 0.16-0.20 will cause restlessness, anxiety, and dysphoria.

A BAC of 0.25 will cause a person to need assistance walking, they'll be in a complete mental confusion, and they will feel nausea and experience vomiting.

A BAC level of 0.30 will cause loss of consciousness.

A BAC of 0.40 will cause an onset of a coma, possibly even death due to repertory arrest.

Alcohol Rehab

Alcohol and Other Drug Screening

Do you ever drink beer, wine or liquor?

If yes:

On average, how many days per week do you drink alcohol?
On a typical day when you drink, how many drinks do you have?
What is the maximum number of drinks you had on any given occasion during the last month?

In the last 12 months:

Have you ever felt you should Cut down on you drinking?
Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your drinking?
Have you ever had a drink first think in the morning to "steady your nerves" or get rid of a hang over? ("Eye opener")

Do you use any street drugs?

If yes: Which one(s)?

marijuana
PCP
illy
cocaine
heroin
uppers
downers
other (specify):

CAGE Screening Tool

CAGE (in the last 12 months)

Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your drinking?
Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your drinking?
Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to "steady your nerves" or get ride of a hangover "Eye Opener"?

CONSUMPTION

On average, how many days per week do you drink alcohol?
On a typical day when you drink, how many drinks do you have?
What is the maximum number of drinks you had on any given occasion during the last month?

SCREEN IS POSITIVE IF:

A positive response on 1 or more questions from CAGE and/or Consumption:

Men > 14 drinks/week or > 4 drinks/occasion
Women and both sexes > 7 drinks/week
over 65 years of age > 3 drinks/occasion

THEN ASSESS FOR:

Medical problems: Black outs, depression, hypertension, injury, abdominal pain, liver dysfunction, sleep disorders
Laboratory
Behavioral problems
Alcohol Dependence

If at-risk drinker:

Advise patient of risk.
Set drinking goals.
Provide referral to primary care.

If alcohol dependent drinker:

Assess acute risk of intoxication/withdrawal.
Negotiate referral i.e. detoxification, AA and primary care.

Continue exploring Pros & Cons and Assessing Readiness to Change if appropriate.

Reference: The Physician’s Guide to Helping Patients with Alcohol Problems. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH Publication No. 95-3769.

TWEAK Screening Tool

"TWEAK" Test

Do you drink alcoholic beverages? If you do, please take our ‘TWEAK" test.

T - Tolerance: How many drinks can you "hold"? (Record number of drinks in space at right.) (For next questions, check box at right for ‘yes" answers.)
W - Have close friends or relatives Worried or Complained about your drinking in the past year?
E - Eye-Openers. Do you sometimes take a drink in the morning when you first get up?
A - Amnesia (Blackouts): Has a friend or family member ever told you about things you said or did while you were drinking that you could not remember?
K - (C) Do you sometimes feel the need to Cut Down on your drinking?

To score the test, a seven-point scale is used. The tolerance question scores two points If a woman reports she can "hold" more than five drinks without passing out, and a positive response to the worry question scores two points, Each of the last three questions scores one point for positive responses. A total score of three or more points indicates the woman is likely to be a heavy/problem drinker.

Drug Treatment & Substance Abuse - Addiction Treatment

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