Systematic studies of these medications suggest promising findings for topiramate, ondansetron, gabapentin, and varenicline. The anticonvulsant drug topiramate represents one of the most promising medications in terms of efficacy, based on its medium effect size from several clinical trials [for a review, see (45)], including a multisite clinical study (46). One strength of topiramate is the possibility of starting treatment while people are still drinking alcohol, therefore serving as a potentially effective treatment to initiate abstinence (or to reduce harm) rather than to prevent relapse in already detoxified patients (45). Although not approved by the FDA, it is worth noticing that topiramate is a recommended treatment for alcohol use disorder in the U.S. A concern with topiramate is the potential for significant side effects, especially those affecting cognition and memory, warranting a slow titration of its dose and monitoring for side effects.
- In McMahon’s experience, the subject of an intervention is usually grateful for the care and support shown by family and friends.
- For more information, please visit the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator®, an online tool that helps individuals find the right treatment for them—and near them.
- The effect of personalized feedback on alcohol consumption was described as important in an earlier review of online alcohol interventions [103].
- The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation does not have interventionists on staff, but we can provide you with information and contacts for professional intervention services.
Addiction and Mental Health Resources
- For more information about the HPCR, including the opportunity for health care professionals to earn free continuing education credits, visit niaaa.nih.gov.
- Cognitive behavioral treatments can be delivered in individual or group settings and can also be extended to the treatment of families and couples (72, 73).
- Moving medications development from phase 1 to phase 2 and 3 trials has also been a difficulty in the field.
- In fact, there are many treatment options available thanks to significant advances in medical and behavioral research over the past decades.
A supervised, medical detox can help people avoid these uncomfortable and potentially dangerous withdrawal complications. Contributors to this article for the NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol include https://ecosoberhouse.com/ the writers for the full article, the content contributors to subsections, reviewers, and editorial staff. These contributors included both experts external to NIAAA as well as NIAAA staff.
Recovery Coaching
Anyone can suggest an how to do an intervention for an alcoholic, including friends, loved ones, employers, and work colleagues. Development of novel pharmaceutical reagents is a lengthy, costly, and expensive process. Once a new compound is ready to be tested for human research use, it is typically tested for safety first via phase 0 and phase 1 clinical studies in a very limited number of individuals. Efficacy and side effects may then be further tested in larger phase 2 clinical studies, which may be followed by larger phase 3 clinical studies, typically conducted in several centers and are focused on efficacy, effectiveness, and safety. If approved for use in clinical practice, this medication is still monitored from a safety standpoint, via phase 4 postmarketing surveillance. A-2 agonists (e.g., clonidine) and β-blockers (atenolol) are sometimes used as an adjunct treatment to benzodiazepines to control neuro-autonomic manifestations of alcohol withdrawal not fully controlled by benzodiazepine administration (18).
Finding Help With An Intervention
Another reason is that some people use alcohol as a coping strategy to overcome negative changes in physical health and mental health that come with ageing [9,10,11], including increased loneliness and social isolation [12], unemployment and economic downturns [13]. In developing countries, alcohol use has been increasing in line with economic development and global marketing. The increased availability and affordability of alcohol among lower socio-economic groups has also played a role [1,14]. For developing countries, this is in line with increasing economic development, global marketing and the greater availability and affordability of alcohol among lower socio-economic groups [1,14].
Steps Involved in Intervention Planning
The primary goal, however, is to convince the alcoholic to seek treatment. This is not always successful on the first try, but if nothing else, the intervention plants the idea in the person’s mind. It can also initiate changes in the way the family deals with the person’s alcoholism.
If you are a licensed therapist, see the Resources, below, for therapy manuals from NIAAA-sponsored clinical trials. The manuals contain modules for alcohol-focused CBT, motivational enhancement, mutual support group facilitation, and other evidence-based approaches that can help you treat clients who have AUD. It can be difficult to know how to do an intervention with a family member who is struggling with alcohol use. In most cases, preparations for an intervention should be made quietly and privately so the person with alcoholism does not know about it ahead of time.
Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability
During the planning stage, it can be helpful to review potential excuses or answers the individual receiving the intervention may make and develop thought-out solutions to minimize the chance of the intervention not being successful. It is also helpful to have a few different treatment options identified and immediately available. In most cases, multiple attempts at helping the individual seek help are made. However, when these attempts are unsuccessful, it often leaves loved ones in a difficult position.
In relation to treatments that were not delivered by a practitioner, were not in-person and were individual, five effective elements were present. The process of organizing the intervention and the intervention itself can cause conflict, anger and resentment, even among family and friends who know your loved one needs their help. It’s hard helping a loved one who is struggling with any type of addiction. Sometimes a direct, heart-to-heart conversation can start the road to recovery.
Family and Children’s Programs
12-step facilitation therapy is an engagement strategy used in counseling sessions to increase an individual’s active involvement in 12-step-based mutual-support groups. Many people struggle with controlling their drinking at some point in their lives. Millions of adults in the United States have alcohol use disorder (AUD), and approximately 1 in 10 children live in a home with a parent who has AUD. The (1) status of the relationship with (marriage) partners/family members influences the outcome of the intervention [61,68,70,71,72,73].
- These and other flexible, convenient options such as telehealth professional services and online or in-person mutual support groups may reduce stigma and other barriers to recovery.
- Recent studies conducted to determine whether certain patients may benefit more from naltrexone have yielded mixed findings (95).
- It is extremely painful to stand by and watch someone’s life be destroyed.
- The difference is that boundaries are designed to keep people safe from harm and allow the individual a choice in this process as opposed to ultimatums which are designed to force others to make certain actions.
- There are also indications [47,50] that, if the patient and the practitioner collaborate in the identification of additional sessions judged best to meet the patient’s clinical needs, the relationship improves and alcohol consumption is reduced.
International Patients
Each of these fee-based tools has a research base that shows its potential to help people cut down or quit drinking. You may be able to better compare your options by assessing whether and how the program or provider measures success. Some people are surprised to learn that there are medications on the market approved to treat AUD. The newer types of these medications work by offsetting changes in the brain caused by AUD. Acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions increase awareness and acceptance of present-moment experiences. Mindfulness-based skill-building strategies promote flexible, rather than autopilot, responses to triggers that can prompt drinking.