Abstinence and Non-Abstinence Treatment- Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the debatable topic on Abstinence and Non-Abstinence treatment while helping to recover from alcohol addictions. Answer: Introduction In this report, the researcher tries to highlight the effects that can be caused due to excess consumption of alcohol and drugs. Drugs and alcohol consumption can lead to many diseases in a human being. These cause addiction that can become fatal for the people. Hence, in order to relieve people from such addictions, the rehabilitation centres provide certain treatments to the people. These treatments help a person to be cured of the ill habit that may poison their lives. The report focuses on two types of treatments that are provided to the people suffering from excessive consumption of these fluids; the abstinence focussed treatment and the non-abstinence focused treatment. These two types of treatments are compared and contrasted depending upon the effect it causes when applied to a person. The report also provides the ways by which these treatments can help a person from attaining a healthy life by leaving the past life behind. Ill effects of alcohol and drugs White and Hingson, (2014) stated that consumption of alcohol by a limited proportion could be acceptable to many people. However, excess consumption of alcohol can lead to many life-threatening diseases. This may have short-term as well as long-term effects on the lives of the people. Similarly, the use of drugs is permissible by a limited dose of medicines. The excess use and addiction of drugs also have certain effects that may lead to the loss of life of an individual. However, Notley et al., (2015) countered it by stating that most of the short-term effects of alcohol could be attributed to the consumption of various mind-altering substances. The reactions that are caused due to the mixture of these substances lead to drowsiness, slurring of speech, disruption of sleep. These, in turn, lead to temporary loss of consciousness, irritable bowels frequent blackouts and coma. This may lead to the death of the person. Apart from this, overweight and increase of blood pressure can also arise due to the consumption of alcohol. The long-term disorders that can be caused due to the effects of alcohol can also be catastrophic. It can lead to permanent damage of brain cells thereby stopping the brain cells to work. Liver damage is also another disease that can be caused due to excessive drinking. Excessive drinking can also lead a person to lose the level of tolerance. This increases the addiction level of alcohol consumption in an individual. The high intake of drugs can also cause failure of the nerves. This can lead to loss of sense, brain and kidney damage that may affect the life of the people. Such intake of alcohol and drugs are common among younger people. Thereby, Maisel et al., (2013) stated that the need for a cure of these people is more important. Proper awareness about the ill effects of intake of drugs and alcohol need to be promoted in order to save the younger generation from falling victim to it. Thus, it can be said that an abstinence treatment can be undertaken in order to cure the patients suffering from such addictions. The effectiveness of it is discussed to understand its contribution. Concept of abstinence focussed treatment According to Stapinski et al., (2015), abstinence focussed treatment treats the level of addiction among an individual as the disease itself. Physicians practising this type of treatment do not wait for an individual to suffer from any disease. Rather than that, the addiction itself is considered as a fatal disease. However, the model of treatment cannot provide a specific cure for the individuals. Hence, support is provided to the individuals by counselling. Proper counselling can help an individual to recover from any level of alcoholism provided he takes proper care of action and keeps himself away from alcohols and drugs. This approach helps an individual to give up the intake of alcohol completely. Witkiewitz et al., (2016) stated that abstinence treatment is the only way a person can get back the life that was lost due to alcohol and drugs. The primary principle of addiction is the fact that people becoming mentally involved with the use of alcohol and drugs. Hence, due to lack of proper medical techniques to provide a cure, physicians depend upon psychological treatments of the patients. The recovery of the patients is done by taking responsibility for the cause of the disease. The cognitive behaviour of the individuals is required to be assessed. This can be done by individual or group therapy sessions known as the AA sessions. According to Cunningham et al., (2017), diagnosis for this type of disease requires the analysis of the level of addiction. Various types of treatment exist that include control-craving drugs, behavioural, group therapy, and prevention therapy. This systematic approach needs to be conducted keeping in mind the addiction level of the patients. This type of system is adopted in order to provide a long-term residential treatment for the patients. An aftercare programme is also provided in order to maintain the progress level of the patients who have completed the treatment. A 12-step meeting is conducted that the reinforcement benefits can be obtained from core principles. Hence, the effectiveness of this treatment can be based on the success it gets from helping the patients (Bergman et al., 2015). Necessary tools are provided to patients so that they can maintain the control over drugs and alcohol. Effectiveness of abstinence focussed treatment According to Wilder et al., (2014), abstinence is considered to be an essential part of rehabilitation. In most cases, it is seen that abstinence needs to be considered as an essential goal for the rehab of an alcoholic or drug-addicted patient. This is because the manner in which a patient is approached by the rehab centres helps them to recover quickly. The 12-step programme has played a vital role in bringing happiness into the lives of the people. It has been seen that years of alcohol and drug use can lead to failure of liver and cause brain and nerve damage. However, a proper psychological approach can lead to the person recovering from this trauma. Hence, the effectiveness of this treatment can be justified clearly. It has been proven that 695 people of Scotland had been recovered in 33 months by following a regular treatment in 2006. The success rate indicates the high efficacy it has on the treatment of the addiction. It has also been seen that the less care taken by the pat ients increases more chances of relapse to occur (Holmes et al., 2014). However, there has been a criticism of this theory. The main reason for the criticism is the fact that the individuals suffer from relapses. However, relapses have been accepted as part of the disease. This is mainly due to the discontinuation of the people seeking rehab. They fail the treatment may be due to lack of guidance or due to the fact that certain cases required extensive medical care rather than just moral support. The other reason for the criticism is the fact that abstinence treatment is an only one-sided treatment (Julien, 2013). Once this treatment starts to be effective in the individual then no other forms of treatment can be carried on. This model is based on the harm reduction model. This is because the harm reduction model does not seek opinions of specialised therapists in order to cure the patients. Hence, despite its huge success rate, the abstinence theory also draws in many criticisms that divert the opinion of the people. In this regard, most people prefer the adoption of non-abstinence focused treatment. Concept of non-abstinence focussed treatment The non-abstinence focused treatment is termed as a self-development approach to quit alcohol or drugs (Hartzler Garrett, 2016). Unlike the abstinence treatment, this treatment focuses on the conscience of the individuals in taking decisions based on the level of addiction. No proper treatment is provided to an individual in order to deal with the consequences that may be faced due to a certain level of consumption of alcohol. This can be considered as a notification to set up programmes for moderation that consider alcoholics to be a part of the programming campaign. Most people because of the lack of use of medications consider this treatment. However, Stea, Hodgins Fung, (2015) stated that non-abstinence treatment is not as effective as the abstinence treatment. This is mainly because of the fact that the people are not aware of the level of addiction. Self-realisation in terms of consumption of drinks and alcohol are needed in order to lead a healthy life. In this regard, it ca n be said that self-realisation can be more effective than getting into a rehab centre. This is because the conscience of the people let them perform staffs that can help or break their life. It has been seen that most people refuse to undertake AA treatment. This is because they feel that the people engaged in the centres will control their lives. This can be a setback for the people, as they need to be convinced about the ill effects of consumption of alcohols and drugs. With the self-realisation technique, people can understand the control and ensure that the consumption of these harmful substances is reduced. This is evidenced by the fact that only 10% of the people suffering from excess alcohol and drugs enter a rehab facility to remain in good health (Carr, 2014). Hence, it can be said that the effectiveness of this treatment facility can be attributed to the fact that people prefer this treatment to the abstinence treatment. Most people need to feel invested personally rather than being asked by a therapist in order to control the addiction. The effectiveness is described in detail. Effectiveness of non-abstinence focussed treatment According to Snipes and Benotsch, (2013), the non-abstinence focused treatment allows people to continue drinking despite the ill effects of alcohol. The level of addiction needs to be determined by the people itself. Such an action has led to considerable success in the lives of many people. The people itself understand the choice of treatment and the ways by which life can be lead. This provides for an independent meaning of life. Hence, it has been seen that most people suffering from such addictions prefer to use this type of treatment. The effectiveness of this is that the people can be treated at home without relocating to a rehab centre. This is important as people can take their time in recovering and can be supported by their family members. Like abstinence treatment, this can also be considered as a type of providing cognitive support to the people. The difference, however, lays in the fact that personal information does not need to be shared with any stranger. Instead, the family members can provide the necessary support to the people (Schulte et al., 2014). However, this treatment has also received criticism. One of the major criticisms of this approach is the fact that most people do not possess the power of self-control. The level of addiction of these people cannot be determined, as they prefer to continue drinking and have no guide to help them. Proper medication can also not be provided to them since these people try to cure themselves. Thus, it can be said that not every people can use the non-abstinence approach. Apart from this in a case of emergency, the non-abstinence approach can also not function properly. The absence of a proper medical representative can cause the failure to detect seriousness of any issue. Bergman et al., (2014) observed that the non-abstinence treatment could not guarantee any success regarding the non-consumption of alcohol. This is because the resolution taken by the people can break owing to certain factors. These factors need to be dealt with in order to remain free from alcohol and drug consumption. This cannot be done on a regular basis to maintain a clean life. Comparison between the treatments Mithoefer et al., (2013) observed that the abstinence treatment is more for people that consume alcohol at a higher level. These people are considered as true drinkers as they consume alcohol at a higher rate than other people do. Hence, the chances of suffering are more for these people. The abstinence treatment helps in proper identification of the disease and suggests an accurate cure for it. The use of the cognitive method of approach to cure patients helps to understand the mind of the people. Another important aspect that is considered similar to the abstinence treatment is the fact that it conducts a 12-step programme after the patient has been discharged. This helps to understand the level of control sustained by an individual (Volkow et al., 2014). The meeting between various people of similar problems can lead to the realisation about the ill effects of alcohol and drugs consumption. This is similar to the treatment offered in the non-abstinence programme. The self-control of the people is focused more than the medication of the people. The non-abstinence treatment focuses more on the moderation of the people. These people are termed as problem drinkers as the consumption level of alcohol is not in excess amount. However, these people tend to consume alcohol and intake drugs at a rate that may also be fatal for them. Wise and Koob, (2014) observed that in order to receive non-abstinence treatment one needs to be mentally strong as the convincing needs to be done on oneself. This is a huge difference when compared with abstinence programme. This is because in the case of abstinence treatment the people are convinced by providing examples about the lives of others. Hence, people can control the urge to consume the poisonous substances. The lack of a medical representative also causes the misunderstanding of the problems. However, an advantage that the treatment provides is the home based care. People can remain at home and take care of themselves. Thus, it can be said that both the forms of treatments have positive an d negative aspect and different characteristics. The varied forms of treatment provide a comprehensive choice for people depending upon the level of consumption of alcohol and drugs (Kaltenbach Jones, 2016). Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded that abstinence focused treatment, as well as non-abstinence, focused treatment, are effective in solving any addiction level in a person. The approaches differ in terms of encouraging and motivating a person from ignoring these habits. The abstinence approach develops a cognitive theory that helps in maintaining the level of addiction. A 12-step programme helps the people to recover from any addiction completely and lead a normal life. The side effects of these addictions can be fatal and as a result, it is important for the people to follow the steps in order to reduce health scares. The non-abstinence programme also develops self-conscience in the mind of the people. 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