Alcohol-related hospital admissions reach record level
I am amazed not at the numbers of people who are being treated for alcohol related admissions to hospitals in the U.K over the last few years, but at the treatment provided for them and the prognosis for their future.
Identifying people who have a problem with alcohol and referring them to or for treatment is NOT the same as treating them.
Taking action such as planning to stop supermarkets selling below cost alcohol and working to introduce a tougher licensing regime or increasing the cost of alcohol will make no difference to an alcoholic; if anything there is a real danger that those who cannot afford it will steal it, or commit crime to fund the illness they have.
If you look at alcoholism in the same way you look at addiction these people have lost the ability to choose whether they use or not and will go to any lengths to make sure that their drug of choice [alcohol] is available to them.
How do I know this? Simple, I suffered from addiction and alcoholism for 29 years I have been clean and sober for a number of years now and work in the field with those still suffering. I have nothing but admiration and support for the doctors and nurses who, day in day out have a duty to treat these unfortunates without thanks.
There are ways to treat this, but it is not the way the government would have you believe. It is not about spending 3.7 Billion pounds. It is not about trying to understand drinking cultures or drug cultures. It is simply about understanding Addiction and treating the illness, not the symptoms.
Until we begin a process of educating the Government, hospital staff, Police, Universities, colleges, schools and the nation that recovery is not just possible, but actually probable when treated appropriately, these statistics will continue to shock.
JM
