Hangover House Calls
With hangovers being a lengthy and uncomfortable consequence to drinking alcohol, some can justify the “cost-effectiveness” and convenience of ordering an I.V. hydration treatment for hangover relief. Performed by medical personnel who make house calls, this service is provided by various on-call companies, and claims that the treatment will give you hangover relief in thirty minutes. The service is a house call hangover service, which provides in-home, hotel room, or office IV hydration. These IVs are filled with anti-nausea, anti-heartburn, and anti-inflammatory medications, relieving a hangover in about a half hour. With treatments that are available at any time of the day or night, provided in the comfort of your home, we have reached an all-time high of enabling behavior.
Hangover treatments have been enabling alcoholics, providing quick fixes for a problem that requires true addiction treatment.
The Stigma
Often times, addicts are thought to just describe those with major substance use disorders with illicit drugs. Alcoholism is unfortunately overlooked to be a major problem, however, alcohol is extremely dangerous and causes a slew of severe health problems. Alcohol addiction is very serious, and yet unruly alcoholic tendencies are completely socially acceptable. Symptoms of alcoholism are often justified as just being that person’s drinking habits as opposed to an alcohol use disorder. Enabling alcoholics is all too common in society, especially in a society that looks down upon addiction treatment. Many people think addiction treatment is only for heroin addicts, or people addicted to meth, using these substance use disorders to minimize an alcohol addiction.
Is It A Problem?
Alcohol dependence to most people is never seen as a problem until the dependence becomes physical, resulting in physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. In other words, people believe that you are only an addicted person if you stop drinking and start physically experience symptoms like shaking, a high blood pressure, delirium tremens, etc. Obviously, this is not the case. Dependence on alcohol can be mental, emotional, or physical. Also many of those who have mental health disorders consumed alcohol to lessen their symptoms of unregulated mental health, like depression or anxiety— although alcohol can actually worsen depression and anxiety.
Do I Have Alcohol Use Disorder?
Please refer to the criteria below, answer each question based on the last 12 months of alcohol consumption. In the past year, have you…
- Had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer than you intended?
- More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?
- Spent a lot of time drinking? Or being sick or getting over the aftereffects?
- Experienced craving — a strong need, or urge, to drink?
- Found that drinking — or being sick from drinking — often interfered with taking care of your home or family? Or caused job troubles? Or school problems?
- Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
- Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you, or gave you pleasure, in order to drink?
- More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt (such as driving, swimming, using machinery, walking in a dangerous area, or having unsafe sex)?
- Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem? Or after having had a memory blackout?
- Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?
- Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea, or sweating? Or sensed things that were not there?
If two or more of the above points rang true for you, you have an Alcohol Use Disorder and should seek treatment immediately. Please call our addiction specialists at (877)-RECOVERY or (888) 308-1985 for guidance.
Enabling
Services like like the I.V. Doctor are enabling alcoholics. The Chief Medical Editor of ABC News, Dr. Richard Besser, says that “anyone drinking to the point where they need IV rehydration has a drinking problem.” Providing a quick fix for the negative short term consequences of alcohol consumption is allowing people with an addiction to continue to drink. Services like these are essentially telling alcoholics that their behavior will always be acceptable and catered to. You can even obtain a membership to services like the I.V. Doctor, which costs just under $400 and includes liters of IV fluid each month available to each member. These types of services are absolutely enabling to alcoholics, allowing them to escape the consequences of their drinking.
How To Treat
Treating substance abuse or alcohol and drug addiction takes more than a short term quick fix. Those who excessively drink alcohol, or have alcohol use disorder need to first enter a medical detox facility to treat their addiction. The detoxification process from alcohol produces severe, dangerous, and even life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Alcoholics need treatment options that provide medication (when necessary), behavioral therapies, other intensive therapies, and support groups.
Our Treatment
Royal Life Centers at Puget Sound offers treatment programs including a medical detox program and a residential inpatient program. Guests are first directed to the medical detox service we provide, so that they may remove alcohol safely, effectively, and comfortably from the body. Guests are under direct medical supervision 24/7 for their safety and comfort. The National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes an inpatient level of care for addiction treatment as heightening the success rate of lasting sobriety. Royal Life Centers at Puget Sound offers a residential inpatient program that follows our guests from detox, continuing the therapeutic work they started during their stay in detox.
Addiction recovery requires comprehensive addiction treatment like ours at Royal Life Centers at Puget Sound. In addition to the programs offered at Royal Life Centers at Puget Sound, Royal Life Centers offers treatment programs including: a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), an outpatient program (OP), sober living and graduate housing.
If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol addiction, please reach out to us at (877)-RECOVERY or (888) 308-1985. Our addiction specialists are available to speak with you 24/7. Because We Care.
