Handbook of alcoholism

Abstract

The overwhelming majority of problem drinkers (i.e., alcohol-abusing patients) and alcohol-dependent patients are first seen by physicians in general practice, in a primary care setting, or at nonpsychiatric inpatient facilities, such as departments of internal medicine or surgery. If you work in such a setting, this book is for you. It is my firm belief that comprehensive treatment of your alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent patient lies within your grasp and should, for that matter, ultimately lie in the hands of one therapist; this book will help you to acquire the necessary expertise to achieve this. You will, in all likelihood, find that you want to delegate some aspects of the medical care of your alcoholic patient to more specialized partners who might have more resources than you with respect to time, logistics, and specialized training. Still, it is you who can give crucial help to your patient who is experiencing alcohol-related problems, right from the first contact and interview. And, let’s face it, you have to do it — you are the one your patient usually first contacts and not necessarily because he or she is aware of her/his alcohol problem. Not yet. With the help of this handbook, you will acquire the necessary skills to help him/her recognize the underlying alcohol problem. Two chapters (Chapter 1, First Contact and Early Intervention; Chapter 9, Psychotherapy) are dedicated to explaining which psychological problems you are most likely to encounter at every stage of the disease and how to best cope with the negative emotions that the alcohol-dependent patient — so severely affected by the disease — will most likely induce in you, his physician.