Saturday, July 5, 2014

Knowing All About Alcohol Assessment

By Rosella Campbell


The cases of drinking problems have actually gone up in Minneapolis, MN which means that drinking counsellors have to be more vigilant when it comes to handling their patients. Now in order to evaluate whether one has a problem or not, the counsellors would usually have them undergo alcohol assessment. This would determine how bad their problem is.

Now in order to assess whether one would have a drinking problem or not, there are actually three ways to do this. The three ways will first determine whether the patient does have a condition or not. Now these three methods of determining would be the MAST, the CAGE, and the TWEAK methods.

The first one is known as the Michigan Alcohol Screen Test and was made popular during the year 1971. Basically, the counsellor will be asking questions about how alcoholism is the result of such personal problems like work problems, family problems, and other kinds. This method will allow the patient to be able to realize himself that he actually does have a problem when it comes to drinking.

The next method is known as the CAGE method and each letter corresponds to the question that the therapist would have to ask the patient. The letter C corresponds to whether people have asked him to cut down on drinking. The letter A represents whether the patient has been annoyed when people comment on his alcoholic habits. The letter G represents whether one has feelings of guilt for drinking. The E aims to let the patient have an eye openers or drinks early in the morning.

Of course the last one, which is the TWEAK method, is usually used in order to really confirm the problem of a patient. Now as stated above, the term TWEAK stands for the words tolerance, worried, eye openers, amnesia, and cut down. The counsellor will be asking the patient about these five parts and try to see what the answer of the patient is.

The T would first determine just how much alcohol one can consume before he cannot take it anymore. The W would determine if he knows whether there are others who are concerned about him. The E would determine whether the patient would have drinks first thing in the morning. The A would determine whether one would be having blackouts or amnesia. Lastly, the K would determine whether the patient has already had some thoughts of stopping.

Now after he has gone through the assessment, he will also need to go through a physical examination. Most likely, he would need one because there are probably some organs in his body that has been damaged because of the problem. After he has gone through a medical examination, then he has to seek some medical treatment.

For the drinking problem, most patients have to undergo detoxification. After the detoxification, they will be given anti depressants to dull the withdrawal effects. After that is done, then he will be attend some psychotherapy sessions in order to completely cure his condition and make sure that it does not come back.




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