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Alcohol abuse or dependence is a treatable illness,
but successful treatment requires the active
participation of the employee, a professional alcohol
counselor, the employee's supervisor, and family members
or friends. Treatment may involve
one to four weeks of intense rehabilitation at an
outpatient or inpatient treatment facility following by
six to twelve months of "aftercare" consisting of
periodic individual, group, or family counseling. The
recovery process typically requires the employee's
regular participation in a community-based self-help
group such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
One key to
successful treatment is admission of the problem and
motivation to beat it. Studies of U.S. military
treatment programs show that completion of the full
aftercare program is the strongest predictor of
treatment success.
Relapse
is a common occurrence after all addiction treatment,
but the risk of relapse diminishes with the passage of
time and continued abstinence. The first relapse occurs
most commonly during the first three months after
completion of treatment. One study of alcohol treatment
outcomes for military personnel found that if one gets
through the first three months without relapse, the
chances for long-term abstinence improve dramatically,
and the chance of a relapse that affects work
performance is small.
Remission of drinking problems without treatment is
common as young drinkers mature and the lifestyle,
stress, or other circumstances that prompted the
drinking change. The likelihood of spontaneous remission
without treatment is relatively high among young men in
their 20s, but relatively low among men in their 40s or
older. |
