Long-term alcohol addiction, female kindergarten teacher had to be hospitalized in a mental hospital

Dang Thu Mai (35 years old) is the principal of a private kindergarten in Hanoi. Successful in her job and having a happy family, Mai is addicted to alcohol.

The woman said she had been drinking for more than 5 years. Previously, Mai opened a restaurant and occasionally drank with customers. However, Mai's business failed and she had to close the restaurant. Tired of work and her children being sick, Mai drank a few glasses to relieve her stress.

The spicy taste of alcohol helped her feel more comfortable and calm. Gradually, whenever she faced pressure, Mai turned to alcohol. Drinking alcohol became a habit, then an indispensable need for women.

Every time Mai came home drunk, she cried, sang, and talked nonsense, and the relationship between husband and wife became strained. Many times Mai's husband advised her to quit drinking, but after only a few days, she turned to alcohol again. Without alcohol, Mai could not sleep, and even became anxious, restless, and irritable when she was stressed at work.

After a long period of drinking, the female teacher appeared mentally unstable.

"Mai used to be very gentle and never got angry, but after a business failure, my wife drank alcohol regularly and her personality changed. She got angry with her husband and children, sometimes remembering and sometimes forgetting," Mai's husband shared.

Fearing the impact on his wife's health as well as family happiness, Ms. Mai's husband decided to take his wife to see a psychiatrist to find a solution.

Through examination and medical history, the doctor diagnosed Mai with alcoholism.

According to Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu, Deputy Director of Mai Huong Daytime Psychiatric Hospital (Hanoi), alcohol addiction is a strong desire, requiring frequent drinking, forming habits, personality disorders, reducing the ability to work, affecting health, and causing economic and social losses.

"To assess whether a person is an alcoholic, in the early stages, alcoholics have some signs such as changes in personality, memory disorders, irritability, fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, frequent cravings for alcohol, reduced ability and productivity at work ," said Dr. Thu, adding that alcohol is one of the causes of psychosis, memory loss, insomnia, stroke, addiction, agitation and violence.

Alcoholism in medicine is considered a disease classified in the psychiatric specialty because it causes effects on the brain. Treatment of alcoholism needs to be combined between the psychiatric specialty and other specialties about the diseases caused by alcohol.

According to Dr. Thu, there are many causes of alcohol addiction, the main group of causes is environmental factors that make it easy to access addictive substances, followed by psychological factors and brain biochemistry, possibly due to genetics.

Severe cases of alcoholism must go to a medical facility for treatment. The doctor will prescribe alcohol withdrawal medications and sleep aids to help the patient reduce tremors and delirium tremens. In addition, the doctor will also support, encourage, and monitor the patient's progress every day.

Nguyen Ngoan

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