Is it possible to recover from alcoholic psychosis? What is alcoholic psychosis. Where should treatment be carried out: at home or in a hospital

Regular alcohol abuse adversely affects the body, especially the human psyche. Gradually, under the influence of alcohol, various deviations begin in the psyche of a healthy person.

Mental changes do not appear in a person immediately, but are formed gradually. From time to time, when consuming a large amount of alcohol, the human body is oppressed, and the decay products of alcohol have irreversible effects on the brain and psyche.

Patients begin to appear various deviations, sometimes very dissimilar in symptoms and course. But in general they are all called alcoholic psychosis.

What is alcoholic psychosis?

Alcoholic psychosis various mental disorders that appear as a result of constant alcohol use are called.

Alcoholic psychosis has nothing to do with the state of intoxication of a person. It does not occur immediately after taking alcoholic beverages, but manifests itself much later, when the direct influence of the decay products of alcohol consumed no longer has an effect on a person.

The decomposition products of ethanol have a negative effect on all organs and systems of the human body, but they have the greatest negative effect on the brain and nerve cells. During alcoholic psychosis, a person experiences sensations, visions, which, together with the stress of the body, with a decrease in the metabolic rate, can be extremely dangerous.

The time of occurrence of alcoholic psychosis in each patient is very individual. Sometimes significant deviations in the psyche of patients are observed already after 2-3 years of regular alcohol consumption in significant amounts, sometimes obvious mental health disorders can occur even after 8-10 years.

Such a long period, as a rule, is associated with the fact that a person drinks high-quality alcohol. But the intake of alcohol surrogates - liquids not intended for oral use, but often used to replace alcohol - significantly reduces the development of mental disorders.

Alcoholic psychosis develops much faster if a person has brain diseases, if his nervous system is weak.

According to the International Classification of Diseases alcoholic psychosis has codes - F00-F99 / F10-F19 / F10.

Duration of alcoholic psychosis

Methods of treatment of alcoholic psychosis are selected by a narcologist depending on the stage of the disease, the individual situation of the patient.

- This is a very dangerous disease, because of which a person can pose a real danger to others.

As a rule, in the middle and late stages of alcoholic psychosis, the patient will certainly be hospitalized. Alcohol intoxication can be so strong that the human body can not cope with it.

With hard drinking and progressive intoxication, the patient may develop heart failure, heart attacks and strokes often occur. Therefore, when symptoms of alcoholic psychosis appear, the patient must urgently seek medical help.

As we have already noted, alcoholic psychosis is the general name for mental changes that occur as a result of alcohol intoxication.

But in medicine, a number of types of manifestations of alcoholic psychosis are distinguished:

the occurrence of hallucinations;
pseudoparalysis, appearing under the influence of alcohol;
alcoholic delusional psychosis;
Korsakov's psychosis;
alcoholic schizophrenia;
dipsomania and pathological intoxication;

Delirium or delirium tremens

One of the most common diseases that occur with excessive drinking is delirium or " delirium tremens».

This deviation occurs a few days after drinking alcohol. A patient in delirium tremens does not remember the past, especially the immediate one. He is lost in space and time, experiences anxiety and aggressiveness, experiences hallucinations, reacts violently and sharply to them.

A patient suffering from delirium tremens not only sleeps poorly, but often loses sleep completely. Minutes of weak sleep are replaced by new awakenings. Symptoms reach their peak in the dark, in the evening and at night. A characteristic feature of delirium are visions and hallucinations, which depend on the characteristics of the warehouse and the nature of the person.

Those patients who are relatively calm in life can see small insects and animals in hallucinations. And people who are extremely aggressive, as a rule, watch dead relatives, large predators, and unpleasant animals in their dreams.

The most acute is the first attack of delirium, as the attacks become more frequent, they become less pronounced, but this poses an even greater threat to the person.

Alcoholic pseudoparalysis

The constant use of an alcoholic substitute, low-quality alcoholic beverages, medical tinctures, home-made moonshine that is not properly cleaned, as a rule, leads to pseudo-paralysis.

Alcoholic pseudoparalysis got its name because of the similarity of symptomatic manifestations with progressive paralysis.

With pseudo-paralysis, a person hardly controls his body, regular cramps of the lower extremities appear, paralysis of the legs. The main cognitive processes are sharply reduced: thinking, attention, memory.

The intellect of people who have been diagnosed with such a disease suffers greatly. The general level of concepts accessible to the patient decreases, he loses the ability to abstract thinking.

In addition, progress hypomnesia: a person not only does not remember new facts, but also forgets the past. In addition to the above symptoms for alcoholic pseudoparalysis the following manifestations are characteristic:

human pupils stop responding to increasing and decreasing light;
patients experience constant pain in the legs of varying intensity;
there is trembling in the hands;
the reaction decreases, the patient is in a highly inhibited state;
the functional work of the tendons is disrupted;
beriberi appears, developing against the background of intoxication and malnutrition;
numerous nerve lesions were noted.

In the event that the patient receives medical care, the symptoms of the disease quickly recede, the prognosis is positive, and the patient's condition returns to normal within 3–4 days.

Alcoholic epilepsy

Alcoholic epilepsy is the result and complication of severe alcoholism. Convulsions, unpredictable convulsive outbreaks occur at a time when the patient stops drinking alcohol. This is due to the general intoxication of the body.

An epileptic seizure begins with a loss of consciousness, a person's face turns pale, which gradually acquires a bluish tint, a spasm of the muscles of the whole body occurs with the head thrown back, with pain and convulsions.

Such attacks, which usually last 2-3 minutes, are extremely dangerous, since the patient loses control of his condition, and may suffocate. The first of the epileptic seizures caused by alcoholism is the most severe. However, further, if you do not carry out treatment, do not fight the disease, the disease passes into the chronic stage.

Alcoholic encephalopathy

Alcoholic encephalopathy is the result of long-term consumption of large amounts of alcoholic beverages. With this pathology, irreversible changes are observed in the brain: the breakdown products of alcohol act on brain cells, destroy them.

With regular consumption of alcohol, especially alcohol surrogates, there is a strong intoxication of the body, metabolism is disturbed.

Patients experience an acute deficiency of B vitamins, especially vitamin B1, the low content of which leads to disruption of the brain. Deficiency of vitamins B1, B6, PP leads to malfunctions of the digestive system. The patient's vessels suffer greatly.

Alcoholic encephalopathies subdivided into sharp and chronic. There are cases of fulminant course of encephalopathy.

Acute encephalopathies include Gaye-Wernicke syndrome, accompanied by delirium of moderate severity, visual hallucinations, fever, edema, disruption of various organs. The severe course of the disease can lead to the patient falling into a coma.

Without emergency treatment, surgical hospitalization and the use of a number of drugs, a fatal outcome is possible, the likelihood of which increases with the addition of other diseases: disruption of the heart, pneumonia, etc.

As a rule, the course of alcoholic encephalopathy is accompanied by many neurological disorders. We list some of them:

disruptions in the work of the heart;
heart rhythm disturbances;
respiratory failure;
fever;
numerous convulsions;
muscle weakness and paralysis;
weight loss;
nystagmus (impaired eye movement).

Alcoholic encephalopathies begin with a strong weight loss of a person, sleep disorders, loss of appetite, increased anxiety. The appearance of the skin changes: spider veins, age spots appear on it. Numerous neurological disorders are noted.

The hyperacute form of alcoholic encephalopathy is characterized by a very rapid development. First, severe psychosis begins, neurological and somatic disorders progress, the patient loses consciousness. Body temperature rises to 40-41 degrees. Without surgical treatment of the disease, everything ends with the death of the patient.

Treatment of alcoholic encephalopathy should begin as soon as the disease is detected. The sooner the patient is under the control of doctors, the more chances there will be for his salvation and cure.

If the disease is detected in an advanced stage, it can be difficult to save the patient, and the restoration of all body functions is almost impossible.

Psychosis Korsakov

Psychosis Korsakov noted in people who have consumed alcohol surrogates for a long time, alcohol is of very low quality. Korsakov's psychosis is associated with impaired memory or its complete loss; it is named after the Russian psychiatrist S.S. Korsakov, who first described this disease in 1887.

This type of psychosis is caused by chronic alcoholism. In a patient suffering from Korsakov's psychosis, coordination of movements, as well as visual and auditory perception, are disturbed.

A person begins to orient poorly in space, the circle of his interests narrows, polyneuritis of the lower extremities develops, memory disorders are observed up to the complete loss of the ability to perceive and remember information normally.

During the course of the disease, brain damage occurs, in some cases, patients develop dementia.

delusional states

alcohol delirium is one of the varieties of alcoholic psychosis. As a rule, delusional states against the background of prolonged and active intake of alcoholic beverages manifest themselves in the form of aggression towards relatives and friends.

alcohol delirium occurs after prolonged binges, at a time when a person abstains from alcohol. The disease develops very slowly, often the aggravation of its symptoms is difficult to distinguish. Pathological mental states occur more often in men. They are accompanied by attacks of jealousy, obsessive thoughts, sometimes a person feels unreasonable strong fear, anxiety, he is overcome by obsessive thoughts.

Patients in a state of alcoholic delirium are capable of uncontrolled actions, often they commit rash acts that can be dangerous for their lives and the lives of others. In a state of alcoholic delirium, patients show aggression, most often, it is directed at family members of a person suffering from alcoholism.

The approximate duration of delusional states is 5-7 days, sometimes psychoses are delayed and last up to a month.

A distinctive feature of this disease is the presence of delusions that are not associated with emerging visual hallucinations. Often alcoholic delirium develops precisely in those suffering from alcoholism people who are paranoid in nature.

Diagnosis of the disease begins with observation of the patient, questioning him and his relatives. If necessary, a test with ethyl alcohol is carried out: against the background of alcohol intoxication, an exacerbation of a delusional state occurs, it becomes apparent.

People suffering from alcohol delirium experience fears over and over again that accompany them throughout the course of the disease and only intensify as it progresses.

For the treatment of the patient, his hospitalization, sometimes forced, the provision of emergency care is necessary. The correct and effective course of treatment can only be determined by a narcologist.

Prevention and treatment of alcoholic psychoses

All types of alcoholic psychoses, according to their medical classification, are associated with the occurrence of conditions that are dangerous to human life. Vivid manifestations of psychosis are aggression directed at others, suicidal manifestations.

A persistent psychotic disorder that develops in a person suffering from chronic alcoholism for many years and proceeding against the background of an abstinence syndrome is called alcoholic, or metalcoholic, psychosis. A well-known example of such a condition is acute delirium, or the notorious delirium tremens, the main manifestations of which are temporary confusion and hallucinations. But this is only one of the psychoses that have an extensive classification.

The main feature of the pathogenesis of the metal-alcohol syndrome is the appearance of its signs not during the influence of alcohol on the body, but after intoxication is left behind, that is, at the peak of withdrawal. The exact mechanism of post-alcoholic psychosis is still poorly understood, it is only known that its development is influenced by metabolic disorders, neural connections in various parts of the brain and tissues of the body, immune suppression, chronic somatic diseases, previous craniocerebral injuries or neurotic pathologies.

The development of alcoholic psychosis is possible only in the later, more often 3 or 4, stages of dependence, which are formed after regular alcohol abuse for 7–10 years. It has been established that the adoption of surrogates significantly shortens this period, and signs of psychotic disorders in such cases appear much earlier.

Men become victims of these ailments more often than women. Pathology can occur in acute, subacute or chronic forms. About half of primary alcoholic psychoses have acute symptoms.

According to the totality of clinical signs and the degree of damage to the functions of the central nervous system, alcoholic psychoses are divided into:

delirium;
delusional psychoses;
hallucinosis;
pathological intoxication;
encephalopathy.

All types are characterized by disorders of thinking and behavioral reactions, clouding of consciousness, affective states, spatio-temporal disorientation.

Delirium

A specific sign of delirium tremens is the preservation of self-identification even with complete immersion in complex hallucinosis and the loss of the ability to adequately respond to what is happening. The patient knows who he is, remembers his own name, in moments of enlightenment he is able to respond to the appeals of others and answer questions.

Completion of the attack occurs independently or under the influence of stopping medications. In severe cases, delirium flows into alcoholic encephalopathy.

Alcoholic hallucinosis

A mental disorder that develops against the background of an abstinence syndrome or binge, the features of which are: obsessive verbal hallucinations, combined with increased anxiety, fear, delusions of persecution. The condition can occur in acute, chronic or subacute forms.

Acute hallucinosis can last from 2 to 30 days. It begins with an affective state, increased motor activity, fussiness. A person constantly hears dialogues, conversations in his own head, sometimes voices begin to threaten or insult him. Delirium is not systematized, fragmentary, the patient's behavior is dominated by high anxiety. A person tries to hide from enemies or tries to attack them himself. In the evening hours and at night the symptomatology amplifies. Toward the end of the period of disorder, nervous excitement weakens, lethargy and an oppressed, even depressive state set in.

In the case of protracted hallucinosis, lasting from 1 month to six months, some orderliness may occur in the mind of a person. He will begin to get used to the voices in his head and perceive them calmly. If a depressive affect predominates, a dreary depressed state is likely, persisting delusions of persecution.

In the chronic form of hallucinosis, which lasts up to several years, the patient comes to terms with the presence of interlocutors in his head and even ceases to pay attention to them. At the same time, voices can appear and disappear during the day, comment, conduct a monologue, argue. Delusional disorders may be absent or persist.

delusional psychoses

Delusions in alcoholism are usually acute or chronic. Disorder of thinking implies the presence of fictitious and unfounded premises, reasoning and conclusions, which the patient himself takes with all seriousness. There are several main scenarios for such psychoses:

alcoholic paranoid. The disorder can be acute or chronic. The patient has a conviction that he is being persecuted, trying to kill, maim, deprive him of his freedom. In acute course, the condition is accompanied by episodic auditory, tactile or visual hallucinations, severe anxiety, fear, panic. The painful symptoms are worse at night and in the morning. The acute period lasts for several days or weeks. A chronic disorder is a continuation of an acute one. Hallucinations and affective states disappear, a person falls into a prolonged depression: he becomes gloomy, unsociable, distrustful, persistently seeks and finds new confirmations of intrigues from his ill-wishers, which are those around him. Such nonsense, as a rule, has a systematic character;
delusions of jealousy. It refers to chronic alcoholic psychosis, develops gradually and is not always perceived by others as a mental disorder at first. Men suffer. The main symptom is pathological jealousy for a life partner, suspicions and subsequent conviction of her inattention, emotional coldness, old and real betrayals. During periods of exacerbation, short-term hallucinations are possible. The patient can follow his wife, scandalize, show aggression towards her. The course of the disorder is long-term.

Pathological intoxication

This psychotic disorder occurs acutely, after drinking a few sips of alcohol. It develops suddenly, the reaction to alcohol manifests itself in the form of a transient psychosis - the loss of an adequate perception of the surrounding reality, combined with delirium, a state of affect, anxiety, aggression, panic. Allocate paranoid and epileptoid forms of pathology. Patients are completely disoriented, excited, active, but not capable of coordinated actions. The attack lasts for several hours, then ends with a heavy sleep, after which people cannot remember the events that happened the day before. Long-term insomnia, severe stress or overwork that precede psychosis can provoke and intensify the pathology.

Encephalopathies

Organic brain damage caused by poisonous alcohol metabolites is practically incurable. In these types of disorders, mental disorders are combined with neurological and somatic diseases and often fade into the background.

Dipsomania is characterized as an irresistible craving for the continuous use of alcohol. This condition can be provoked by neurological or endocrine diseases, sleep disorders. The patient falls into a long, hopeless binge, during which the person is in a state of permanent intoxication. The manifestation of the disorder ends abruptly - there is a physical aversion to alcohol.

Treatment of psychoses

Diagnosis of alcoholic psychosis is made on the basis of the existing symptoms, the presence of withdrawal symptoms, and the study of the patient's history.

Treatment of pathology is carried out in a hospital and includes measures to detoxify the body, restore basic life support functions, stabilize the physical and mental state. During therapy, the patient is prescribed the introduction of physiological solutions, complexes of vitamins and minerals. Medications are used to eliminate concomitant somatic disorders. In some cases, with alcoholic psychosis, the use of psychotropic drugs, antidepressants is acceptable for the treatment of consequences. The acute period stops within two weeks. The general course of therapy can take up to several months.

Forecast

The prognosis for alcoholic psychosis depends on the degree of damage to the body and the patient's desire to recover. It is known that pathologies that occur in young people are more successfully amenable to therapy. In the absence of adequate treatment, a secondary acute or subacute attack is likely in 1-2 years, in the future the pathology is aggravated, accompanied by the disintegration of the personality. In the case of signs of alcoholic encephalopathy, a complete restoration of physical health is impossible. Patients have lifelong impairments to memory, speech, and coordination of movements. But giving up alcohol helps slow down the destructive processes.

Alcoholic psychosis is a mental disorder that is observed in patients on the background of alcohol consumption. Often, the first signs of deviation manifest themselves in the second stage of the disease and may change with the course of the disease. In this regard, the very phenomenon of alcoholic psychosis in psychiatry has several subspecies, which differ from each other in their manifestations. Let us consider in more detail what kind of pathology it is, find out what symptoms are observed in this case, and find out how the disease should be treated.

Reasons for development

Alcoholic psychosis usually occurs as a result of long-term consumption of appropriate drinks. The reason is also a metabolic failure. True, a long experience in alcoholism is not at all necessary for the development of psychosis. If you try to derive a general list of the causes of this disorder, then it will include the following factors:

Prolonged use of alcohol.
The presence of a hereditary predisposition of the body.
Social environment along with living conditions.

The category of social environment should be understood not only as a constant presence among drinking individuals, but also as general mass tendencies. Due to the emergence of a fashion for the use of energy alcoholic drinks, a large number of people become susceptible to the disease of alcoholism. But it should be noted that the development of alcoholic psychosis due to inappropriate social environment is a less common case. Often the cause of disorders in the human psyche is a drunken form of alcoholism or the presence of a predisposition to it at the genetic level.

What are the symptoms of alcoholic psychosis?

It is rather difficult to give a single list of symptoms, since each of its subspecies has its own distinctive features. Depending on the stage, the patient has the following clinic of alcoholic psychosis:

The appearance of disturbances in the rhythm of sleep. This may be accompanied by persistent insomnia or interrupted and restless sleep.
The development of a depressed state.
The appearance of emotional apathy.
Observation of instability in mood. At the same time, in a person’s behavior, one can notice anxiety, depression, aggression or irritability, which can change abruptly to another state for no reason.
The appearance of hallucinations.

The manifestation of the latter symptom is typical only for certain types of alcoholic psychosis. In order to understand exactly which stage certain signs belong to, we will study them in more detail.

What is the disease like?

As mentioned above, this type of psychosis is a violation of the patient's behavior due to excessive alcohol consumption. True, depending on the alcoholic stage and the duration of the pathology, one of its subspecies is implied. Varieties include delirium tremens, alcoholic hallucinosis, depression, epilepsy, paranoia, and delusions of jealousy.

The symptoms of alcoholic psychosis are difficult to confuse.

Development of delirium tremens

Delirium tremens is popularly called any mental disorder as a result of alcoholism. In medicine, this type of psychosis is called delirium tremens.

It is characterized by a difficult to tolerate withdrawal syndrome against the background of attempts to abruptly stop drinking alcohol or a long abstinence of a person from contact with alcohol. This subspecies of psychosis manifests itself in disturbed sleep of the patient, and a person may also have an increase in general nervousness and irritability, which in combination will lead to the occurrence of visual hallucinations.

The appearance of alcoholic hallucinosis

This subspecies of alcoholic psychosis develops against the background of a severe withdrawal syndrome for a person, as well as as a result of a long-term binge drinking. The main feature that is characteristic of this type of disorder is the manifestation of auditory hallucinations in the patient, often combined with a special phenomenon - delusions of dangerous persecution.

What other symptoms and course of alcoholic psychosis are there?

Development of alcoholic depression

As part of the course of a withdrawal syndrome that is strong in its power, a person develops a condition that can be characterized by alcoholic depression. In this case, the patient will be in a depressed mood, and, in addition, he will be overcome by thoughts of self-destruction. Against this background, bouts of tears can also constantly occur. Often this condition is combined with a persecution mania or all sorts of conspiracies. The development of alcoholic depression is considered by experts to be one of the most dangerous conditions, since it can even lead a person to suicide.

What can chronic alcoholic psychosis lead to?

Development of alcoholic epilepsy

At this stage, pathology manifests itself not only in the mood of the patient, but also in changes in the physical capabilities and functions of the body. Against the background of alcoholic epilepsy, the patient may be tormented by severe convulsive seizures. Such seizures are especially strong immediately after a sharp refusal to take alcoholic beverages before the onset of withdrawal symptoms. The symptoms and treatment of alcoholic psychosis are interrelated.

Quite often, epilepsy manifests itself as a deterioration in the general condition against the background of delirium tremens. There were also cases in which, on the contrary, seizures occurred when the patient was in a state of extreme intoxication. First aid in the development of such seizures, as a rule, does not differ from the standard algorithm of actions and techniques for epilepsy.

Convulsions occur after the cessation of libations, which negatively affects the possibility of treatment. But with a sufficient period of abstinence from alcohol, seizures can pass on their own without the return of another epilepsy.

Alcoholic paranoid

A mental disorder, which is called, develops in patients during the experience of a strong withdrawal syndrome, and also due to prolonged incessant drinking. With its onset, a person is overcome by a strong delirium, the essence of which, as a rule, is in the formation of an idea related to persecution or adultery. In such a situation, patients are able in every person who is nearby to consider their personal enemy, who encroaches on their property or honor.

Patients in a state of alcoholic paranoia are confused and even somewhat frightened most of the time. But such a mood can be abruptly replaced by aggression or animal fear, which may be accompanied by flight, attacks on people or requests for all kinds of help addressed to law enforcement agencies.

The appearance of alcoholic delirium of jealousy

Staying in in most situations is typical only for male patients. With women, such a violation of the psyche occurs quite rarely. In addition, it was noted that this subspecies of psychosis has its own age group. It predominantly occurs in men who have reached the age of forty years and above.

This violation manifests itself in the form of dissatisfaction with the attitude of the second half. In particular, the spouse can be accused of coldness and inattention. Against this background, the patient begins to think that the spouse is actively communicating with a person of the opposite sex. In such a state, suspicions of infidelity arise extremely quickly, and any men who are next to a woman can be considered as candidates for lovers. At the same time, the patient perceives relatives as accomplices covering his wife's infidelity.

As soon as the alcoholic delusion of jealousy arises, the person becomes suspicious and overly aggressive. This can be especially true for his wife. The patient will be annoyed by the behavior, and, in addition, the appearance of the second half, he will begin to control her movement along with the social circle. The patient's mood can change dramatically to aggressive behavior, up to cases of assault.

The varieties of psychosis described above form the basic base, but do not provide an exhaustive list of all types of the disorder presented. Also, each of the above conditions has two forms of flow: acute and chronic. Chronic alcoholic type of psychosis often occurs with a constant drunken nature of the disease. The acute form is characteristic of a state of abrupt cessation of alcohol intake and the development of an abstinence syndrome.

Alcoholic psychosis: treatment

Symptoms, and in addition, the treatment of any mental disorder, including alcohol, are closely related. Depending on the stage of development of the disease, the scheme for withdrawing the patient from binge along with the intensity of the course will change. What needs to be done first? Let's find out below.

The best treatment for alcoholic psychosis is a combination of infusion therapy with psychotropic drugs along with nootropic drugs and a course of vitamins. In order to avoid any complications, treatment should be carried out in a hospital setting, where each drug will be strictly dosed by trained and qualified personnel.

The consequences of the prolonged development of alcoholic psychosis can be different. Depending on the type of this or that disorder, the patient can be dangerous for himself, and in addition, for the people around him. There are frequent situations when, in a state of alcoholic psychosis, others received serious injuries, which subsequently led to death.

In this regard, the manifestation of any change in the behavior of the patient should be taken carefully and responsibly. The sooner treatment is started, the sooner it will be possible to eliminate the disorder. Of course, getting rid of the disease will not play any role if the abuse of harmful drinks is not stopped.

What to do with acute alcoholic psychosis?

What measures are taken during treatment?

To develop the necessary treatment tactics, first, specialists need to correctly diagnose the patient's condition. For these purposes, as a rule, to begin with, they invite a narcologist to the house. Further therapy occurs according to the following scheme:

At the initial stage, the patient receives drugs that help get rid of toxins. Medical means allow with minimal loss to the body to remove the products of ethanol metabolism.
Further, the implementation of the restoration of water and electrolyte balance is carried out along with the correction of metabolic disorders.
In parallel, if the patient's condition allows, he is treated for concomitant diseases, and, in addition, measures are developed related to the prevention of complications.
Rehabilitation of the patient requires not only the pharmacological type of support, but also psychological assistance.

Drugs for the treatment of the disease

As part of the treatment of alcoholic psychosis, the following groups of pharmacological agents are used:

For detoxification, electrolyte solutions are administered along with glucose and magnesium sulfate.
Diuretic drugs.
Among enterosorbents, Rekitsen-RD and Enterosgel are used.
It is advisable to use sedatives, and in more severe cases, antidepressants are used in the form of Afobazole and Cipralex.
Antioxidants in the treatment are "Glycine" with "Limonar" and "Yantavit".
Hepatoprotectors are: "Hepatofalk" along with "Silibinin" and "Gepabene".
Of the tranquilizers, Bromazepam is used with Diazepam.
Antipsychotics such as Clozapine are also used along with Droperidol and Methophenazine.
Nootropics are also used, for example, Piracetam with Gutamin and Euclidan.
Equally important is the use of vitamin complexes of groups B, C, K and PP.

What is the prognosis for alcoholic psychosis?

The consequences of this pathology

It is not always possible for people addicted to alcohol to recover from a psychosis. The most common consequences that develop even against the background of refusal to drink alcohol are the following negative signs:

A marked decrease in mental faculties.
Difficulty remembering new information and, as a result, problems with memory.
Patients observe simple and primitive mental activity.
Complete or partial disability.
Pronounced degradation of personality.
Psychosis becomes chronic.
Alcoholic epilepsy develops.

Thus, the disease is an extremely serious disorder of mental activity, which requires not only timely treatment, but also a guaranteed rejection of alcoholic beverages.

We reviewed the symptoms, course and prognosis of alcoholic psychosis.

A pathological change in the mental state of a person due to alcohol is called alcoholic psychosis. The disease develops as a result of prolonged use of alcoholic beverages, and becomes pronounced after 3-5 years. Violation and disorder of the psyche occurs as a result of constant poisoning of the body. There are several types of alcoholic psychosis. Each stage has its own symptoms and signs of development. However, at the initial stage of alcoholism, psychoses are excluded.

Metal-alcoholic psychosis - what is it?

The general name of the stages of such psychoses is called metal-alcohol psychoses, which occur as a result of long-term use of alcoholic beverages. Symptoms in this case are most pronounced not during the period of alcohol consumption, but after a sharp rejection of it. This happens due to a number of somatic and vegetative-vascular disorders in the body, entailing irreversible disorders in the psyche and consciousness of the patient. It is possible to establish a diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment only after a series of tests and examinations by a narcologist.

The treatment of alcoholic psychosis includes the following activities:

Body detoxification
Restoration of water-salt balance in the body
Psychological trainings
The course of restoration of vital organs that are most susceptible to alcohol influence

If the patient refuses treatment and continues to drink alcohol, psychoses can go into an acute stage, in which such a person becomes dangerous to society. Metal-alcoholic psychosis is also characterized by manifestations of hallucinations and delusions with a complete loss of control over consciousness.

Stages of alcoholic psychosis

The first stage of alkopsychosis is characterized by a violation of the sleep phase or its complete absence. The disease proceeds with a change in the emotional background, expressed by an elevated or depressed state, accompanied by anger and aggression. At the second and third stages, alcoholic psychosis is expressed by visual hallucinations. At this stage, the patient begins to see things that do not correspond to reality. He is in a state of derealization.

The disease can give special feelings to the alcohol addict, in which hallucinogenic manifestations can be accompanied by sound and olfactory signs. With the transition to chronic alcoholic psychosis, the patient is characterized by mental retardation and delusional disorders, and hallucinations and delusions often occur with remission and a form of exacerbation.

In general, the following stages of this disease are determined:

delirium;
hallucinosis;
delirium on the background of alcoholic psychosis;
pseudoparalysis;
alcoholic encephalopathy;
dipsomania;
depression;
paranoid;
hemorrhagic polyencephalitis;
antabuse psychosis.

Note:

If timely treatment is not started, the acute stage of alcoholic psychosis can last from a couple of weeks to several months.

Causes and symptoms of alcoholic psychosis

The disease manifests itself in each person in different ways, and may depend on the psychological state of the patient. Manifestations are expressed most clearly on. Symptoms of alcoholic psychosis with the individual qualities of the patient may be as follows:

Insomnia;
Trembling in limbs;
anxiety state;
restlessness;
Emotional decline or rise;
obsessive states;
dilated pupils;
Partial memory loss;
state of stupor;
Apathy and indifference;
Aggression, bullshit.

The most common causes of psychosis are causation, excessive, uncontrolled drinking for 3-5 years, and social and living conditions of the drinker. This time and conditions are sufficient for the complete destruction of all internal organs of a person.

Consequences of alcoholic psychosis

It is difficult for a person who has undergone alcoholic psychosis to return to his former full-fledged life. A complete rejection of alcohol is not able to affect the development of pathological changes in the body, in which alcoholic psychosis is characterized by such consequences as:

mental retardation;
forgetfulness;
confusion of thoughts;
pronounced degradation of the personality;
the transition of psychosis to a chronic state;
increasing alcoholic epilepsy.

The main consequences of alcoholic psychosis of all possible are the complete loss of mental abilities and loss of interest in life. During such periods, a person has a special tendency to suicide.

Note:

Psychoses in alcoholics develop not because of the action of alcohol, but because of metabolic disorders and products that are obtained as a result of the breakdown of alcohol.

Treatment of alcoholic psychoses

It is possible to eliminate the acute manifestation of signs of psychosis (both alcoholic and methalcohol) only within the walls of a drug treatment clinic. Patients will be given an individual approach, taking into account their mental state. The treatment of alcoholic psychosis consists of the following activities:

Decreased by drug treatment.
metabolic recovery.
Psychological approach, correction of consciousness.
Comprehensive treatment of disorders of internal organs.
Breathing exercises.
elimination of hypoxemia.
Recovery of psychomotor.
Therapeutic approach to the elimination of somatic pathologies.

If an attack of alcoholic psychosis caught a patient at home, it is required first of all to call a brigade of orderlies, without informing the patient himself. The medical team will place the drinker in a hospital where he will undergo a rehabilitation course. To stop psychomotor excitability, such drugs without an opioid series as phenazepam, glycine can be used independently. At milder stages, it is possible to use nootropics and neuroleptics to reduce cravings for alcohol and suppress the withdrawal syndrome, which turns into a stage of mental complications.

Attention!

The information in the article is for informational purposes only and is not an instruction for use. Consult with your physician.

ALCOHOLIC PSYCHOSIS. The main factors leading to the occurrence of alcoholic psychosis are metabolic disorders caused by chronic (usually at least 5 years) alcohol abuse.

Delirium tremens(alcoholic delirium) usually develops against the background of an abstinence syndrome with a sharp cessation of drinking or (less often) during a period of abstinence from alcohol in cases of the addition of somatic diseases, injuries (especially fractures). The initial signs of delirium tremens are worsening of night sleep, individual vegetative symptoms (sweating and hand trembling), as well as general fussiness of the patient. For a short time, various shades of mood can be noted, while usually with a hangover syndrome, the mood is monotonous, characterized by depression and anxiety. The condition worsens in the evening (at nightfall), while during the day it may improve so much that it allows the patient to perform his professional duties. In the future, insomnia appears, against the background of which visual illusions first appear, and then various hallucinations and delusions. The predominance of visual hallucinations, which are characterized by a plurality of images and mobility, is characteristic. More often these are insects (cockroaches, beetles, flies) and small animals (cats, rats, mice). Characterized by visions of devils, snakes, "little aliens", deceased relatives. Often, auditory, tactile, olfactory hallucinations are simultaneously noted. At the same time, the mood of patients is extremely variable: for a short time one can observe fear, complacency, bewilderment, surprise, despair.

Patients usually move continuously, their facial expressions are expressive. Motor reactions correspond to hallucinations and mood existing at the moment. So, with fear and frightening hallucinations, the patient hides, defends himself, is excited, and is passive during a good mood. The delusion is fragmentary and reflects the content of hallucinations, more often it is the delusion of persecution. Patients are usually incorrectly oriented in the place (being in the hospital, they say that they are at home, at work, etc.), but oriented in their own person. Delirium tremens is characterized by the periodic disappearance of some of the symptoms, i.e., "light" intervals are noted, as well as a naturally pronounced increase in symptoms in the evening and at night.

Delirium tremens is constantly accompanied by a variety of vegetative disorders - hand trembling, severe sweating, flushing of the skin, especially the face. Body temperature is often subfebrile. The pulse is fast.

Without treatment, delirium tremens drags on for 1-1.5 weeks, may be complicated by alcoholic encephalopathy. Recovery often occurs after deep prolonged sleep.

Alcoholic hallucinosis develops with withdrawal symptoms or at the height of binge. In this case, the main disorder is profuse auditory hallucinations, combined with delusions of persecution. The patient usually hears words "spoken" by a large number of people - "a chorus of voices." Often there is a conversation of "voices" among themselves about the patient, less often they are addressed to the patient himself. At the same time, the “voices” threaten, accuse, insult. Often hallucinations are mockingly teasing in nature, sometimes intensifying to a scream, sometimes weakening to a whisper. Crazy ideas (delusions of persecution, physical destruction) are closely related to the content of auditory hallucinations, they are fragmentary and unsystematic. The mood is dominated by intense anxiety and fear. At the onset of alcoholic hallucinosis, motor excitation is observed in patients, but soon there is some lethargy or an orderly, disease-masking behavior, which creates a false and dangerous idea of an improvement in the condition. As a rule, the symptoms of the disease are aggravated in the evening and at night. Vegetative disorders common for withdrawal syndrome are noted. The duration of alcoholic hallucinosis is from 2-3 days to several weeks, in rare cases it drags on for up to several months.

Alcoholic depression appears against the background of withdrawal symptoms, is characterized by a depressed and anxious mood, tearfulness, ideas of self-destruction, as well as separate delusional ideas of attitude and persecution. Duration from several days to 1-2 weeks. In a state of alcoholic depression, patients can commit suicide.

Alcoholic epilepsy It is characterized by large convulsive seizures that occur at the beginning of the withdrawal syndrome (being a harbinger of the onset of alcoholic delirium), with delirium tremens, less often at the height of intoxication. Small seizures, twilight stupefaction, auras (see Epilepsy) do not happen. With the cessation of alcohol abuse, seizures most often disappear.

Alcoholic paranoid develops in a state of withdrawal syndrome or at the height of binge, is characterized by the presence of delirium. The content of delusional ideas is exhausted by the ideas of persecution or adultery. In the first case, patients believe that there is a group of people seeking to rob or kill them. In the gestures, actions and words of those around them, they see confirmation of their thoughts. Characterized by confusion, intense anxiety, often replaced by fear. The actions of patients are impulsive: they jump off vehicles on the move, suddenly take to flight, seek help from the police, sometimes attack imaginary enemies. In some cases, delirium is accompanied by mild verbal illusions and hallucinations, individual delirious symptoms that occur in the evening and at night. Alcoholic paranoid lasts from several days to several weeks, occasionally several months.

Alcoholic delirium of jealousy occurs almost exclusively in men, as a rule, after 40 years, develops gradually. At first, the patient notes that his wife began to treat him inattentively, and over time, simply with hostility. Increasingly, in his opinion, she shows coldness in intimate relationships and even simply evades them. At the same time, it seems to him that his wife begins to carefully monitor her appearance, more and more often she goes somewhere, constantly lingers, and when she comes home, she looks unusually lively and embarrassed. The patient becomes rude, excitable, unrestrained, he demands "explanations", which entails more and more frequent scandals. However, the wife's behavior only "worsens". Suspicions of her infidelity, at first vague and arising in connection with drunken states, become constant and more certain. The patient usually claims that his wife is cheating on him with one of the men in his inner circle - young relatives, neighbors. If at first "betrayals" are committed outside the home, then over time the wife "becomes impudent" and indulges in "debauchery" already in her apartment. The patient begins to follow his wife, turns to various authorities for help, and can even use violent acts against his wife, often commits murder. With the progression of the disease, the patient begins to assert that his wife has cheated on him in the past, even before marriage, and that the children were not actually born from him. Alcoholic delirium of jealousy usually takes a chronic course with periodic exacerbations.

Alcoholic encephalopathies occur with alcoholism, accompanied by chronic gastritis or enteritis, mainly in people who drink a lot, but eat little. They usually develop against the background of hypovitaminosis in the spring months. The most common form of acute alcoholic encephalopathy is Gaye-Wernicke encephalopathy. It usually begins gradually, lasts 2 - 3 months, rarely longer. There is a growing asthenia, manifested by weakness, exhaustion in combination with memory disorders. Appetite decreases, and then completely disappears, night sleep is upset, loose stools, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, loss of balance are somewhat less common. The resulting psychosis is most often represented by professional or exaggerated delirium, less often by anxiety-delusional states. A few days after the onset of these disorders, stupor or symptoms of apathetic stupor, turning into a coma, are noted. Neurological disorders are constant and pronounced: an increase in muscle tone and sensitivity to pain, such as injections, is detected. Often there are various hyperkinesias. The appearance of paralysis of the oculomotor muscles, photophobia, nystagmus usually indicates the highest phase of the disease. Polyneuropathy phenomena of different intensity and localization are observed. Of the autonomic symptoms, heart rhythm and breathing disorders, fever of central origin, urinary and fecal incontinence are usually noted; the skin is pale or dark brown. The general physical condition of patients is characterized by progressive weight loss, up to cachexia. The disease without treatment most often ends in death.

Chronic alcoholic encephalopathies include Korsakov's psychosis and alcoholic pseudoparalysis. In some cases, they develop over a number of months, in others - acutely, as a rule, after delirium tremens.

Korsakov's psychosis develops against the background of chronic alcoholism, more often - after severe alcoholic delirium. There are gross violations of memory for current events with the inability to remember and reproduce (fixation amnesia). As a result of mnestic disorders, there is disorientation in place and time, unrecognition of others. Memory gaps are replaced by false memories. Previously acquired skills and knowledge are usually retained to a sufficient extent. The mood can be euphoric in combination with a complete or partial lack of criticism of one's condition. In the neurological status appear ophthalmoplegia, nystagmus, ataxia, disorders of tendon and periosteal reflexes in the upper and lower extremities, sometimes combined with muscle atrophy.

Alcoholic pseudo-paralysis is characterized by dementia with severe memory impairment: memory disorders in combination with confabulations (see Amnesia), loss of acquired knowledge and skills, impaired judgment, lack of criticism of one's disease. The background of the mood is determined by carelessness, in some cases ideas of greatness are noted. The course is long.

Pathological intoxication- a rare variant of acute psychosis that occurs with a picture of twilight disorder of consciousness or acute paranoid syndrome, which develops after drinking small doses of alcohol and can occur after a state of simple alcohol intoxication. Pathological intoxication often occurs in people with organic CNS damage, epilepsy, oligophrenia, psychopathy and lasts from several minutes to several hours, followed by deep sleep and amnesia of everything that happened. The patient's behavior is determined by delusional experiences of fear, hallucinations, in connection with which he performs inadequate aggressive actions, suicidal attempts. Outwardly, this state is manifested by chaotic motor excitation, often silent, accompanied by a sharp pallor of the face. Cases of pathological intoxication almost always become the subject of subsequent forensic psychiatric examinations.

medical tactics. First of all, it is necessary to exclude (when examining the patient) traumatic psychosis. The increase in the severity of the condition, the deepening of the impairment of consciousness, the appearance and intensification of neurological disorders with meningeal symptoms, the lack of improvement in the condition during the day, the persistence of delirium disorders suggest a complex (alcohol-traumatic) nature of delirium.

Taking into account the fact that psychotic disorders in acute alcoholic psychosis can be temporarily stopped by ingestion of alcohol, it is advisable to use a mixture of 0.3-0.4 g of phenobarbital dissolved in 30-50 ml of ethyl alcohol with the addition of 100-120 ml of water before starting infusion therapy given to the patient to drink. Then it is necessary (especially in the first hours) to take care of the mechanical fixation of the patient. You can use for this, for example, a net from an ordinary country hammock, covering the patient with it: for all the outward ugliness, this is the least traumatic remedy and is preferable to the generally accepted "knitting".

Treatment of alcoholic delirium is based solely on pathogenetic principles. Intensive infusion therapy (the same as with alcohol withdrawal) should be combined with large doses of psychotropic drugs: intravenously or intramuscularly injected 3 - 4 ml of 0.5% solution of seduxen up to 2 - 3 times a day; intramuscularly 1-2 ml of a 0.5% solution of haloperidol, 2-3 ml of a 2.5% solution of tizercin or chlorpromazine (the latter, in cases of severe psychotic symptoms, can also be administered intravenously). Large doses of vitamin B are needed (5 ml 3-4 times a day). The best prognosis is observed with the addition of large doses of nootropil (up to 5 g orally or up to 20 ml intravenously).

Infusion therapy for alcoholic hallucinosis is usually carried out once and only in cases of severe autonomic disorders. The main place in the treatment belongs to psychotropic drugs: tizercin, haloperidol, stelazine (triftazine), which are administered parenterally in the first days.

In the treatment of alcoholic encephalopathy, the main attention is paid to massive vitamin therapy (vitamins of groups B and C) and nootropic drugs.

At all stages of the treatment of alcoholic psychoses, the nursing staff must fulfill all prescriptions with the utmost care, carefully monitor changes in the patient's condition and report them to the doctor. The importance of nursing care for patients with alcoholic psychosis is equated with the importance of care for postoperative patients.

The site administration is NOT responsible for the consequences of self-treatment.

Alcoholic psychosis - symptoms and treatment at home or clinic of various types of illness

A dangerous complication of alcoholism is alcoholic psychosis - the symptoms and treatment make it clear that it will not be easy to get rid of delirium and delusional ideas even in a hospital setting. Such a critical state is not limited to withdrawal symptoms, irreversible changes occur in the psyche of a chronic alcoholic, his worldview. Alcoholic psychosis is observed when a smaller dose of ethanol enters the blood, and this is a problem. It will be very difficult to recover, to return to a full life.

What is alcoholic psychosis

Such an acute mental disorder is provoked by prolonged abuse of alcoholic beverages. Simply put, this is a serious complication of alcoholism, which, in addition to insomnia, causes amnesia, delirium tremens. The disease has a chronic form, however, if the attack is stopped for up to 10 days, a stable and very long period of remission can be achieved. More often, male alcoholics suffer from a characteristic pathology, but the development of alcoholic psychosis in the female body should not be ruled out. This is the official diagnosis, which has the ICD-10 code F 10.4.

The main provoking factor is alcoholism, which gradually destroys all internal organs and body systems. This is a pathological process lasting no one year. Alcoholic psychosis progresses more often in chronic alcoholics of stages 2 and 3, and is prone to recurrence. Additional contributing factors are:

social factor;
genetic predisposition;
violation of metabolism and chemical composition of blood;
prolonged stress, mental trauma;
chronic fatigue, apathy;
physical and mental overload;
low level of comfort.

If the patient falls into an alcoholic depression, these are the first prerequisites for an exacerbation of psychosis. It is not easy to cure a chronic disease, especially since the clinical picture is only getting worse. The pathological process begins with acute intoxication of the body, does not exclude the appearance of systemic and neurological symptoms. It is recommended to pay attention to the following changes in general well-being:

disturbed breathing with hoarseness;
cyanosis around the eyes, corners of the mouth;
nightmares;
obsessive ideas;
delirium with visual hallucinations;
bouts of emotional arousal;
progressive delirium;
paranoia, fit of hysteria;
progressive mental disorder;
suicidal tendencies;
dementia symptoms;
progressive epilepsy;
panic with auditory hallucinations.

Types of alcoholic psychosis

Prolonged alcohol intoxication in the absence of desire on the part of the patient is difficult to cure, so psychosis develops over time. Given the extensive list of delusional disorders, narcologists provide the following conditional classification for a quick diagnosis of a patient with alcoholism. So, the following types of alcoholic psychosis are distinguished:

alcoholic delirium;
hallucinosis;
alcoholic depression;
alcoholic pseudo-paralysis;
Korsakov's alcoholic psychosis;
delusional alcoholic psychosis.

In fact, this is "white tremens", which, with somatic disorders, drives the patient to insanity. A dangerous attack is more often associated with a sharp decrease in the dose of ethanol in the blood after a long binge. Not only is there a complete degradation of the individual, but also there is a real threat to society from a violent alcoholic. His actions in alcoholic delirium are difficult to guess and predict.

Such a pathology is more accompanied not by a physical disorder, but by a psychological one. The patient personally encounters auditory and visual hallucinations, exists in a state of severe stress, emotional instability and alcohol dependence. He constantly hears extraneous voices, with whom he even conducts a conversation. In practice, eye symptoms are much less common, but they also become an eloquent manifestation of alcoholic psychosis and require timely treatment.

This symptom is associated with intense jealousy, which borders on signs of insanity. In such a clinical picture, even a human life may depend on the further behavior of patients, since an alcoholic in a state of passion is able to “strangle” the object of jealousy or a conditional rival. Therefore, with prolonged binges, the prognosis is unfavorable, you can be “behind bars” after sobering up.

With progressive alcoholic encephalopathy, a drunken alcoholic periodically loses his memory. We are talking about temporary episodes of amnesia, which he tries to make up for with his own fantasies. Each time he comes up with a new story of what happened, but in reality everything was completely different. Such stories cause alarm in relatives, so treatment for alcoholic psychosis should follow immediately. It is important to understand that Korsakoff's syndrome belongs to the category of chronic alcoholic encephalopathies.

Acute alcoholic psychosis

Gaye-Wernicke encephalopathy occurs exclusively in an acute form, and develops against a background of severe delirium. With vegetative disorders, extensive brain damage is observed due to a deficiency of thiamine - vitamin B1 against the background of chronic alcoholism, malnutrition, and incessant vomiting. Metal-alcohol psychosis of this variety is accompanied by increased drowsiness, disturbed sleep phase, general weakness in the limbs, nightmares and a feeling of emptiness. All manifestations of depressive disorders are difficult to treat.

Treatment of alcoholic psychosis

With prolonged binges, extensive disorders of the psycho-emotional state are not excluded, which need timely correction by medical methods. Treatment is carried out in a hospital, the main task is to reduce the risk of developing irreversible damage to the brain and internal organs and systems. If post-alcoholic psychosis is diagnosed, the general recommendations of certified narcologists are presented below:

An alcoholic with severe symptoms needs to be hospitalized, otherwise he may harm himself and others.
To get rid of the symptoms of psychosis, it is necessary to carry out infusion therapy in order to productively clear the systemic circulation of heavy metals.
With attacks of psychosis associated with a hangover syndrome, the patient must be isolated from others.

Medications

After performing a series of tests to make a final diagnosis, getting rid of such an extensive pathology is possible only with an integrated approach. The basis of intensive care in a hospital is infusion therapy for the rapid and safe removal of alcohol breakdown products. Additionally, narcologists appoint representatives of the following pharmacological groups:

psychotropic drugs to eliminate the symptoms of psychosis;
saline solutions for high-quality blood purification;
a mixture of phenobarbital and alcohol with the addition of water to fix an alcoholic;
vitamin B1 in large doses to avoid extensive brain damage;
nootropics, tranquilizers to calm a violent patient;
sleeping pills to subdue a violent patient;
antipsychotics recommended to the patient with thoughts of suicide;
multivitamin complexes for quick recovery of the body.

These medications can only be prescribed on an individual basis with correction of daily dosages. Treatment of unpleasant symptoms of psychosis against the background of alcohol dependence should proceed only in a hospital, under strict medical supervision. Here are effective medicines in a given direction:

diazepam. 0.5% solution for intramuscular injections. It is recommended to administer 2-4 ml of the drug at a time, up to 2-3 approaches per day. Treatment continues until the complete disappearance of unpleasant symptoms.
Carbamazepine. This is a drug in the form of tablets, which is prescribed for seizures. The daily dose is 1.2 g, an overdose is completely excluded (dangerous for the health of an alcoholic).

Psychotropic drugs

With dipsomania without representatives of the specified pharmacological group, successful treatment of the patient is excluded. To remove the symptoms of aggression and inappropriate behavior, narcologists recommend the following psychotropic drugs in the hospital:

Aminazin. Therapeutic solution with a concentration of 2.5%. It is recommended to administer 2-3 ml, while daily doses are adjusted individually depending on the unpleasant symptoms of psychosis. It can be replaced with a solution of Tizercin - the principle of use is similar.
Seduxen. Another treatment solution with a concentration of 0.5% for drip administration. It is recommended to administer 3 ml of the drug 2 to 3 times a day until the symptoms disappear completely.

If the symptoms of alcoholic psychosis are not eliminated in a timely manner, the patient becomes socially dangerous, can threaten the lives of healthy and adequate people. His actions are difficult to predict, and conversations do not have a calming effect. Therefore, a violent alcoholic needs to be urgently neutralized and isolated, treatment should be carried out only in a specialized clinic. Potential complications include:

gradual but steady decline in mental capacity;
progressive amnesia;
regular convulsions and tremors of the limbs;
complete degradation of the personality;
extensive lesions of internal organs and systems;
death at a relatively young age;
gradual development of chronic alcoholic psychosis with frequent relapses.