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Wednesday, 2 July 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.

Now the first one was the pioneering screening test as it was created sometime during the early seventies. Now this one would consist on a few questions that would try to make the patient realize himself that he has a problems. Usually, the questions would be more on how drinking plays a factor in person problems like marital problems, work problems, or other personal issues.

The second test that could be used, which is the CAGE test, would follow a process to know how the patient feels about his problem. Now the first question would relate to whether people has asked him to cut down already. The next one would be about whether he has ever been annoyed at the concern people show to him. The next one would be about whether the patient has ever felt guilty after drinking too much. The last one would ask whether one has had eye openers or early morning drinks.

After that, there is also the TWEAK method which was built after the CAGE method so it is a bit more updated. Now the TWEAK method, just like the CAGE method, are a series of questions that would try to see as to how much the patient is suffering from his problem. Now this method would consist of just five questions that would give a proper assessment.

The T would determine the tolerance of the alcoholic or how much he can drink. The W would determine who in his family members are worried about him. The E would determine whether one would have morning drinks in order to calm down his hangovers. The A would determine whether one would start to forget a lot of important things in his life. The K would determine whether the patient has ever thought of cutting down.

Of course if one has to undergo an evaluation, he might have physical problems. So aside from mental treatment, he might need physical treatment too because some of his internal organs are most likely damaged. He would have to undergo an overall physical examination and be given medical treatment.

Now as for the alcoholism treatment, the first step is of course detoxification or flushing of the alcohol from the body. The next thing that would be done would be to prescribe antidepressants to the patients just in case of withdrawal effects. Of course when that is done, one would have to go through regular psychotherapy to make sure that the problem does not come back.




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