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Knowing All About Alcohol Assessment

By Rosella Campbell


The cases of alcoholism in Minneapolis, MN has been increasing a little bit since the last year. Now since the numbers have gone up, alcoholic counsellors have been more diligent when it comes to trying to treat the patients. Of course in order to do this, they have to give the patients an alcohol assessment.

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 MAST, or the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, is actually one of the oldest tests in the world and was create sometime during the very early twenties. Now this test is to allow the patient to assess himself whether he does have a drinking condition or not. Now the questions that would be asked would be about whether one would have problems with his personal life and how drinks play a factor.

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.

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 very first question will be about the alcohol tolerance level or how much one can take. Now the next one would be about whether his family members are already worried. The next question would be about eye openers or drinks that are taken in the morning. The next would be whether one would have blackouts while being intoxicated. The last one would be whether the patient has ever thought of cutting down.

Of course once the counsellor has already determined that the patient does have a problem, the counsellor will first refer him to a medical doctor to get a physical examination. It is best to find out first if there are any urgent health issue. That way, treatment can be given right away.

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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