The use of alcoholic beverages is closely related to the history of the development of human civilization. And today alcoholism is extremely widespread. The culture of drinking alcoholic beverages, unfortunately, has long been lost in some countries – statistics show a tendency towards a steady increase in the incidence of alcoholism. Such a situation forces us to look for new ways to combat this severe psychosomatic pathology, as well as to improve existing methods of treatment. Medical coding in this case is one of the most common and effective ways to treat alcohol dependence.
The coding technique began to be actively used about 30 years ago. At present, it has not lost its relevance, although the mechanism of action of coding has not been fully studied.
The principle of coding for alcoholism
The essence of medical coding for alcoholism is as follows: a narcologist conducts an individual conversation with the patient, during which the patient is persistently instilled in the idea of his inevitable death, provided that he drinks any alcohol-containing drink. In addition, he is inspired with the idea that if he starts drinking again, problems will begin in the family, up to the death of loved ones, in business … Moreover, the patient himself will be to blame for all the problems, since he could not refrain from drinking alcohol.
In the process of such coding, the alcoholic develops a certain conditioned reflex – a negative attitude towards alcohol. Its formation is based solely on the placebo effect, since there is no influence on the patient other than persuasion.
A little earlier, at the beginning of the application of the practice of medical coding for alcohol dependence, in addition to the conversation, the patient’s nervous system was influenced (irritation of the vagus nerve), after which the palate and pharynx of the patient were irrigated with a chloroethyl solution. Over time, experts abandoned additional exposure, and coding began to consist exclusively in hypnoverbal persuasion.
Feasibility of using medical coding
From a legal and scientific point of view, medical coding as a method of treating alcohol dependence has no scientifically substantiated data and is an example of a violation of medical ethics and deontology. This means that the principles of the doctor’s work are violated due to violent psychological influence, as well as violation of the patient’s right to inform him about his own health.
However, despite the fact that the described method is considered pseudoscientific and unreasonable, most drug therapists are confident in the effectiveness and high efficiency of medical coding for alcoholism and recognize it as one of the best methods of treatment. It should be noted that attempts have been made to apply similar coding in relation to other addictions, but the technique has not received such widespread use as for the treatment of alcoholism.
Today, other methods of medical coding are being developed, however, all of them, to achieve the desired effect, include at least a single exposure directly to the patient’s central nervous system. Because of this impact, new coding methods are quite complex and pose a certain danger to human health. For this reason, they are prohibited for practical use.
It is possible that over time, the most effective and safe methods of treating alcohol dependence will appear. But nowadays, it is persuasion, that is, coding, that becomes a priority for those who want to recover from alcoholism.