Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility What to expect when getting care – Help With Drinking

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What to expect when getting care

On your journey to wellness, you will meet different health care providers who will support you in different ways. The steps in your treatment journey might not look like someone else’s, and that’s okay. What matters is that you get the help you need for your alcohol use and feel respected and supported throughout the process.

 

When you see a doctor, it’s a good idea to write down their name and important things they tell you during your visit. This way, you can remember what was discussed and refer to it later. It can help you when talking to other doctors or keeping track of your progress.

Visualizing the phases of your care

When you are looking for help for alcohol use, you might hear or read the expression “continuum of care”. In medicine, this expression describes the delivery of health care over a period of time—think of it as your journey to wellness.

 

Here is a high-level overview of what your journey might look like. Keep in mind that each person’s experience is unique: steps might be skipped or done in a different order, and you may move back and forth between the different steps.

 

Visualize the phases of your care

Screening

When you go to your health care provider for help with alcohol use, they will ask you questions about your drinking habits. This is called “screening”. It’s completely normal to feel uncomfortable while answering screening questions. These questions touch on personal and sensitive topics.

 

Health care providers ask these questions not to judge you or your decisions, but to understand how much you drink and how it might be affecting your health and other parts of your life. It’s important to be honest when you answer screening questions, because it allows them to provide the best care for you and your situation.

 

An example of a screening question you might be asked is: How many times in the past year have you had 4 (for women) / 5 (for men) or more drinks in one sitting?

 

If your answer is anything other than “zero times” or “never”, your health care provider will want to know more about your drinking and health. They will ask you a few more questions about how much you drink and how often. This helps them understand how concerned they should be about your health.

 

If there’s not too much to worry about, the doctor or nurse might just give you some advice on reducing your drinking or keeping up with your healthy habits. But if they think your drinking could seriously harm your health, or if you already have health issues, they will ask more questions and have a detailed conversation with you about how drinking affects your life.

 

Sometimes a health care provider might talk about your drinking in a way that comes across as judgmental or disrespectful. If you feel uncomfortable or judged, you have the right to advocate for yourself and seek care from providers who treat you with compassion and respect.

The insights I garnered while ‘relapsing’ were invaluable, and they have shaped my path forward in the intervening years.

Nicole, person in recovery from alcohol use disorder