“Alcohol destroys the family,” says DeSimone who remembers always being on edge. “It was either fighting or there was so much tension you could cut with the knife,” said Elaine DeSimone.
Elaine DeSimone remembers the fear that gripped his mother and siblings whenever her father drank.
“We knew that if he had a beer in his hand, somebody was going to get it that night,” says DeSimone, who was born in New York in a family of Sicilian background.
“When my dad was sober, it was a a whole different person,” she explains. But whenever he drank, he turned into Jekyll and Hyde, “you just didn’t know what you were going to get.”
“Alcohol destroys the family,” says DeSimone who remembers always being on edge. “It was either fighting or there was so much tension you could cut with the knife.”
“If it’s a good day, you know it’s going to get bad. You’re always on edge,” she adds.
That experience inspired DeSimone to learn more about the problem of addiction and to help others dealing with it, something she does every day as Outpatient/Substance Use Disorder Program Director at Clinica Romero.
April marks Alcohol Awareness Month, dedicated to highlighting the dangers of alcohol misuse and its impact on lives and communities.
Like any addiction, the first thing she emphasizes is that alcohol abuse is a disease which can be treated, and with some effort and resilience, overcome.
“No one dreams of being a drinker and ruin their family when they grow up,” she says.
But easy accessibility—a liquor store in every corner—bad influences and other societal factors often lead people to fall into alcoholism.
At Clinica Romero, the program DeSimone leads treats some 220 patients every month—most of whom come from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), they’re either on probation or in transitional housing—and a large majority of them are dealing with an alcohol issue.
“We have quite a bit of alcoholics,” she notes. “They’re people that are dealing with the consequences: losing children, can’t work, are on parole, and sometimes people are self-referred by their relatives.”
ALCOHOL USE AND ABUSE
A lot of people may have a drink or two in social occasions, but if you start drowning several beers a night and it starts interfering with your daily life, there may be a problem.
DeSimone has seen many “functional drinkers”—those who are able to hold jobs and seem to lead regular lives—but she doesn’t believe in that. Eventually, she notes, the drinking will catch up and they inevitably end up losing relationships and all they’ve achieved.
“When people say functional, it’s in other places. Eventually you’re not going to be functional,” she says.
And even if you’re a “functional drinker” doesn’t mean you’re not in danger of developing other health problems, or putting others in danger.
Alcohol is a deadly disease for those who consume it and the general public.
Every hour, approximately 20 people die from excessive alcohol use—some 178,000 per year.
Also, every day, about 37 people in the U.S. die in drunk-driving crashes—that’s one person every 39 minutes. A total of 13,524 peope died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“When people are drinking, even if they say they’re functional, you’re not thinking straight,” DeSimone says. “It’s families that are dying. Somebody else is dying, usually not the drunk driver.”
The rates of heavy drinkers worsened since the pandemic, DeSimone says. Being at home with nothing to do, and dealing with depression and isolation led to people drinking, or to drink more.
TREATING THE DISEASE
But there is help.
At Clinica Romero, those who come through their door with an alcohol problem (usually shaking like a leaf because they haven’t had a drink in a couple of hours) can find support groups, referrals to detox centers, and medication to deal with the problem.
First they do a screening to see the level of the problem.
“If we see that alcohol is putting them in danger, we put them in detox,” DeSimone says.
That can usually last from 5 to 7 days.
Detox must be monitored. Alcohol is one of the three drugs, along with opiods, where you can die while groing through the withdrawal.
“If they haven’t drank in two days or more, we would probably see if they’re interested in the medication,” she adds.
Vivitrol, or its generic name naltrexone, is a shot administered every month to treat alcohol dependence. This prescription medicine suppresses the alcohol craving and the effects of the intoxication. This treatment can last for up to six months and is part of an alcohol treatment program accompanied by support groups and counseling.
“We’re lucky. We have really good counselors,” says DeSimone, who has 26 people working under her. “They (patients) come in denial. This is a safe place with no judgement and they start to admit they have a problem.”
Often, there are false starts
“Some people we don’t see them for a fews day s because they relapse. Those who come back, we’re here. We have open arms and one is judging you.”
A case manager is always ready to lend a hand and if the patient is ready and willing, they can schedule an appointment with a doctor to begin the shots as soon as possible.
They are also encouraged to take part in group where they can talk about their feeling. Weekly doctor visits help to keep them on track as well.
“They get a lot of support,” DeSimone says.
The important thing is to come in.
“You have to wait and you have to listen; sometimes you have to wait for the miracle to happen, an epiphany,” she says of that moment when the person realizes they have a problem and need help.
When that happens, Clinica Romero will be there to help begin the journey of leaving the bottle, a journey that is not easy, but can be achieved.
“If they do all the work, they get help in a treatment center, they get a sponsor, they have a family that is supportive, they stay out of their old neighborhood and away from friends that might want to bring them down, every single person has a chance to live a different life,” DeSimone says. “It’s not easy and that’s why so many people can’t get sober. The promise is they can live their best life, go to school, not be locked up in a cage because they have this addiction.
“Everybody has a chance for a second life but you have to do the work and you have to be concious that this is going to be a problem that you have to fight,” she adds.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU! CALL NOW!
Clinica Romero’s Subsance Use Disorder Department
(323) 987-1034
