Alcohol is an escape from reality and has never brought lasting comfort, satisfaction and help to anyone. It is the only legal drug and the mother of all evils - pure poison.
Tako Sladjana Vukcevic Suskavcevic, psychologist, describes the scale of the problem of alcoholism, because of which she lost her husband half a year ago.
"My husband Ivan Suskavcevic died on 28.07. from cirrhosis of the liver in KCCG. He was only 46 years old. Hardworking doctors/gastroenterohepatologists were unable to save him. It was already too late... We even found a human donor for a liver transplant, but in vain", Vukčević Šuškavčević told "Vijesti".
She says it all started with a car accident her husband had 20 years ago, which left him in a coma for 40 days.
"His spleen was still preserved. However, due to negligence and omissions, through the wrong transfusion, he got Hepatitis B. Even then, our doctors gave up on Ivan... However, thanks to the intervention of a wealthy relative, one of the best neurosurgeons from the region came and managed to get him out of the coma and successfully cured. Fortunately, through continuous physical therapy, Ivan successfully recovered over time. In the meantime, he got a job, formed a family... He was an extremely hardworking and honest man. Always cheerful and smiling. Full of life and joy. Everyone loved him," says Vukčević Šuškavčević.
She claims that after two decades, the system has failed and that there was no adequate support for her husband and patients with a similar problem.
"Although no one forced him to consume alcohol again and go down the path of vice, and he was warned, nevertheless, after 20 years, our institutions and doctors failed to adequately hospitalize him on time. They scheduled this time, as well as the collective system, because there was no possibility for him to go to the necessary meetings of the famous group 'Alcoholics Anonymous', which does not yet exist in Montenegro. Conversations are held via Zoom, but not live with a team of experts and a mentor who monitors the members, which is a big omission and absurdity in the 21st century. However, there is a smaller group that meets in Podgorica, but only for English-speaking members. It seems that foreigners are primarily favored," says the psychologist, who is an American citizen.
She explains that "Alcoholics Anonymous" meetings are positioned as a vital segment for the treatment of alcoholism everywhere in the world, except here.
Therefore, he suggests that the government urgently implement this service because it is of crucial importance and helps addicts. He believes that only through the efforts of the US Embassy and non-governmental organizations could this process be accelerated.
"There were many omissions by doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists... His psychiatrist and friend did not want to place him at Kakaricka Gora, because Ivan allegedly 'did not meet the conditions for treatment there.' He gave him Lorazepam for independent therapy while he knew very well that Ivan was consuming and abusing alcohol. Instead of hospitalizing him or at least giving him injections/blockers. In fact, 'Russian roulette' with life. Also, recently, Ivan would often bleed profusely from the nose and mouth. He went to the emergency room and emergency room several times, even in Belgrade, where he was rehabilitated and tested, but he was soon discharged and sent back to home treatment after all the examinations, instead of being admitted to the hospital and having a liver biopsy performed. but they didn't, unfortunately. As a consequence of all that, Ivan soon developed delirium tremens, jaundice and hepatitis encephalopathy and died this summer after 28 days of fighting in KCCG, unfortunately", says Vukčević Šuškavčević.
She says that as a wife and psychologist, she did her best, as did the family, to warn him and treat him in time, but nothing could have been done by force without the support of doctors and the system.
"Ivan always cared more about others. He was primarily afraid of losing his job. Every intervention was unsuccessful on our part, unfortunately. It's 'fate', among other things, and 'alcohol is the mother of all evils', as our people would say... Ivan tried to abstain from alcohol on several occasions, but a person cannot wean himself and get away with it, because it is very dangerous for the person to stop consumption on his own, which can lead to a fatal outcome, as in Ivan's case, unfortunately," she claims.

Vukčević Šuškavčević believes that this case should be a lesson to others - a warning to doctors to pay close attention to their patients, and to the Government that it is necessary to implement group support of "Alcoholics Anonymous" in their native language, before it is too late for many others...
"There is only one life and you should not gamble with life. Everything that torments a person and what is on his soul needs to be eradicated with psychologists and psychiatrists, not with alcohol. "Alcohol is an escape from reality and has not brought lasting comfort, satisfaction and help to anyone," the psychologist believes.
She points out that alcoholism is a big problem in Montenegro and that the devastating statistics are not abating and represent a danger for our youth. He claims that our society needs to show empathy towards addicts because alcoholism is a mental illness and not a mere physical addiction.
"The stigma against them must be eradicated so that future generations will grow up and avoid the hell of alcohol. Prevention and education is the key in everything, but our cultural and family patterns of behavior worsen the state of consciousness of the people, because the consumption of alcohol is encouraged in almost every occasion and is desirable in the social context. And the youth are targeted and become the most susceptible to addiction diseases (peer pressure). As here in Montenegro, so everywhere in the Balkans. Consciousness needs to change collectively. Let's start with ourselves...", concludes Vukčević Šuškavčević.
According to the data of the Montenegrin Institute of Public Health, alcohol is the third largest risk factor for mortality and morbidity in the population aged between 15 and 49 in Montenegro. Based on data from 2021, mortality caused by alcohol in Montenegro has increased by 57 percent in the last three decades. Alcohol consumption in the country, according to research from 2017, is 10,3 liters per capita per year, which is significantly above the European average, said recently the national coordinator for the fight against alcoholism, Dr. Sabina Ćatić.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), alcohol is responsible for 2,6 million deaths annually globally.
There is only one life and you should not gamble with life. Everything that torments a man and what is on his soul needs to be eradicated with psychologists and psychiatrists, not with alcohol. "Alcohol is an escape from reality and has not brought lasting comfort, satisfaction and help to anyone," the psychologist believes
Meetings of "Alcoholics Anonymous" all over the world are set as a vital segment for the treatment of alcoholism, except here.
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