Acute poisoning and psychological trauma: Bridging emergency care to long-term mental health rehabilitation

Table 1 Comparison of short-term vs long-term psychological intervention protocols for in-patients with alcohol dependence and comorbid depression/anxiety

Dimension	Long-term protocol	Short-term protocol
Total duration	2-3 weeks (entirely within hospital)	3-6 months (in-hospital + post-discharge extension)
Target population	Mild-to-moderate symptoms, first admission, good social support	Severe/complex comorbidity, high relapse risk
Core modules & frequency	Motivational interviewing 1 × 60 minutes within 48 hours of admission; acute-phase CBT 4 × 45 minutes (every other day); single 30-minute family crisis-planning session	All short-term components; Additional in-depth CBT 4 × 50 minutes (late hospital phase); multi-family group therapy 2 × 90 minutes; post-discharge: Weekly 50 minutes individual CBT (can be online); monthly 90-minute group therapy
Technical focus	Explore ambivalence, goal-setting, high-risk situation identification, coping cards, drink-refusal rehearsal	Reconstruct post-trauma drinking beliefs, emotion regulation, family-system interventions, relapse-chain analysis
Pharmacological adjunct	Short-course benzodiazepines if necessary	Naltrexone or acamprosate maintenance
Homework/tools	Discharge crisis plan	Daily “mood-drinking” diary, progressive muscle-relaxation audio, traffic-light relapse-prevention plan (red-yellow-green)
Follow-up points	At discharge + one telephone call	1 week, 1-, 3-, and 6-month post-discharge
Key outcome indicators	Reduced craving, emotional stabilization, safe discharge	Additional significant GAD-7 reduction (Δ -6.4 vs -4.1, P = 0.018), 87% complete follow-up, no serious adverse events

CBT: Cognitive-behavioral therapy.