Alcohol Addiction, Alcohol Relapse, and Enabling
It is worthy of note to articulate something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcoholism of another family member evidently do not comprehend. It seems to be that by shielding the alcohol dependent person with untruths and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in actual fact created a circumstance that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to carry on and move forward with his or her unsafe, destructive existence.
Without a doubt, instead of helping the alcohol dependent person and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have mistakenly helped deteriorate the alcohol addicted individual’s drinking problem even further.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcohol addicted person will continue drinking in a hazardous and excessive manner and suffer from different “alcohol side effects.” Some of these side effects include serious financial problems, legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs), ill health, deteriorating relationships, diminished mental functioning, and employment difficulties.
The Possibility of a Relapse is Real
According to the research literature and statistics on alcohol dependency, another key alcoholism issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has successfully undergone alcoholism treatment and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this predicament flies in the face of common sense and sounds so far-fetched that it forces one to question why anyone who has experienced the horrors of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol rehabilitation and in turn after reaching sobriety. There are, without a doubt, many conceivable reasons for this.
It should be mentioned, conversely that alcoholism research that has focused on the long-term effects of alcohol addiction has demonstrated-proven that long after the alcohol addicted person has quit his or her drinking, fundamental changes in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain works are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol addicted person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the modifications that have occurred in the brain is to engage in drinking again.
The Need for A Critical Lifestyle Modification
There are even more reasons why quite a few recovering alcoholics return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. According to the alcohol dependency research literature, to make a successful recovery, the alcohol addicted individual needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more effectively with challenging alcohol-related situations that will take place.
Situations such as returning to the same alcohol addictive atmosphere or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the days when the alcohol dependent person was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these situations can bring about memories that can trigger psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted individual to engage in hazardous drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these circumstances may not only counteract long lasting sobriety for the alcohol addicted individual but they can also result in relapse and therefore go against one’s sobriety.
The Good News: First-Class Help is Available Almost Everywhere
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcoholic, family members can in point of fact cause unplanned damage by enabling the unhealthy drinking behavior of the alcohol dependent person.
The substance abuse research literature demonstrates the fact that most individuals who effectively complete alcohol treatment experience at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get down in the dumps or stressed out when a relapse takes place.
Luckily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and training have resulted in more effective, ongoing alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency therapeutic outcomes, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol addicted persons accomplish lasting sobriety.
Tags: alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependency, alcohol rehab, alcohol treatment, alcoholism, drinking problems, enabling, mental health, Self Improvement, sobriety
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