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It is interesting to point out something that family members who have been adversely affected by the alcohol addiction of another family member plainly do not know. It seems that by shielding the alcohol dependent person with untruths and deceit to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in essence created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent person to persevere and press forward with his or her negative, devastating daily life.

Indeed, rather than helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in truth become enablers who have unintentionally helped negatively affect the alcoholic’s drinking problem even further.

Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcohol addicted individual will continue drinking in an abusive manner and go through a range of “alcohol side effects.” Some of these side effects include diminished mental functioning, deteriorating relationships, serious financial problems, legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs), employment difficulties, and ill health.

Relapses Can and Do Occur From Time to Time

According to the research literature and statistics on alcohol dependency, another key alcohol dependency issue concerns alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has effectively undergone alcohol dependency rehab and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this predicament flies in the face of common sense and appears to be so unrealistic that it forces one to wonder why anyone who has experienced the awfulness of alcohol addiction can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol rehab and in turn after achieving recovery. There are, for sure, numerous credible reasons for this.

It should be mentioned, however that alcohol dependency research that has focused on the long-term consequences of alcoholism has revealed that long after the alcohol addicted person has quit his or her drinking, critical modifications in the way in which the alcohol dependent individual’s brain functions are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol addicted person has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the changes that have taken place in the brain is to start drinking once again.

The Need for A Crucial Lifestyle Change

There are other reasons why quite a lot of recovering alcohol addicted individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after reaching sobriety. In accordance to the alcoholism research literature, to make a successful recovery, the alcohol addicted person needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more efficiently with difficult alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.

Conditions such as returning to the same alcohol addictive environment or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the days when the alcohol addicted person was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these conditions can elicit memories that can set off psychological anxiety or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol dependent individual to engage in irresponsible drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these circumstances may not only get in the way of long-term sobriety for the alcohol dependent person but they can also lead to relapse and therefore cancel out one’s sobriety.

The Good News: There’s a Lot of Hope for a Lasting Recovery

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can actually cause unintentional damage by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcohol dependent person.

The alcoholism research literature demonstrates the fact that most individuals who successfully complete alcohol therapy go through at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent persons 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, taking part in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up therapy and education have resulted in more productive, lasting alcohol abuse and alcoholism rehab outcomes, have helped reduce alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons reach long-term alcohol recovery.

Tags: alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependency, alcohol rehab, alcohol treatment, alcoholism, diseases, drinking problems, enabling, sobriety

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 7:45 am and is filed under Teenage Drug and Alcohol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.