Alcohol Dependency, Enabling, and Alcohol Relapse
It is fascinating to articulate something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcohol addiction of another family member clearly do not comprehend. It seems to be that by shielding the alcohol addicted individual with lies and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in essence created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to carry on and move forward with his or her unsafe, devastating lifestyle.
To be sure, instead of helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in truth become enablers who have inadvertently helped negatively affect the alcohol addicted person’s drinking problem even more.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcohol dependent person will continue drinking in an irresponsible manner and experience 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 Probability of a Relapse is Real
According to the research findings and statistics on alcohol addiction, another key alcohol addiction issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has successfully undergone alcohol addiction therapy and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this circumstance flies in the face of sound thinking and seems so unbelievable that it forces an individual to question why anyone who has lived through the terror of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol therapy and in turn after attaining sobriety. There are, for sure, numerous reasonable reasons for this.
It should be pointed out, nevertheless that alcohol dependency research that has centered on the long standing effects of alcohol dependency has shown that long after the alcohol addicted person has stopped his or her drinking, key alterations in the way in which the alcohol addicted individual’s brain functions are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcohol dependent individual has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the alterations that have taken place in the brain is to start drinking again.
A Requirement for A Far Reaching Lifestyle Transformation
There are additional reasons why quite a lot of recovering alcohol addicted individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. According to the alcohol dependency research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcohol dependent person needs new ways of responding and thinking in order to deal more successfully with difficult alcohol-related situations that will take place.
Issues such as returning to the same alcohol addictive environment or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the time when the alcohol dependent person was drinking in a hazardous manner; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can bring about memories that can trigger psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcoholic to engage in abusive drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these situations may not only negate long-term sobriety for the alcoholic but they can also lead to relapse and as a result circumvent one’s sobriety.
The Good News: Quality Help is Readily Available
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can in fact cause inadvertent damage by enabling the destructive drinking behavior of the alcohol addicted individual.
The drug abuse research literature confirms the fact that most people who effectively complete alcohol rehab experience at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or overwhelmed when a relapse takes place.
Luckily, taking part in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up treatment and education have resulted in more productive, long-term alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency treatment outcomes, have helped reduce alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent individuals accomplish long lasting sobriety.
