It is remarkable to point out something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcoholism of another family member obviously do not comprehend. It seems to be that by protecting the alcohol dependent person with lies and deceit to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have essentially created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to persist and move forward with his or her hurtful, destructive existence.
Clearly, instead of helping the alcohol addicted individual and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have mistakenly helped deteriorate the alcohol dependent individual’s drinking problem even more.
The Probability of a Relapse is Real
Another key alcoholism issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has effectively undergone alcohol addiction treatment and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this predicament seems contradictory to common sense and sounds so improbable that it forces an individual to question why anyone who has gone through the misery of alcohol addiction can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol treatment and in turn after achieving sobriety. There are, to be sure, many reasonable reasons for this.
It should be highlighted, on the other hand that alcohol addiction research that has centered on the long-term consequences of alcohol addiction has demonstrated-proven that long after the alcohol dependent person has stopped his or her drinking, major modifications in the way in which the alcohol dependent person’s brain functions are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcoholic has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the modifications that have come about in the brain is to begin drinking once again.
A Requirement for A Critical Lifestyle Transformation
There are additional reasons why numerous recovering alcohol addicted individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. According 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 challenging 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 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 set off psychological anxiety or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted person to engage in hazardous drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these situations may not only get in the way of lasting sobriety for the alcohol addicted individual but they can also result in relapse and consequently short-circuit one’s sobriety.
Summary
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted individual, family members can actually cause unplanned damage by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcohol dependent person.
The alcohol abuse research literature highlights the fact that most individuals who effectively complete alcohol rehabilitation experience at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or stressed out when a relapse occurs.
Luckily, taking part in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up treatment and education have resulted in more productive, long lasting alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction treatment outcomes, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons attain long standing alcohol recovery.
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