It is interesting to bring up something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcohol addiction of another family member plainly do not comprehend. It appears that by shielding the alcohol dependent person with lies and deceit to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in effect created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to persevere and proceed with his or her unsafe, devastating lifestyle.
To be sure, rather than helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have involuntarily helped deteriorate the alcohol dependent person’s drinking problem even more.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcoholic will continue drinking in a hazardous and abusive manner and experience different "alcohol side effects." Some of these side effects include legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs), diminished mental functioning, deteriorating relationships, serious financial problems, ill health, and employment difficulties.
Relapses Can and Do Occur
According to the research findings and statistics on alcohol addiction, another key alcohol dependency issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol dependent individual has successfully undergone alcohol dependency treatment and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this predicament flies in the face of common sense and sounds so unbelievable that it forces one to speculate why anyone who has lived through the wretchedness of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol therapy and in turn after achieving sobriety. There are, of course, more than a few plausible reasons for this.
It should be mentioned, conversely that alcoholism research that has centered on the long standing consequences of alcohol addiction has revealed that long after the alcohol addicted individual has stopped his or her drinking, major transformations in the way in which the alcohol addicted individual’s brain operates are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcohol dependent person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the alterations that have come about in the brain is to begin drinking once again.
The Necessity for A Major Lifestyle Modification
There are even more reasons why quite a few recovering alcohol addicted individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. In accordance to the alcoholism research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more effectively with difficult alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.
Circumstances such as returning to the same alcohol addictive atmosphere or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the time when the alcohol addicted person was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these situations can bring forth memories that can set off psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcoholic to engage in excessive drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these circumstances may not only counteract enduring alcohol recovery for the alcohol dependent individual but they can also lead to relapse and therefore go against one’s alcohol recovery.
The Good News: First-Class Help is Available Almost Everywhere
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can essentially cause unintentional harm by enabling the unsafe drinking behavior of the alcoholic.
The drug abuse research literature validates the fact that most individuals who effectively complete alcohol rehab go through at least one relapse. Alcoholics and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or stressed out when a relapse happens.
Fortunately, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up treatment and education have resulted in more successful, long standing alcohol abuse and alcoholism therapeutic results, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol addicted persons accomplish enduring alcohol recovery.
