Alcohol Relapse and When Helping the Alcoholic Becomes Hurtful

It is fascinating to point out something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcoholism of another family member clearly do not know. It seems that by protecting the alcohol addicted person with lies and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in effect created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to persist and move forward with his or her negative, destructive lifestyle.

In fact, instead of helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have mistakenly helped worsen the alcohol addicted person’s drinking problem even further.

Relapses Can and Do Occur

Another key alcohol addiction issue has to do with alcohol relapses.  Relapses take place when an alcohol dependent person has fruitfully undergone alcohol addiction rehab and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later.  At first glance, this situation seems contradictory to logical thinking and appears to be so unbelievable that it forces an individual to speculate why anyone who has gone through the dreadfulness of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol treatment and in turn after achieving recovery.  There are, of course, more than a few plausible reasons for this.

It should be pointed out, on the other hand that alcohol dependency research that has centered on the long standing consequences of alcoholism has revealed that long after the alcohol addicted person has terminated his or her drinking, critical transformations in the way in which the alcoholic’s brain operates are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol dependent individual has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the modifications that have taken place in the brain is to begin drinking once again.

The Need for A Fundamental Lifestyle Modification

There are other reasons why quite a few recovering alcohol dependent individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. According to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcohol addicted person needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more efficiently with tough 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 alcoholic was drinking abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can bring about memories that can prompt psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcoholic to engage in irresponsible drinking once again. Sadly, all of these situations may not only work against long standing alcohol recovery for the alcohol addicted person but they can also result in relapse and as a result counteract one’s sobriety.

Conclusion

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol dependent person, family members can in point of fact cause unintended harm by enabling the unhealthy drinking behavior of the alcohol addicted person.

The alcoholism research literature highlights the fact that most people who effectively complete alcohol counseling go through at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or stressed out when a relapse happens.

Luckily, involvement 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 rehab outcomes, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons accomplish long-term alcohol recovery.

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