Enabling, Alcohol Relapse, and Dishonesty
Posted in Health & Fitness on 10/31/2009 10:14 am by adminIt is interesting to articulate something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcoholism of another family member clearly do not comprehend. It seems that by protecting the alcohol dependent person with falsehoods and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in effect created a condition that makes it easier for the alcoholic to persist and proceed with his or her harmful, devastating style of life.
In fact, rather than helping the alcohol dependent person and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have inadvertently helped negatively affect the alcoholic’s drinking problem even more.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcoholic will continue drinking in a hazardous manner and go through 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.
The Possibility of a Relapse is Real
According to the research findings and statistics on alcohol dependency, another key alcohol dependency issue has to do with alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcoholic has effectively undergone alcohol addiction rehabilitation and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this circumstance seems contradictory to sound thinking and sounds so unbelievable that it forces an individual to wonder why anyone who has experienced the horrors of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol rehab and in turn after achieving sobriety. There are, for sure, more than a few rational reasons for this.
It should be noted, conversely that alcoholism research that has focused on the enduring effects of alcohol addiction has shown that long after the alcohol addicted person has terminated his or her drinking, major transformations in the way in which the alcohol dependent person’s brain operates are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol dependent person has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the modifications that have taken place in the brain is to start drinking once again.
The Necessity for A Radical Lifestyle Change
There are other reasons why numerous recovering alcohol addicted persons return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after reaching sobriety. According to the alcohol dependency research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of responding and thinking in order to deal more competently with difficult alcohol-related situations that will take place.
Situations 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 addicted individual was drinking excessively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can elicit memories that can set off psychological anxiety or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted person to engage in excessive drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these situations may not only negate ongoing sobriety for the alcohol addicted individual but they can also result in relapse and as a result work against one’s alcohol recovery.
The Good News: There’s a Lot of Hope for Lasting Sobriety
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol dependent individual, family members can in fact cause unintentional damage by enabling the destructive drinking behavior of the alcohol addicted individual.
The addiction research literature demonstrates the fact that most people who successfully complete alcohol counseling experience at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get dejected or stressed out when a relapse manifests itself.
Happily, participation in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up counseling and training have resulted in more successful, enduring alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction treatment outcomes, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons achieve long standing alcohol recovery.