It is fascinating to mention something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcoholism of another family member plainly do not understand. It seems to be that by shielding the alcohol dependent person with falsehoods and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in essence created a circumstance that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to persevere and move forward with his or her unsafe, detrimental daily life.
To be sure, rather than helping the alcohol dependent person and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have mistakenly helped negatively affect the drinking problems of the problem drinker even further.
Relapses Can and Do Occur From Time to Time
Another key alcohol addiction issue has to do with alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcoholic has effectively gone through alcoholism treatment and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this situation seems contradictory to common sense and looks so unbelievable that it forces a person to wonder why anyone who has gone through the horrors of alcohol addiction can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol treatment and in turn after attaining sobriety. There are, for sure, numerous credible reasons for this.
It should be pointed out, then again that alcoholism research that has centered on the long standing outcomes of alcohol dependency has revealed that long after the alcoholic has terminated his or her drinking, major transformations in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain works are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcohol addicted person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the transformations that have come about in the brain is to engage in drinking again.
A Requirement for A Critical Lifestyle Transformation
There are additional reasons why many recovering alcohol dependent individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. According to the alcohol dependency research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of reacting and thinking in order to deal more successfully with tough alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.
Issues such as returning to the same alcohol addictive atmosphere or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the days when the alcohol addicted individual was drinking excessively; 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 alcohol dependent individual to engage in excessive drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these situations may not only get in the way of long-term sobriety for the alcohol addicted person but they can also lead to relapse and thus short-circuit one’s sobriety.
Conclusion
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted individual, family members can in point of fact cause inadvertent destruction by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcohol dependent individual.
The addiction research literature highlights the fact that most people who effectively complete alcohol rehab experience at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or beleaguered when a relapse takes place.
Happily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and training have resulted in more effective, long-term alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency treatment outcomes, have helped reduce alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent individuals accomplish enduring alcohol recovery.
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