It is remarkable to articulate something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcohol dependency of another family member obviously do not comprehend. It appears that by protecting the alcoholic with falsehoods and dishonesty to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have actually created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to persevere and proceed with his or her damaging, devastating way of living.
To be sure, instead of helping the alcohol addicted individual and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have unintentionally helped deteriorate the alcohol addicted person’s drinking problem even more.
Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcoholic will continue drinking in an abusive and irresponsible manner and experience a variety of “alcohol side effects.” Some of these side effects include ill health, diminished mental functioning, deteriorating relationships, serious financial problems, employment difficulties, and legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs).
The Chances of a Relapse are Real
According to the research literature and statistics on alcohol dependency, another key alcoholism issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol dependent individual has effectively gone through alcohol dependency treatment and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this predicament seems contradictory to commonsensical thinking and seems so unrealistic that it forces a person to speculate why anyone who has gone through the dreadfulness of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol rehabilitation and in turn after attaining recovery. There are, to be sure, more than a few feasible reasons for this.
It should be pointed out, on the other hand that alcoholism research that has focused on the long-term outcomes of alcohol dependency has revealed that long after the alcoholic has quit his or her drinking, significant transformations in the way in which the alcoholic’s brain functions are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol addicted person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the changes that have come about in the brain is to begin drinking again.
The Need for An Important Lifestyle Modification
There are additional reasons why many recovering alcohol dependent persons return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after reaching sobriety. In accordance to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcohol addicted individual needs new ways of reacting and thinking in order to deal more competently with challenging 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 days 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 anxiety or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol dependent individual to engage in irresponsible drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these situations may not only negate enduring sobriety for the alcohol addicted person but they can also lead to relapse and therefore short-circuit one’s sobriety.
The Good News: Quality Help is Readily Available
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted individual, family members can actually cause unintentional harm by enabling the unsafe drinking behavior of the alcoholic.
The drug abuse research literature validates 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 depressed or stressed out when a relapse happens.
Luckily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and education have resulted in more productive, long standing alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency therapeutic outcomes, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol addicted individuals reach enduring sobriety.
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