It is interesting to mention something that family members who have been adversely affected by the alcoholism of another family member apparently do not grasp. It seems to be that by protecting the alcohol addicted individual with untruths and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in actual fact created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to persevere and go forward with his or her hurtful, destructive daily life.

In fact, rather than helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have inadvertently helped deteriorate the drinking problems of the problem drinker even further.

Relapses Can and Do Transpire

Another key alcohol addiction issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has fruitfully undergone alcohol dependency rehabilitation and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this circumstance seems contradictory to sound thinking and looks so improbable that it forces a person to speculate why anyone who has experienced the horrors of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol treatment and in turn after attaining sobriety. There are, without a doubt, more than a few reasonable reasons for this.

It should be noted, nonetheless that alcohol addiction research that has centered on the enduring effects of alcohol addiction has revealed that long after the alcohol dependent individual has terminated his or her drinking, fundamental transformations in the way in which the alcohol dependent individual’s brain functions are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcoholic has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the changes that have occurred in the brain is to start drinking once again.

The Need for A Major Lifestyle Change

There are other reasons why many recovering alcohol dependent persons return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. According to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of reacting and thinking in order to deal more effectively with demanding alcohol-related situations that will take place.

Issues 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 dependent person was drinking irresponsibly; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these conditions can bring about memories that can set off psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted individual to engage in hazardous drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these situations may not only get in the way of enduring alcohol recovery for the alcohol addicted person but they can also lead to relapse and therefore negate one’s alcohol recovery.

Conclusion

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcoholic, family members can in point of fact cause unintentional destruction by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcoholic.

The drug abuse research literature highlights the fact that most people who effectively complete alcohol therapy experience at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get depressed or overwhelmed when a relapse manifests itself.

Happily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up counseling and training have resulted in more successful, long lasting alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction treatment outcomes, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcoholics achieve ongoing alcohol recovery.

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