Enabling, Alcohol Relapse, and Alcohol Dependency

It is interesting to point out something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcoholism of another family member apparently do not understand. It seems that by shielding the alcohol addicted person with untruths and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have actually created a circumstance that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted person to persevere and advance with his or her negative, devastating existence.

To be sure, rather than helping the alcoholic and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have mistakenly helped deteriorate the alcohol addicted person’s problem drinking condition even further.

The Probability of a Relapse is Real

Another key alcohol addiction issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted person has effectively undergone alcoholism rehab and then resorts to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this predicament flies in the face of sound thinking and sounds so unbelievable that it forces a person to question why anyone who has experienced the terror of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol treatment and in turn after reaching sobriety. There are, without a doubt, numerous plausible reasons for this.

It should be pointed out, nevertheless that alcohol dependency research that has centered on the long-term outcomes of alcohol dependency has revealed that long after the alcohol dependent individual has stopped his or her drinking, key transformations in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain operates are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcohol addicted individual has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the changes that have taken place in the brain is to begin drinking again.

The Need for a Radical Lifestyle Change

There are even more reasons why quite a few recovering alcoholics return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after achieving sobriety. In accordance to the alcoholism research literature, to make a successful recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more successfully with demanding 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 dependent person was drinking excessively; 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. Unfortunately, all of these circumstances may not only counteract long standing sobriety for the alcoholic but they can also lead to relapse and therefore work against one’s sobriety.

Conclusion

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

The addiction research literature validates the fact that most individuals who effectively complete alcohol counseling go through at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent persons and their family members need to know this so that they do not get depressed or beleaguered when a relapse happens.

Fortunately, taking part in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and training have resulted in more effective, long lasting alcohol abuse and alcoholism treatment outcomes, have helped reduce alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol addicted persons reach enduring sobriety.