When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a drug abuse class. At that time period, I did not comprehend that alcohol abuse in truth was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people all over the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol treatment and the different alcohol rehab centers that are often available to people who engage in excessive drinking.

Some of the damaging outcomes associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class undeniably alarmed me. The ruined lives and many difficulties experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. More to the point, I did not want to face the damage and destruction that alcohol dependent people almost always experience.

Ponder upon this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What teenager wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that consuming alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What young person wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes an adult?

What teenager wants to go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause serious issues in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after an individual has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a young person want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on abusive drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I talked about some of them in class during the school year. What was utterly unbelievable to me was the number of students who simply didn’t care about the damaging results of hazardous drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with the facts and how these consequences can destroy their lives. For the first time in my life I started to understand a saying that my grandfather used to emphasize all through my youth: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I took a substance abuse class. At that time, I did not comprehend that alcohol abuse actually was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people all over the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol rehab and the diverse alcohol rehab clinics that are frequently available to people who engage in heavy drinking.

Some of the detrimental consequences correlated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class certainly terrified me. The ruined lives and numerous problems experienced by most alcohol addicted people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. Stated differently, I did not want to face the wreckage and destruction that alcohol addicted individuals almost always encounter.

Think about this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old person wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What adolescent wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teen wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related problems before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What adolescent wants to go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to quit drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a young person want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on hazardous drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I talked about some of them in class throughout the school year. What was absolutely inconceivable to me was the number of students who simply didn’t care about the dangerous outcomes of abusive drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with the facts and how these effects can destroy their lives. For the first time in my life I started to comprehend something that my grandfather used to emphasize throughout my adolesence: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a drug abuse class. At that time period, I did not grasp the fact that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub category of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people all over the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol treatment and the different alcohol rehab clinics that are typically available to problem drinkers.

Some of the negative effects related to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class undeniably scared me. The ruined lives and many serious issues experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In a word, I did not want to face the wreckage and devastation that alcohol addicted individuals almost always experience.

Let this sink in for a moment. What fifteen-year-old person wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teenager wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related issues before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What teenager wants to encounter alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that focuses on excessive drinking?

These issues were so meaningful that I talked about some of them in class throughout the school year. What was entirely unbelievable to me was the number of students who openly didn’t care about the negative results of hazardous drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with the truth and how these consequences can demolish their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate a saying that my grandfather used to emphasize all through my teen and pre-teen years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

It is remarkable to articulate something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcoholism of another family member clearly do not grasp. It seems that by protecting the alcohol dependent person with untruths and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in essence created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to continue and go forward with his or her injurious, detrimental daily life.

Indeed, rather than helping the alcohol addicted person and themselves, these family members have in truth become enablers who have involuntarily helped deteriorate the alcohol addicted person’s drinking problem even further.

The Chances of a Relapse are Real

Another key alcohol dependency issue involves alcohol relapses.  Relapses take place when an alcoholic has successfully undergone alcoholism therapy and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later.  At first glance, this situation flies in the face of common sense and looks so implausible that it forces an individual to wonder why anyone who has lived through the wretchedness of alcohol dependency can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol treatment and in turn after reaching sobriety.  There are, for sure, many likely reasons for this.

It should be pointed out, however that alcohol dependency research that has focused on the long standing consequences of alcohol addiction has revealed that long after the alcohol addicted individual has halted his or her drinking, fundamental alterations in the way in which the alcoholic’s brain works are still present. As a consequence, all a recovering alcohol addicted person has to do to involve himself or herself in actions that correspond with the modifications that have occurred in the brain is to begin drinking again.

The Need for A Significant Lifestyle Transformation

There are other reasons why quite a few recovering alcoholics 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 dependent individual needs new ways of responding and thinking in order to deal more competently with demanding alcohol-related situations that will take place.

Conditions 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 dependent individual was drinking in a hazardous manner; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these circumstances can bring forth memories that can set off psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted individual to engage in abusive drinking once again. Sadly, all of these circumstances may not only counteract long standing alcohol recovery for the alcohol dependent individual but they can also lead to relapse and thus short-circuit one’s sobriety.

Conclusion

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can actually cause unplanned damage by enabling the unsafe drinking behavior of the alcoholic.

The drug abuse research literature confirms the fact that most individuals who effectively complete alcohol rehabilitation experience at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or overwhelmed when a relapse happens.

Happily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and training have resulted in more productive, lasting alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency rehab results, have helped decrease alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcoholics reach long lasting sobriety.

In what way can we reach out to the alcoholic and help them? Our typical treatment options try to fulfill this question but come up short when we look at the statistics. Perhaps you have encouraged an alcoholic in your life to get sober without much success. If you are at this point then you are probably want to know how best to help alcoholics.

Part of the issue here is that most treatment paths do not really tailor to the individual – they are set up to treat anyone and everyone. They are one size fits all and that ends up not really helping anyone as much as they could if they were tailored to individuals. For example, the twelve step fellowships that are so common these days have essentially remained the same for years and years.

When someone needs help with addiction or alcoholism, we typically send them to a traditional recovery program such as AA or NA. When this does not give us great success rates, we often will fault the individual instead of the program itself, citing excuses such as “the person just did not want to get sober”.” These types of excuses point to a failing in our quest for better recovery and we can do better then just blaming the failed alcoholic. I would suggest:

1) Push alcoholics to use treatment for early recovery. This is important because early recovery is so incredibly difficult; it can be a struggle just to string together a few days sober on “the outside.” In a safe setting such as rehab it is much smoother when trying to get a hold on early recovery.

2) Encourage the struggling alcoholic to set goals and create a better life. This is important because it is not enough to merely quit drinking. When a true alcoholic consumes booze they do it with enthusiasm and so it turns into a driving force in their life. In traditional recovery, the typical drunk has to find new meaning for their life or they will slide back into the chaos and desperation of drinking some day.

3) Push alcoholics to grow holistically. If you can convince someone to make progress in one area of their life, this is decent. But if you can convince them to grow in several areas of their life, this is even better. Holistic growth is indicating that the person is treating their disease as a whole, not simply as a spiritual problem (as some treatments deal with it).