It is fascinating to mention something that family members who have been unfavorably affected by the alcohol dependency of another family member plainly do not realize. It seems that by protecting the alcohol dependent individual with falsehoods and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have essentially created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to persevere and proceed with his or her harmful, destructive existence.

To be sure, rather than helping the alcohol dependent individual and themselves, these family members have in fact become enablers who have involuntarily helped deteriorate the alcoholic’s drinking problem even further.

Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcohol addicted individual will continue drinking in a hazardous and excessive manner and suffer from a range of “alcohol side effects.” Some of these side effects include employment difficulties, legal issues (such as getting arrested for one or more DWIs), ill health, deteriorating relationships, serious financial problems, and diminished mental functioning.

Relapses Can and Do Transpire

According to the research findings and statistics on alcohol dependency, another key alcoholism issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has effectively undergone alcohol dependency therapy and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this situation seems contradictory to sound thinking and appears to be so improbable that it forces a person to speculate why anyone who has gone through the dejection of alcohol addiction can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol treatment and in turn after reaching recovery. There are, of course, many likely reasons for this.

It should be noted, then again that alcohol dependency research that has focused on the long standing outcomes of alcohol dependency has shown that long after the alcohol dependent individual has halted his or her drinking, critical alterations in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain operates 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 changes that have taken place in the brain is to start drinking once again.

The Need for A Crucial Lifestyle Change

There are additional reasons why quite a lot of recovering alcohol dependent individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. According to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make a successful recovery, the alcohol dependent individual needs new ways of responding and thinking in order to deal more competently with difficult alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.

Conditions 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 abusively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these conditions can elicit memories that can trigger psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol dependent person to engage in irresponsible drinking once again. Sadly, all of these circumstances may not only work against ongoing sobriety for the alcoholic but they can also result in relapse and consequently counteract one’s alcohol recovery.

The Good News: There’s a Lot of Hope for Lasting Sobriety

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol addicted person, family members can in point of fact cause unintended harm by enabling the unsafe drinking behavior of the alcoholic.

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

Happily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and education have resulted in more successful, enduring alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency therapeutic outcomes, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent individuals reach ongoing alcohol recovery.

Heather is a forty-seven-year-old woman who is the top administrator in the human resources department at a large silver plating company. In order to lower the costs related to employee alcohol abuse and alcoholism, increasing absenteeism, excessive sick days, poor employee work performance, and work related injuries, Heather and the other members of top management implemented a number of programs that made the work environment significantly more safe, healthy, and more productive.

As an example, fifteen years ago Heather and the other company administrators instituted an Employee’s Assistance Program so that all the employees had access to first-rate psychological counseling for their personal problems that could negatively affect their work performance, personal well being, and their health.

Top Management Assembles a New Exercise and Workout Room Complete With Exercise Equipment, Scales, a Professional Trainer During Business Hours, Mirrors, Weights, and Exercise Charts

As another illustration, nearly six-and-a-half years ago Heather and the other VIPs assembled an avant-garde workout and exercise room complete with weights, mirrors, a personal trainer during business hours, scales, exercise charts, and many different types of exercise equipment.

In addition, nearly four-and-a-half years ago Heather and the other members of upper management invested in a purification system that filters all the water that is available anywhere in the building. In the same way, two-and-a-half years ago, Heather and the other company administrators started a “walking club” that is mainly intended for employees who want to improve upon their cardiovascular system.

The Company Leaders Launch a Weight-Watchers Class and Hire a Weight-Loss Professional to Supervise the Program

As another illustration, approximately a year-and-a-half ago, Heather and the other members of top management established a “Weight-Watchers” class that at this moment in time meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 AM until noon. Moreover, the company executives hired a weight-loss trainer to run the program.

In a similar way, a year ago Heather and the other company leaders launched a “Stop Smoking Club” for workers who want to learn how to quit or cut back on their smoking.

In the last seven months, in a joint venture with the Employee’s Assistance Program, Heather and the other company executives started an “Anger Management” class for workers who want to learn how to better control their temper.

Top Management Starts An Alcohol and Drug Testing Program

In the last five months, Heather and the other members of upper management established a alcohol and drug testing program that is related to their drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. Indeed, Heather is the primary person in the company responsible for getting the message out to all the employees about the drug and alcohol testing program as well as the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program.

One of the key elements of the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program is a class entitled “Alcoholism and Depression” that meets every Thursday after work. The essential idea with this class is informing workers that excessive drinking and depression routinely take place in the same person. It is hoped that understanding this information will be able to help an individual address both medical conditions and get the alcohol treatment and mental health therapy he or she requires.

Top Management Starts an Alcohol Statistics and Facts Class

Another relatively recent addition to the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program is a class entitled “Alcohol Statistics and Facts.” The reasoning behind this alcohol statistics facts class is the reality that several people do not comprehend the full impact of the results of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction without first getting exposed to some of the alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics and facts that are available. Consequently, one of the goals of this class is to provide a mixture of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency statistics and facts in order to help workers gain a better comprehension of the massive number of difficulties that are associated with excessive and irresponsible drinking and how they can avert these difficulties from transpiring.

Most recently, Heather and the other company leaders, by way of comments from workers, created a class that focuses directly on severe drinking entitled “What is Alcoholism”? This class meets every Monday morning a half hour before work and focuses for the most part on the differences between alcohol abuse and alcoholism, on the stages of alcoholism, and on the different kinds of therapy that are available for people who have alcohol drinking problems such as people who drink in an excessive manner.

Although each and every one of these health and preventative maintenance programs was fairly expensive, top management feels that they are many thousands of dollars ahead by providing all of their workers with a safe, more productive, and healthy work environment.

Teresa was a thirty-six-year-old floral designer who realized that she had some drinking issues. As an illustration, within the past seven months she has felt the need to have quite a few drinks before going to work, six weeks ago she failed a random blood alcohol test where she is employed, four months ago she got pulled over by the state highway patrol for “driving under the influence”, and last but not least, for going on two months she has started to forget what she says and does when she goes out drinking with her pals.

Similar to many other drinkers, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol began at a “snail’s pace” and stayed at this speed for quite some time due to the fact every now and again she engaged in casual social drinking. In fact, for almost two years, every time she went out to drink, she made sure to drink in moderation. Something about her drinking activities, nevertheless, seemed to completely change when she divorced her husband.

So She Can Get Beyond the Breakup of Her Husband With Less Distress, Teresa Determined That She Will Begin Going Out More Often With Some of Her Friends Who Love to Have Fun Drinking

Teresa got awfully sad about the breakup with her husband, and as a way to stop obsessing about her discouraging emotions she arrived at a decision that she would begin going out more frequently with some of her pals who love to have fun drinking.

Quite frankly, Teresa figured that having fun almost every day by drinking with her buddies would help her get beyond the loss of her husband more quickly.

Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Substantially the More Habitually She Goes to Family Get-Togethers, Private Parties, Dinner Dates, Happy Hours, and Sporting Events With Her Pals

It didn’t take very long, nonetheless, before her drinking escalated substantially the more habitually she went to and drank at dinner dates, family get-togethers, sporting events, happy hours, and private parties with her buddies. What is more, the fact that her drinking buddies were all much younger than she was and therefore able to drink harder and longer was one of the reasons why she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. To put it briefly, she was drinking and having fun just like everyone else in her group of pals without much reflection about the outcome of her drinking behavior.

Yet in the back of her mind she realized that she most probably required alcohol rehab but avoided the thought as much as she could.

Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Discloses the Facts About Her Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking to Her Healthcare Practitioner, and Discloses the Truth About Her Dejection

One morning during her six-month physical, her healthcare professional asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to lie to her doctor, Teresa ”came clean” and stated that she commonly drinks more than she should. As a matter of fact, she articulated that she routinely drinks in a hazardous manner. Then Teresa informed her doctor about her depression. More specifically, she articulated that ruined relationships more often than not generated a negative chain of events typified by increased drinking which further led to more dismal feelings that, in turn, resulted in more drinking. And this is specifically what took place when she and her husband got divorced three years ago.

When her doctor heard this, he informed Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was researching, alcoholism and depression routinely come about in the same individual. He then told her that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been studying also point out that individuals who drink excessively and who also suffer from depression need to get treatment for both medical situations.

Teresa’s Doctor Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse Appraisal

Teresa’s doctor then said the following: “I am not trying to make a sudden diagnosis, but with your medical condition we may be facing two separate concerns. As a result, I think we need to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse appraisal from my partner, Dr. Alpertin, who is an alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse specialist. Whether your drinking problem is more associated with alcohol addiction or alcohol abuse is unknown at this time, but I believe that further assessment is reasonable. Then I think we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological examination from another one of my partners, Dr. Brosky, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better handle on your sadness and see how much your drinking and depression are interlinked.” Teresa showed her satisfaction with her doctor’s plan of attack and thanked him for his assistance. Now all she had to do was to try to cut back on her drinking and wait for her appointments.