It is interesting to articulate something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcoholism of another family member obviously do not know. It appears that by protecting the alcohol addicted individual with falsehoods and deceit 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 carry on and proceed with his or her harmful, devastating lifestyle.

Indeed, instead of helping the alcohol addicted individual and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have inadvertently helped deteriorate the drinking problems of the problem drinker even further.

The Likelihood of a Relapse is Real

Another key alcohol dependency issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted person has fruitfully gone through alcoholism treatment and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first thought, this predicament flies in the face of common sense and seems so implausible that it forces an individual to wonder why anyone who has lived through the misery of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after effective alcohol treatment and in turn after achieving sobriety. There are, to be sure, numerous conceivable reasons for this.

It should be highlighted, conversely that alcohol dependency research that has focused on the long standing outcomes of alcohol dependency has shown that long after the alcohol addicted individual has quit his or her drinking, critical transformations in the way in which the alcohol dependent individual’s brain operates 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 alterations that have taken place in the brain is to begin drinking again.

The Necessity for A Fundamental Lifestyle Transformation

There are even more reasons why many recovering alcohol addicted persons return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after attaining sobriety. According to the alcohol dependency research literature, to make an effective recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of acting and thinking in order to deal more successfully with tough alcohol-related circumstances 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 time when the alcohol addicted individual was drinking excessively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these situations can bring about memories that can set off psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted person to engage in hazardous drinking once again. Sadly, all of these situations may not only work against enduring alcohol recovery for the alcohol dependent individual but they can also result in relapse and as a result work against one’s sobriety.

Summary

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

The alcohol abuse research literature validates the fact that most people who effectively complete alcohol rehabilitation go through at least one relapse. Alcohol dependent individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or beleaguered when a relapse occurs.

Happily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up therapy 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 addicted individuals achieve long lasting sobriety.