Anyone who seeks help for a drinking problem can consider it one of the best decisions that they will ever make. There are various types of treatments available, but they all have the same goal, to help the alcoholic get better. I say “help”, because most of the hard work is done by the alcoholic. Once the alcoholic starts the process of recovery, it is a journey that requires dedication and determination.
I mentioned in Part 2 about people looking for reasons, causes and justifications when questioning their drinking habits, it is when someone starts recovering from alcohol misuse that these points, and others, are of great importance.
In recovery, alcoholics learn about themselves and discover why their life took them in the direction it did. As I previously mentioned, nobody chooses to be an alcoholic.
They learn the triggers that lead them to desire alcohol. There are a variety of triggers, but common ones are depression, anger and even happiness. Someone with an alcohol dependency may think they are a social drinker, but they are actually drinking for all the wrong reasons.
It is very important to know the particular triggers that an individual is vulnerable to, because it is necessary to address the cause of these triggers. Getting to the root causes of why a particular person becomes an alcoholic can be very difficult, as it often stems from childhood neglect, trauma or abuse.
Sometimes the adult may be able to recall childhood events, when encouraged to do so, but sometimes there may have been events that occurred when they were too young to be able to remember. Sometimes when children are older and have the ability to remember, they have blanked out, or buried those memories very deep, because it is too painful to allow them to come to the surface.
Alcohol abstinence is not just about stopping drinking, it is a journey of self-discovery and about learning coping mechanisms and strategies. It is the start of a new life.
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