This article uses statistics to show how widespread and devastating the alcohol and drug abuse problems are in our society and the need for effective addiction recovery programs. It also shows the basic reason why people use alcohol and drugs, and how a person can become permanently free from them (as the author did 24 years ago after 18 years of use).
Are you a slave to alcohol addiction,? Or do you know someone who needs to learn how to stop drinking alcohol?
Whichever is the case, it helps to know the different types of help that are available to the alcoholic. They come in different forms, from the informal to the government-supported, from the professional to the charitable. Every country differs in its culture and make-up, so this article strives to give the general ideas.
The Alcoholic
Before anything else, …
Do you remember what you did last night? And the night before, and the night before that?
If you have mornings where you forget what you did the night before, it is time to take a serious look at your drinking habits.
Alcohol addiction could mean that you drink every day; or that you drink to excess every week; or that you feel you can’t cope without alcohol. You don’t have to be permanently drunk to be addicted.
Consider the effects that your drinking has at the mom…
Do you use alcohol to help you feel better? Does the world look better when you’ve had a few drinks? Do you find yourself unable to communicate when sober?
If alcohol has started to become your “friend”, it may be time for you to examine how you work with your emotions. For many alcoholics, emotions are a scary thing, and you may be the sort of person who has not learned to deal with them (or perhaps, as a child, been taught to suppress them).
For many people with drink…
People often feel sorry for, or angry with, alcoholics. These days, they are starting to realize that people close to the alcoholics are also damaged by their actions.
Alcohol addiction strikes at everyone around the alcoholic. Wives, husbands, partners; children, mothers, fathers; employers, employees, staff; and even random strangers who were just “in the wrong place” at the time.
Almost always, it is not the intention of the alcoholic to cause problems. The person ad…
With the increase of binge and underage drinking are we heading for problems of an epidemic scale? Is the fun and free living going to come back and haunt us in the not so distant future? Well it is certainly possible as diabetes, liver failure and so many other physical ailments can be helped along by bad drinking habits. So why are we experiencing problems like this in the twenty-first century at the beginning of the information age and more importantly, how can we chan…
Alcoholism has negatively impacted many lives. Though it’s a sad thing, there are plenty of people who just can’t put down the bottle. Like most other addictions, alcoholism has the ability to warp reality to the point where addicts no longer have any control over their functions. Alcoholism is a problem that can rip apart families, end careers, or even end lives. There are many medical downfalls associated with alcoholism and some of the social implications are just as serio…
Irene, in her late 40s, had been in an out of treatment centers for years before consulting with me. When in treatment, she was fine, with no desire to drink, but once she returned home with her husband, Frank, and two adolescent children, it didn’t take long before she was back to drinking. Even though she faithfully attended AA meetings, she could not stay sober once she returned home. She loved her husband and children and could not understand why she could not stay sober …