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It is interesting to point out something that family members who have been harmfully affected by the alcohol dependency of another family member evidently do not understand. It appears that by protecting the alcohol addicted individual with falsehoods and deceitfulness to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in reality created a situation that makes it easier for the alcohol addicted individual to persist and move forward with his or her unsafe, detrimental way of living.

Indeed, instead of helping the alcohol addicted individual and themselves, these family members have in reality become enablers who have inadvertently helped negatively affect the alcoholic’s drinking problem even more.

Perhaps the real downside of this is that the alcoholic will continue drinking in a hazardous and abusive manner and experience 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.

The Probability of a Relapse is Real

According to the research findings and statistics on alcohol addiction, another key alcohol addiction issue involves alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcoholic has effectively gone through alcohol dependency treatment and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this predicament flies in the face of common sense and sounds so unrealistic that it forces an individual to question why anyone who has experienced the dreadfulness of alcohol addiction can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol rehabilitation and in turn after achieving sobriety. There are, of course, many likely reasons for this.

It should be mentioned, conversely that alcohol addiction research that has centered on the long standing effects of alcohol dependency has demonstrated-proven that long after the alcohol dependent individual has stopped his or her drinking, key modifications in the way in which the alcohol addicted individual’s brain functions are still present. As a result, 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 again.

The Need for A Radical Lifestyle Change

There are even more reasons why quite a few recovering alcohol dependent individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after reaching 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 effectively 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 time when the alcoholic was drinking excessively; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these situations can bring forth memories that can trigger psychological tension or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol addicted person to engage in abusive drinking once again. Regrettably, all of these circumstances may not only contradict enduring sobriety for the alcohol addicted individual but they can also lead to relapse and therefore short-circuit one’s alcohol recovery.

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

In an attempt to “protect” the family alcoholic, family members can essentially cause unintentional destruction by enabling the destructive drinking behavior of the alcohol addicted person.

The drug abuse research literature validates the fact that most individuals who successfully 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 defeated or overwhelmed when a relapse occurs.

Luckily, involvement in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up treatment and training have resulted in more productive, enduring alcohol abuse and alcoholism treatment results, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent individuals attain enduring sobriety.

What are the fundamental features in a productive alcohol intervention? Why do some alcohol abuse interventions turn out well while others bomb?

The Requirement for a Recognized Reputation of Intervention Achievement

Scientific study makes obvious the fact that a productive addiction intervention needs to be managed by an intervention specialist who has a recognized track record of intervention attainment.

In effect this means that rather than opting for an “everyday” alcohol dependency healthcare practitioner or psychologist for an alcohol intervention, the person who is chosen to oversee the intervention needs to be instructed in addiction intervention procedures and needs to exhibit a history of fruitful addiction interventions.

A Few Primary Examples of The Most Optimal Time For an Alcoholism Intervention

Scientific study and alcoholism facts about interventions has also shown that the most favorable time for an alcoholism intervention is following a remarkable incident in the life of the alcohol dependent person or abusive drinker. The following represents a few illustrations of these kinds of important events:

• The alcohol dependent individual or abusive drinker has been caught stealing something of value.
• The abusive drinker or alcohol addicted individual has been caught lying about something of import.
• The alcohol addicted person or alcohol abuser has been imprisoned for a DUI or DWI.

In circumstances like these, the alcohol-dependent person or alcohol abuser is more likely to feel sorry or to feel ashamed, thusly making him or her more amenable to getting the professional alcohol counseling that is necessary.

At this point in time, additionally, it is also imperative to give emphasis to the fact that the abusive drinker or alcoholic needs to be sober during the alcohol dependency intervention. In brief, if the abusive drinker or alcoholic is “under the influence” during an alcohol dependency intervention, failure is effectively guaranteed.

In addition, scientific study has also revealed the fact that the alcohol abuser or alcohol addicted person has to at least try to listen to what is articulated in an alcoholism intervention. Stated more accurately, during an alcohol abuse intervention, the abusive drinker or alcohol addicted individual needs to listen to what his or her drinking difficulties have done to those who care for him or her the most.

The Value of Alcohol Rehab For the Problem Drinker

And finally, scientific exploration demonstrates that the main reason for an alcohol dependency intervention in the first place is to influence the hazardous drinker or alcohol-dependent person to get the quality alcoholism rehabilitation he or she requires. Stated differently, even if the person who supervises the intervention has an incredible record of fruitful interventions and even if the hazardous drinker or alcohol addicted person truly listens to every word that is articulated during an intervention, if the hazardous drinker or alcohol dependent individual is not motivated to ask for professional alcohol treatment after the alcohol intervention, then the intervention will be a fiasco.

Clearly all of these factors are needed for a productive alcohol intervention. If, nonetheless, the alcohol abuser or alcohol addicted individual is not stimulated to ask for alcohol addiction counseling after listening to his or her family members state the pain, wrath, and disenchantment they feel about the abusive drinker’s or alcohol dependent individual’s abusive drinking behavior and the concern they feel for the problem drinker, then everything else that is part of an alcoholism intervention will effectively be valueless.

Even Effective Alcohol Dependency Interventions Can Flop In the Long Term

It also needs to be pointed out that notwithstanding the fact that the alcoholism intervention can be viewed as successful in that it helped put the hazardous drinker or alcohol addicted individual in a more amenable mindset and actually helped the alcoholic or alcohol abuser conclude that he or she required alcohol rehab or professional help for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, the mere fact that the intervention happened might result in acrimony, wrath, and doubt down the road.

In brief, even when alcoholism interventions are seen as effective in the short term, in the long term, on the other hand, they may fail to go as planned and, accordingly, might make the family and/or the alcohol addicted person’s circumstance even poorer than it was before the alcohol abuse intervention was initiated.

No matter how unjust or odd this seems, try to keep in mind that it is merely one of the main alcohol facts that has to be addressed when conducting an alcohol intervention.

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I registered for a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not grasp the fact that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse and especially about alcohol side effects, 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 individuals all through the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol treatment and the various alcohol rehab facilities that are typically available to individuals who engage in abusive drinking.

Harmful Consequences That are Linked to Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

Some of the dangerous effects linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class unquestionably alarmed me. The ruined lives and many serious issues experienced by most alcohol addicted people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. That is, I did not want to face the wreckage and devastation that alcohol dependent individuals almost always go through.

Reflect on this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old person 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 issues before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What young person wants to experience alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to quit 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 an individual has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a teenager want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on hazardous drinking?

These issues were so significant that I discussed some of them in class during the school year. What was totally amazing to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the negative consequences of irresponsible drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t care less about reality and how these effects can ruin their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate something that my grandfather used to say to me throughout my adolesence: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.

It’s Important, Beneficial, and Enlivening to Keep Yourself From the Unhealthy and Destructive Outcomes of Alcohol and Drug Abuse

And even at my young age, I also started to understand how important, energizing, and beneficial it is in life to stay away from the unhealthy and damaging outcomes of drug and alcohol abuse.

Jennifer is a thirty-four-year-old junior sales consultant who has been ingesting alcohol in a hazardous manner since she and her live-in boyfriend broke up. Indeed, for the past nine months she has been drinking nearly a bottle of wine every night, and on the weekends she also has been drinking more than a few wine coolers all through the day. In a word, Jennifer has been drinking so hazardously and excessively that it’s a wonder that she hasn’t suffered from alcohol poisoning.

After feeling dispirited because she was beginning to forget about the importance of her health, Jennifer at last told herself that enough is enough, that it’s time to stop the self pity routine, that it’s time to quit the hazardous and irresponsible drinking, and time to get on with her life. So the following Saturday morning at 8:00 AM, she determined that she would quit drinking cold turkey.

When She Stopped Drinking She Felt Awful, She Started to Perspire Extensively, She Vomited Several Times, Her Head Was Throbbing, She Was Extremely Moody and Nervous, and She Had Absolutely No Appetite

When Jennifer quit drinking, she reasoned that she would probably be tempted to have a few drinks, but she never inferred that she would feel so ill. More correctly, roughly three hours after she quit drinking, she had utterly no appetite, she vomited several times, her head was throbbing, she started to perspire extensively, and she was extremely stressed out and moody.

When she called her best pal and informed her that she had quit drinking and that after a few hours she suddenly began having flu-like symptoms, Cheryl, her best friend, told Jennifer to call her medical doctor and tell him what was transpiring.

She Admits to Her Physician That She Has Been Drinking Abusively, That She Just Tried to Stop Drinking, and That She is Going Through Terrible Flu-Like Symptoms

So Jennifer called her physician, told him that she has been drinking abusively for quite a few months and that when she made an effort to completely quit drinking earlier in the day, within a couple of hours she felt as if she had the most ghastly flu-like symptoms that she had ever experienced.

Her medical practitioner told her that she may be suffering from symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and that she should have a neighbor or friend drive her to the emergency room ASAP.

As soon as Jennifer got off the phone, she got a friend to drive her to the hospital. Interestingly, all the way to the hospital, as sick as Jennifer felt, the only thing she could think about was whether or not she might be an alcoholic.

Apparently her healthcare practitioner had called ahead and told the emergency room medical team to expect Jennifer because when she got to the hospital, she was met by two ER workers who immediately asked her to lie down on the portable bed they had with them. After getting wheeled to the emergency room and undergoing a couple of important tests, it was established that Jennifer was in truth suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was in need of alcohol detox.

A healthcare practitioner administered some meds to reduce the discomfort of her flu-like symptoms and also administered some drugs to help get rid of the alcohol that was still in her system.

An Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Doctor Discusses That She is Dependent on Alcohol and Then Clearly Explains What Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Alcoholism Stages Are

After a couple of hours, Jennifer was transferred from the ER and transported to the recovery room. After she was in recovery for about two-and-a-half hours, Doctor Truxton, a drug and alcohol abuse specialist, came to see her. He took his time and explained that Jennifer had experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms when she quit drinking because she had become an alcoholic.

He then explained that with continuous and heavy drinking, the individual’s brain progressively adapts to the alcohol in order to function in a “normal” way. When the drinker then abruptly stops ingesting alcohol, it can be noted, the brain responds by creating alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Not only this, but her medical practitioner also explained in a clear fashion the various alcoholism stages that an alcoholic regularly experiences as the disease gets progressively worse.

It is Determined that Jennifer is in the First Stage of Alcoholism and She Obtains a Good Projection For a Full Recovery if She Gets the Alcohol Rehabilitation She Needs

Fortunately for Jennifer, it was verified that she was in the first stage of alcoholism and, as a result, she got a favorable prognosis for a full recovery if she will get the alcohol dependency therapy she requires.

Jennifer told the healthcare practitioner that she will do whatever it takes to get sober and to get back her health. She also stated that she has an outstanding hospitalization insurance plan that will almost certainly pay for most of the costs required for rehab. It was obvious that Jennifer was extremely thankful about her positive prognosis and felt at ease knowing that she will be able to get the alcoholism rehabilitation she requires so that she can start on the path to recovery.