Helping The Struggling Alcoholic

Even though Alcoholism has been a problem for centuries it still remains a baffling foe. Anyone who tries to overcome this disease needs a real plan of action with specific steps that they can take in order to overcome it.

If you or someone you know needs help with an alcohol problem then you might want to consider taking action.

Now there is a possibility that a person is merely abusing alcohol instead of actually being addicted to it. If this is the case then there really is no problem; simply stop drinking and things will return to normal. On the other hand, a true alcoholic cannot simply stop drinking without going completely nuts or replacing the alcohol with other drugs. Taking the alcohol away is what creates the problem in this case, and the alcoholic will spin out of control and quickly return to heavy drinking.

So what is the ideal action to take? In my opinion the best action for the alcoholic is to find a treatment center or drug rehab facility that has a medical detox and check themselves into it. This is the best course of action for a number of reasons:

1) Safety - it is actually very dangerous to stop drinking alcohol and in fact the withdrawal from alcohol can kill a person. This might sound counter-intuitive but it is actually safer to continue drinking alcohol than it is to go through detox unsupervised. So the best course of action is to find a full medical detox in a treatment center where they can safely bring you down off the alcohol and prevent any seizures.

2) Support - there is a lot of support in most rehabs and this is due to peer support from others who are in the same boat as you are. Having peer support in recovery is huge because we help each other to stay sober through sharing our experience and strength with each other.

3) Aftercare - most residential treatment programs will not just push you out the door without some sort of plan for you. This plan might include long term treatment, counseling, or meeting attendance. Either way you are going to get some additional guidance and help in how to stay sober after you leave the facility.

What if someone is not willing to go to treatment? If this is the case then there is not much you can generally do. In some states there is the option to commit someone to treatment but this is usually a mistake because there will be a huge resentment created which typically acts as fuel for more drinking. In fact, the better route in situations like these is to simply let them know that there is help available to them if and when they are ready to stop. Then it is up to you to follow some basic guidelines in doing what you can in order to help the alcoholic move towards surrender. These would be things such as:

1) Not enabling the person - you don't want to be enabling someone to continue drinking without consequence. For example, if they need money to buy school clothes for their kids but they normally blow all their own money on booze. In this case you might be tempted to give them money in order to help out their kids but doing so actually enables them to continue drinking without any negative repercussions.

2) Not rescuing the person - if they are screwing up their life and acting badly in front of others then you should not jump in and try to save them in any way. Instead, simply allow them to make a mess of their life without your interference. If they know that they can no longer depend on you to rescue them then it might make them change their behavior some day.

3) Allow them to experience natural consequences of their drinking - if they end up in jail due to drinking do not bail them out. How will they learn anything this way? Allow the person to go through the chaos that they created. It is only through experiencing enough pain that they might decide to change. If you take away their pain then they will never change.