| [You are free to publish this article on your website | | | | alcoholic is "someone who could be helped and is |
| and in your newsletter or ezine as long as it remains | | | | worth helping only if they decide not to drink. |
| intact.] | | | | Once an alcoholic is in treatment, they more than likely |
| Help For The Alcoholicby Kevin O'Leary | | | | will be asked to start attending Alcoholics Anonymous |
| Question: If an alcoholic is unwilling to get help, what | | | | (AA) meetings, usually daily. It is not easy to know |
| can you do about it? | | | | when or if an alcoholic is "ready" for (AA). You can't |
| Alcoholics don't respond very well to advice, | | | | make the decision for them. People bounce in and out |
| suggestions, or threats. One would imagine that under | | | | of (AA) all the time. |
| these circumstances an alcoholic is doomed to oblivion. | | | | The right alcohol recovery program depends upon the |
| You must realize the alcoholic is desperate to get | | | | severity and nature of the alcoholic and most |
| more and more alcohol, and he or she may lie, cheat | | | | importantly their personal level of commitment and |
| and steal in order to do so. | | | | motivation. A big part of getting the alcoholic into |
| Very simply, an alcoholic is a person whose life is | | | | treatment, is overcoming the hurdle they face of |
| controlled by alcohol. They are sick. | | | | actually going to treatment. |
| Question: If the alcoholic is sick why doesn't he or she | | | | Many of the hurdles are self imposed, yet like fortified |
| just go to the hospital? | | | | brick walls - to the alcoholic they are impassible. The |
| Because in the early stages of alcoholism, the alcoholic | | | | walls are constructed from fear, shame, |
| does not appear sick, in pain, or visibly abnormal. | | | | embarrassment, and denial. The uncertainty of what |
| Alcoholics do not comprehend that they are about to | | | | they must face is enough to trigger enough stress that |
| become a very sick person, and neither do the people | | | | they simply refuse to go. |
| around them. | | | | It may never be completely understood what causes |
| By the time an alcoholic is in the late stage, he or she | | | | alcoholism, and (AA) is only one of many recognized |
| is often irrational, deluded, and unable to understand | | | | treatments for alcoholism. The difference is its track |
| what has happened. The alcoholic is simply not aware | | | | record for success. More than 700,000 Americans |
| of what is going on in his or her body and is in a | | | | receive alcoholism treatment of one kind or another on |
| complete state of denial. | | | | any given day. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is one of |
| Being an alcoholic is not a curse. The alcoholic is a sick | | | | the best treatment options for a recovering alcoholic. |
| person and should be treated as one. Alcoholics are | | | | Overcoming denial and enabling is often the first step |
| born with a hereditary, genetic predisposition to | | | | to successful recovery for the alcoholic. Treatment |
| addiction having to do with brain chemistry. Alcoholics | | | | only works if the alcoholic wants it. Forcing a treatment |
| need to ingest alcohol before the addiction takes hold. | | | | program on an alcoholic does not work. If an alcoholic |
| Alcoholism is a progressive disease, and without | | | | is going to get anything positive out of an alcohol |
| treatment it only gets worse. | | | | treatment program, they must be a willing participant. |
| If an alcoholic is unwilling to seek help, is there any way | | | | The (AA) membership knows the routine as far as the |
| to get them into treatment? | | | | alcoholic is concerned. They are all recovering |
| Sure the courts force alcoholics into treatment all the | | | | alcoholics too. They supply the means, knowledge, and |
| time. Rehab centers are overflowing with people who | | | | opportunity. It's up to the alcoholic to take action. It's |
| don't want to be there. The real question is, will forcing | | | | part of the reason why (AA) is so effective. Very |
| an alcoholic into treatment guarantee recovery? The | | | | simply, they understand the alcoholic is a person |
| answer is no. | | | | whose life is controlled by alcohol. |
| A perfect example is the alcoholic with multiple DUI | | | | Nagging the alcoholic is not the answer to successful |
| arrests. These folks have all been through one or | | | | recovery. Or is it an effective method to get an |
| more alcohol treatment programs. Why didn't any of | | | | alcoholic to stop drinking. The choice must be made by |
| them stick? The answer is the alcoholic refused to | | | | the alcoholic. |
| admit to themselves they have a problem. | | | | Admitting you're an alcoholic is not a requirement for |
| No alcoholic is hopeless. If you're trying to get an | | | | membership to (AA), it is however, the #1 requirement |
| alcoholic sober, learn to accept the fact that the | | | | to your recovery. Don't Drink Today - and get involved. |
| alcoholic is sick, from an illness he cannot control, and | | | | Listen to a speaker. Hear their story. In many cases |
| neither can you. The alcoholic is addicted and an addict | | | | you'll find it's not all that different from yours. |
| cannot stop on their own volition. | | | | If you don't like the first meeting you attend, go to a |
| The first step in treating the alcoholic is the | | | | different one. It's not like they're difficult to find. |
| detoxification stage. The alcoholic must truly want to | | | | Eventually you will find a meeting you like, with people |
| stop drinking or detoxification becomes a temporary | | | | who care and are will help you through the recovery |
| solution. The biggest symptom to overcome for an | | | | process. |
| alcoholic is their denial of having a drinking problem. An | | | | |