Addiction Recovery

Google the word Alcoholism and you will get 25,400,000 search results. Stop anybody in the street and ask them what they associate with the word Alcoholism and the answers will more than likely include the replies, hitting rock bottom,detox, down and out, addiction, messed up life, homelessness, crime blah blah blah. Pay a little more attention and do your research and you can find out that when you drive at night one out of seven drivers on the road are legally drunk. The Medical Research Council states that alcohol abuse costs the South African economy around R9 billion a year and half of all murders are the result of drunkenness. The stats are never-ending and cover all aspects of South African society from child abuse to pedestrian deaths, home violence and the tragic cases of childbirth defects. Almost all events that you consider bad news probably have to a certain degree alcohol involved somewhere or other.

However on the inevitable other side of the coin, studies have found that the use of alcohol has significant advantages in the general treatment of stress, heart disease and related illnesses. Add to this the economic benefits of a massive industry contributing to the nations wealth and job creation and we almost have a stalemate.

Into this balancing act comes the plight of the individual. Somebody once said, and the name escapes me now, that there are stats, more stats and then there is damn lies. But there is no doubt in my mind that this is a problem that has to be looked at very carefully. The general consensus is that approximately 1 in 17 people over the age of 15 years are predisposed to the potentially fatal illness of Alcoholism. Another frightening stat holds the premise that only 1 in 37 diagnosed Alcoholics ever make a full recovery over the long-term. Food for thought indeed.

A few years ago I went through the Read the rest of this entry »

A woman who loves and understands you is better than a glass of liquor any day. Get drunk with her love and you might be saved from the deprecating experience of staring at the cold walls on the inside of a room in an alcohol treatment center.

By the time someone thinks that you need to get yourself into an alcohol treatment center, the condition you suffer from is really becoming chronic. Genetically and neurologically, you become enslaved to the bottle, and you don’t know it. Someone will have to fight it with you to win you back. And this just what they do in the facility.

There is something about rehab - people never quite come out the same. By the time you are out, you are either cured or worse. Something about the attendants in there, or perhaps your fellow inmates, changes you. This is some food for thought.

A lot of people who become alcoholics inherit it from a parent. How such a habit would transcend generations is sure baffling, but it is so. Then there are others who are aided into the habit by outside influences. Rehab might be the only way they can turn that around.

The treatment for alcoholism cannot be taken with levity. Quitting has got to be sudden, abrupt and total. Anything short of this can only result in a relapse that could send you back to rehab, ruining all the hard work they did the first time. Certainly this is not something you want to be looking forward to.

An alcohol treatment center will teach you ton accept responsibility for your drinking problems. Ironically, you are also taught that you have no control over it. In this way, you are gradually guided to realize that you need to keep your distance from the bottle.

Liquor is the one thing that I common to all alcohol treatment centers - the absence of it. Some centers deprive you of all personal belongings for the duration of your sta Read the rest of this entry »

Many recovering drug or alcohol addicts assume they have to dismiss their friends and family in order to maintain sobriety, as they were around when you hit rock bottom in terms of addiction. That is not the case. There are several relationships you must build upon and maintain in order to stay sober. Here are a few relationships one must build upon in order to successfully recover from drug or alcohol addiction.

Family and Friends

Your family is your backbone, and as long as your friends are not your enablers, they are your backbone, too. Your family should be your supportive default. If they are the reason you turned to drugs and alcohol, then you should re-evaluate that relationship and build upon it. Attend family group therapy sessions and explain your issues with them. Weed out the bad friends and hold on tight to the good ones. Your friends can be one of your greatest support systems if you let them help and if you trust them.

Sponsor

Sponsors offer unbiased support on your road to recovery. Sponsors have been the same boat you are, and can offer advice on how to stay clean and maintain sobriety. Sponsors have been a life source for many successful alcohol and drug addiction recovery efforts. Sponsors empathize with your struggles and are here to help.

Support Groups

Support groups can be a valuable resource in your recovery efforts. These are people who you can relate to and gain useful advice from. These are honest communication sessions designed to help, support, and guide you toward a fulfilling life of sobriety. Though they may seem intimidating at first, after a few group meetings these people will become your backbone for recovery.

These are just some of the many positive relationships you can build to help beat a drug addiction or alcohol addiction. Learning to trust and re Read the rest of this entry »