If drinking is something you feel is a necessity, more than a choice, it is a sign that you have alcohol dependence. But addiction can be overcome with the support of your family and friends, as well as organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In fact, help for families from alcohol addiction can come from anywhere.
1. Social events can be difficult.
Because you don’t drink, you are rejecting a fundamental element of the events. Dinners (to which you bring a bottle of wine), bachelor parties (taking repeated drinks) or weddings (giving gifts to the bride and groom) – alcohol consumption is an important element of all of this. But you have to be strong. You can’t depend on your whole life, your health on community relationships. You suffer if you are sick. Remember that!
2. Alcoholism can be misleading.
Alcoholism is a disease that tells you that you have no problem. You are the only person who does not see the problem. You distance yourself from friends, family and reality, in a process that happens drop by drop, so tasteless and so long that it is impossible to define when the problem started.
3. Alcoholics need support to overcome addiction.
Some people couldn’t have taken the first step on the road to recovery if they hadn’t been helped. With each step of you recovery, you need a teacher, a friend, a family member, a therapist, a yoga teacher or a shaman to help you get to the next place.
4. Finding a new hobby can help.
You might need trying several times to stop drinking and fail – until you find the perfect distraction. When you stop drinking, you need to fill the terrifying void that remains.
This is my experience:
Before, I filled this void in several ways: I kept thinking about drinking, wishing I could drink and then, every time, I ended up drinking. This time, I decided to write. I started to scribble nonsense of all kinds, using my left hand, very shaky, to steady my right hand, very shaky.
And…this shaky writing process, coupled with meetings and support, helped me to overcome addiction. I combined the process with the help I found in www.rehabclinic.org.uk.
5. Alcohol is literally everywhere.
You need to realize how ubiquitous alcohol is in our society. Today, you can’t go through a supermarket or a television show without being bombarded with alcohol-based products.
Based on my experience, I am not going to enter into the discussion about the validity of alcohol being a substance that generates dependency, but legal consumption. But I confess that because of alcohol, I do not share in the Catholic Church. After developing a solid foundation, today I no longer forbid myself to go anywhere I want or to do anything I feel like.
In the end, you understand very well that alcohol can damage you and your life. Only mental strength with the support of loved ones can save you.