Alcoholism is one of the most common and one of the most brutal forms of addiction. Addiction comes in many different shapes and forms, all of them dangerous and even lethal in their own ways. Addiction never really starts out as an intentional habit. It is always born from a coping mechanism that, over time, festers into an addictive habit that damages one’s health and wellbeing. As the habit slowly becomes an addiction, the addiction itself becomes a central part of the everyday for the impacted individual. Soon enough, it feels like a necessity to get through the day.
This is the very nature of addiction and it is unforgiving to the core. It is no secret to anyone that has ever battled with addiction of any kind (especially alcoholism) that this is a domineering and shattering dependency that can feel like hell on Earth. For those of us who are lucky enough to never have had to face that battle ourselves, it can be a challenge to understand it. It is so important to take a step back and realise that while addiction is certainly unforgiving, it is also not discriminatory in any way, shape, or form. Anyone can experience addiction at any time, and would you not want understanding and support if it was you?
Understanding the battle
Before anything else, the journey of understanding the battle can be a challenging yet undeniably important one. This is true for anyone and everyone, whether you are battling alcoholism yourself or you are close to someone else who is experiencing it themselves. Understanding alcoholism (or any type of addiction, for that matter) is a work in progress, a learning curve if you will, that demands a lot of active and consistent readjustment to successfully achieve understanding and approach alcoholism from a healthier and more understanding perspective. This is the start of the battle to recovery.
Navigating the road to recovery
The road to recovery is a rocky one. Alcoholism is an all-consuming addiction for many impacted individuals and it can be challenging to see one’s way past this fundamental truth. More than anything else, the road to recovery is one that must be approached with the sincerest open mind and the willingness and ability to genuinely recover. If this is not done then it is likely, if not almost certain, that any phase of recovery will be short-lived (that is, if it is reached at all). It is not uncommon for successful recovery and sobriety to take more than one attempt before it sticks. This is nothing to be ashamed of…after all, recovered individuals always reach the same destination at the end.
Supporting the individual through treatment
Alcohol abuse treatment is often brutal and unforgiving. The nature of alcoholism is wired around dependency on the poison of choice, and so when the impacted individual makes the decision to stick through treatment and successfully reach sobriety, it is more than safe to say that there are challenges that they overcome along the way. Alcoholism treatment is about making the decision to approach treatment and ultimately recovery even when it feels most challenging to do so. The road to recovery from alcoholism through treatment is not easy, but it is worth it tenfold – and then some.