Do you suspect that you may be an alcoholic? Are you under the influence of alcohol at all times? Is your habit beginning to affect your work or your relationship with your loved ones? Stepping up and declaring that you are an alcoholic takes great courage, but the first step to recovering from addiction is admitting to the problem. If you’ve tried to stop and you think that you have lost hope in all types of alcohol recovery treatments, i.e., men’s or women’s addiction treatment programs, think again. Maybe you just didn’t do it right the first time. There’s still hope for you yet, so you should never give up.
Finding out What Helps
The first thing you should do to make sure that your alcohol recovery treatment is effective is to recognize that you cannot do it alone. There is a great amount of help available, and all you have to do is ask for it. If your dependence on alcohol is severe (if your body literally commands you to drink at least half a bottle a night), then it is recommended that you detoxify your body first. Alcohol detox is a medical treatment, and it will help you cleanse your body from alcohol gradually so that you will not have to worry about withdrawal symptoms.
Your alcohol recovery treatment doesn’t stop at detox. If your environment is triggering you to drink alcohol even after detox, you may want to sign up for inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation center. After the detox, you’ll be counseled privately and in groups so that you can fight all of the factors that are triggering your alcohol dependence.
Once you’re ready to go out into the real world again, you’ll be in outpatient programs where you’ll be asked to join outpatient group counseling, and your family will be oriented about your condition so that they can help you get better. During the first few months, no alcoholic drink would be allowed into your home until you’re strong enough to resist the temptation to drink excessively again.
What Doesn’t Help
Thinking that drinking alcohol will make all your problems go away is one of the primary causes of alcohol dependence. This isn’t true because, if anything, drinking alcohol actually makes you lose more control of your life. Unless you’re able to correct this type of thinking, your alcohol recovery treatment cannot be deemed successful.
Peer pressure is also one of the biggest things you’ll have to resist once you’ve completed the first stages of your alcohol recovery treatment. You should avoid events that may force you to take part in social drinking or avoid friends who tend to drink too much. Do not expose yourself to these factors yet unless you’re ready to say no and to stick to your plan of getting better.
Unsupportive family members may also get in the way of your alcohol recovery treatment. Most of the time, family members are misinformed about alcoholism. They might see you as the culprit instead of the recovering patient that you are, and this kind of hostility may trigger regressions. If you feel that this is one of the factors you need to fight off, you should talk to your counselor about getting your family more involved. There are many resources that could help your family and peers understand your situation better.
Do not think that alcohol recovery treatment is all about how other people or factors affect you. The first successful step out of alcohol dependence is the decision to be responsible for yourself again. It begins when you decide to get better.
