It is interesting to articulate something that family members who have been negatively affected by the alcoholism of another family member apparently do not comprehend. It seems to be that by protecting the alcohol addicted person with falsehoods and deceit to those outside the family, these well-intentioned family members have in effect created a condition that makes it easier for the alcohol dependent individual to continue and advance with his or her hurtful, detrimental way of living.
Indeed, instead of helping the alcohol dependent person and themselves, these family members have essentially become enablers who have mistakenly helped negatively affect the alcohol dependent individual’s drinking problems even further.
Relapses Can and Do Occur
Another key alcohol addiction issue has to do with alcohol relapses. Relapses take place when an alcohol addicted individual has successfully gone through alcohol addiction rehabilitation and then returns to drinking a number of weeks or months later. At first glance, this circumstance flies in the face of rational thinking and sounds so far-fetched that it forces a person to question why anyone who has experienced the terror of alcoholism can return to drinking a short while after successful alcohol treatment and in turn after reaching sobriety. There are, for sure, more than a few likely reasons for this.
It should be pointed out, on the other hand that alcohol dependency research that has focused on the enduring outcomes of alcohol dependency has shown that long after the alcoholic has quit his or her drinking, major alterations in the way in which the alcohol addicted person’s brain works are still present. As a result, all a recovering alcohol dependent person has to do to involve himself or herself in behaviors that correspond with the changes that have taken place in the brain is to engage in drinking again.
The Necessity for A Drastic Lifestyle Change
There are other reasons why quite a few recovering alcohol dependent individuals return to drinking a few weeks or a few months after reaching sobriety. In accordance to the alcohol addiction research literature, to make a successful recovery, the alcoholic needs new ways of reacting and thinking in order to deal more efficiently with challenging alcohol-related circumstances that will take place.
Conditions such as returning to the same alcohol addictive atmosphere or to the same geographic location; interacting once again with friends from the time when the alcoholic was drinking in a hazardous manner; or familiar songs, smells, or activities—all of these conditions can bring about memories that can prompt psychological stress or push hot buttons that influence the recovering alcohol dependent person to engage in abusive drinking once again. Unfortunately, all of these circumstances may not only get in the way of long-term alcohol recovery for the alcohol dependent person but they can also result in relapse and therefore short-circuit one’s sobriety.
Conclusion
In an attempt to “protect” the family alcohol dependent person, family members can in fact cause unintended damage by enabling the harmful drinking behavior of the alcohol addicted individual.
The drug abuse research literature validates the fact that most people who successfully complete alcohol rehab experience at least one relapse. Alcohol addicted individuals and their family members need to know this so that they do not get defeated or overwhelmed when a relapse happens.
Happily, participation in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and follow-up rehab and training have resulted in more productive, long-term alcohol abuse and alcoholism therapeutic outcomes, have helped diminish alcohol relapses, and have helped recovering alcohol dependent persons accomplish long lasting alcohol recovery.

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