These five steps will aid you in helping an alcoholic recover and return to normal life

Alcoholism is a disease to the society. According to NIH, almost 85 percent people were drinking beyond the normal limit which qualifies them as alcohol abusers or more commonly known as alcoholics. Alcoholism is not restricted to an age, it is prevalent in all age groups from underage drinking to adult alcoholism ranging from ages up to 70 plus years. There is no limit to the alcohol consumption to these people. Similarly there is no limit to the devastation that alcoholism brings to a family. The divorce rate and the crime rate has increased in the areas where alcoholics are prevalent.

The Devastation of Alcohol

                Alcoholism is devastating to the family of the alcoholic and to the society in general. There are a lot of TV shows right now that have highlighted the topic over and over again. We have seen that when an adult member of the family, especially one of the parents start drinking, the consequences of their alcoholism are harsher for their family. In the TV show, Shameless, the main character is an alcoholic whose wife leaves him because of his habit and he has five kids after him that not only fend for themselves but also for him and his habit. These children have no parents to guide them because their father is incapacitated to offer anything under intoxication. They are engaged in part time jobs, they miss school and even turn to borrowing, stealing and bartering to pay their basic utility bills. Imagine that now in almost 2 households out of every 5 in the country. NIH has indicated that it is a possibility that even the children start drinking as a result of influence factor or under stress.

How to Help?

                In moments of clarity between the intoxicated states, the alcoholic might feel bouts of guilt and even vow to clean up their act and become sober. Those times might be few but there is still hope for them. If you want to help them sober up and return to normal, then you have to take the first step and lead them to become better. It is not going to be easy but if you are determined enough, you might just make all your lives better again.

Steps to Help an Alcoholic

1. Find the Cause – You know that everything happens for a reason and your family member who started drinking also had a reason. So try and find that reason. Check out with their colleagues, their friends, and any person you think they talked to, check their email, texts; anything that could help you figure out what led them to drink. The advantage of figuring out the reason is that you can know why and approach them from that direction and help them reverse the impact of that reason.
2. 2.       Equip Yourself – If you want to help the person who is an alcoholic, you have to be ready for that mission. Read, consult experts, find out how alcoholism works, and see the online blogs and video about recovering alcoholics and how they recovered. It will help you to have as much information as you can to deal with the family member. You cannot start it as a blind project. It is not a trial and error experiment. This is your one long shot to push your way through and get your family member or friend out of their bad habit so you need to be prepared for everything.
3. Garner Support – You’re brave and courageous to try to help your alcoholic family member or friend but remember that you cannot handle everything alone and you’re not going to be with them all the time. If you are successful in making them leave drinking, it is still a long way to go before they actually leave it. You will have to go through their withdrawal and remission with them so it would be better to have support. Gather all the people willing to help to look after the person. Ask them to put up an intervention for the alcoholic person, look after them when you’re not home and talk to them.
4. No Expectations – This person that you’re helping has drunk himself to stupor. If he cared about you, he or she wouldn’t have done this. So, if you’re expecting them to be grateful or cooperative, don’t. They are going to be the meanest, rudest people alive when you will try to get them to stop drinking. They will be very aggressive about it, physically and verbally and if you have expectations, you will be disappointed and that is why you cannot have any expectation. This is the part where you need subjectivity.
5. 5.       Be Resilient– There will be times when you will need to be soft and supportive with them and offer them a helping hand. Just let them know that you are there for them. There will be more times when they will be rude to you, hit you, call you names for trying to make them stop drinking. These are the time that you need to be resilient. You have to stand your ground and empty all the bottles in the sink if need be or call the police and have them arrested.

Helping an alcoholic is more of a choice like drinking alcohol is. The only difference is that you are sober and making a conscious choice that will hurt you in the process and take a lot from you as well. it is a physically, emotionally and psychologically tiring task but once you have undertaken it, you cannot back down and you have to believe that you’ll be successful.  If your loved one is ready to seek treatment, contact Intervention Drug Rehab Association today.