Alcoholics and Addicts suffer from a Disease – http://tudor8.com.au/index.php/alcoholism/
Getting help is in itself not difficult, however, one of the primary Mental symptoms is called Denial.
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Alcoholics and Addicts DID NOT choose to become Alcoholics or Addicts.
This is a Disease that has many moral connotations, caused by the behaviour and attitudes that Alcoholics and Addicts have while they are drinking or using. (The symptom “behaviour change while drinking or drugging”.)
Sadly persons suffering from Alcoholism / Addiction don’t ask for help until they have experienced a crisis of some sort. the early drinking and drug using period is usually enjoyable and without major crises. In the early times the person may be trying to find a sense of belonging and a way to overcome a sense of inadequacy or shyness. BUT – One of the outcomes of being an Alcoholic/Addict is that the person, without meaning to, gets into all sorts of trouble or crisis situations.
Everybody uses defence mechanisms to protect themselves from anxiety and stress or unacceptable or potentially harmful situations. Defence mechanisms are important and generally protect us, however for Alcoholics and Addicts, defence mechanisms can stop the person from getting help. A crisis (or sometimes it takes several crises), puts a crack in Denial or through our defence mechanisms and help show the reality of the drinking or drugging.
Common crises include:
- End of a relationship(s) including partners and friends and family
- Loss of employment
- Accidents – car accidents, falls etc.
- Assaults
- Other violence – women can often experience domestic or sexual violence. This is not the fault of the woman – she is a victim of both being an alcoholic and a victim of abuse
- Police contact – arrests
Any of these or many other sorts of crisis situations create a crack in the denial structure of the Alcoholic / Addict so that he or she can and or will ask for help.
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