by Moongirl

Created on: December 10, 2010

Alcohol is a threat to the whole family of the alcoholic. The behavior of on alcoholic becomes increasingly unpredictable as the disease progresses. A family member never knows what to expect as the alcoholic becomes increasingly violent and their mental condition deteriorates. Once the brain becomes damaged to a certain extent the alcoholic begins to have blackouts where they do not remember what they did.

Being sober occurs less and less often as the physical addiction makes living without alcohol everyday emotionally impossible, with the alcoholic suffering physical withdraw often requiring hospitalization. Withdrawal should always be observed by medical personal for the safety of the alcoholic during the physical detoxification. The withdraw can cause seizures and death.

If an alcoholic can be made to seek treatment, they can become capable individuals and committed family members again. This will require an absolute commitment by the alcoholic and any family members that support the alcoholic. After the physical withdraw and as soon as possible, the whole family should seek counseling or become involved in Alcoholics Anonymous or another program of treatment from meetings infrequently to daily in-patient treatment.

Knowing that there is successful treatment makes letting the alcoholic suffer without treatment very difficult for their families while living with them can become increasingly difficult. For the treatment to work, the alcoholic has to commit to it because the treatment means different things for different people. The meaning is different because the plan to treat should fit the person and some people do not require as much help while other people can never get enough help. Each individual requires different amounts of help to get sober. Each family member reacts differently also. For the alcoholic, part of the process requires making amends to get rid of guilt that can be used to drink again. Many people get stuck and are unable to complete treatment because learning how to cope without alcohol and making up for things you did to others in the past can be too much. Part of alcoholism known as co-dependency makes the whole family operate inefficiently and an addictive behavior pattern can exist for every family member who does not get treatment and some may have to attend treatment later in life to make them feel right or get past their past and to make sure they do not repeat the pattern of alcohol addiction.

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