Just Giving Up Drinking Alcohol May Not Be Enough

Just giving up alcohol may not be enough for those hoping to find a satisfactory life in recovery. After all, many addicts will likely get periods where they are able to quit drinking alcohol; at least in the early days. Doing something particularly bad while drunk or getting really sick and being reminded of the alcohol health risks will usually be enough for the alcoholic to quit for a few days. Most of us drunks can make it through alcohol detoxification if the motivation is strong enough. We may even stay sober for a short while at certain times during our drinking career; the problem is that we soon realise that just giving up drinking alcohol is not enough.

Why Giving up Drinking Alcohol may not be enough

The reason why many people turn to addiction is because life is not satisfactory. Something is missing. Most addicts won't be able to put a finger on exactly what is wrong with their lives; they just know that when the drink life seems a lot more manageable - that was how I felt anyway. Drinking can work well in the beginning as a form of self-medication; suddenly that hole in the soul is filled. Unfortunately it doesn't last forever. Eventually drink just adds to the problem and it comes to the stage where everything wrong in a drunk's life can be blamed on the drink.

When people get sober they are often disappointed to find that all their problems haven't disappeared right away. In those early days of sobriety we can certainly appreciate that life is a whole lot better but as time wears on we are left with many of the problems we had before we began to drink. Maybe like me you find that you feel a bit uncomfortable around other people or that you are far too easily offended. Perhaps life feels far too difficult and sobriety begins to feel like a trap with only one possible means of escape.

When we discover that giving up drinking alcohol doesn't put everything right it can come as a huge disappointment. We can feel cheated and so can other people around us. They believed us when we said that life would be good once we put down the drink. The reality is that it doesn't work like that. If the only problem was the drink then we probably wouldn't have ended up in the mess in the first place - most of us were looking for an escape. If we don't now face and try to fix those things that were making life miserable we will likely have an uncomfortable time in recovery.

The Good News

The good news is that we can have a fantastic life in recovery. Progress cannot happen while we are still drinking but once the glass is out of our hands we can begin to deal with life a lot better. For some of us it will mean learning new coping skills or developing new means of support. Other addicts may need to seek professional help for untreated mental health problems. Once we do those things though, then the beautiful life after alcohol that was meant for us can be ours for the taking.