Don’t hold it against yourself. Sobriety is scary! You have lost your ability to live without alcohol because it has chemically taken over your life. You’re afraid to quit because you don’t know what sobriety will mean yet. There are great wonders in store for you. If you know you have a problem with alcohol, the time to act is now.
You aren’t sure what alcoholism means or if you need to call yourself an alcoholic
Most people aren’t aware of nationally recognized drinking standards. They wouldn’t know that their average night of “getting drunk” actually qualifies as binge drinking or that the reasons they drink aren’t normal like other people, but alcoholic. Even when we are aware that we have a problem with alcohol, we can be unsure about what exactly that problem is. We don’t know if we are truly what might be alcoholic or if we have just a temporary issue in our relationship with alcohol. More importantly, we aren’t sure of what alcoholism truly means in the eyes of others and in how we view ourselves. Due to the misinformed stigma and shame of alcoholism, people are afraid to quit drinking because they are afraid of what it means to be someone who has a problem with alcohol and has to quit drinking.
Alcoholism is a disease of the mind, the body, and the spirit. Psychologically, alcoholism indicates that your brain has developed an obsession for craving alcohol because it has become chemically dependent on alcohol. Physically, alcoholism indicates that your body has developed an allergy to alcohol- it needs alcohol to function, but it needs more alcohol every time it consumes alcohol. Spiritually, alcoholism indicates that you have a malady, a spiritual need to fill a void in your life with an external substance.
You aren’t alone. Many people have problems with alcohol. Many people quit drinking alcohol. Many people call themselves an alcoholic, because many, many people recover.
You aren’t sure you will be able to live without alcohol
What will you do for fun? How will you meet new people and bond with them? What will life actually look like without alcohol? The future of sobriety is vague and unknown. We live many years of our lives under the careful watch of alcoholism. To many people, alcohol could be called a friend, even a companion. Alcohol is a way of life, it can be a hobby, for others it can be a career. Living without alcohol is remarkably easy- you just don’t drink. For a daily, even hourly drinker, not drinking, is an abstract concept. Overtime you will learn how to live without alcohol. Your fear of living without it is just an indication of how deeply you need alcohol, on different levels.
You aren’t sure you’ll be able to stay sober if you actually get sober
Failure is a deterrent to any approach towards success. Relapse is always a possibility in recovery from alcoholism because alcoholism is categorically a relapsing and remitting disease. HOwever, relapse doesn’t have to happen. If relapse does happen, its okay. We just keep coming back and taking our recovery one day at a time.
Everybody is capable of changing and recovering from alcoholism. The programs at Design For Change encourage holistic healing for the whole person approach to treatment, ensuring that patients gain their strength, courage, and build a spiritual program for living through the twelve steps and other therapeutic methods. For information, call us today at (877) 267-3646.
