Think you might have a drinking problem? Here is some advice on battling the loneliness of addiction and entering recovery.

addiction

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life; good food, good company and, to a certain extent, good drink. However the latter can become problematic if you begin to develop a dependence on it: if you use alcohol (and to the same degree, drugs and other illegal substances) to help you to relax and unwind then the fun that you gain from drinking can transition into fun accompanied by a problem and, eventually just become a serious problem.

Addiction is one of the loneliest diseases: it’s like attending a party and no one turning up but you. As individuals become more reliant on alcohol or drugs they tend to withdraw from their family and friends and live increasingly isolated lives. This is often a two way decision, because as their addiction negatively impacts on their personality and behaviour, many of those family members and friends choose not to have the addict around them or in their lives anyway. Distanced from their friends and family, shame and stigma can often prevent addicts from reaching out and seeking help: instead they sink further into their addiction and further into their loneliness.

Many people assume that the opposite of alcoholism is sobriety: that the pay off is as simple as either choosing to be sober or choosing to be drunk. However, in reality, the opposite of alcoholism is actually connection. Alcoholics choose wherever possible to disconnect from people, and it is only when they step out of the fog of their addiction that they feel ready to reach out and reconnect or connect with people.

Realising that you have an addiction to alcohol and that you need to enter rehabilitation in order to recover from this problem can be a difficult realisation to make, and is almost never a decision that is easy. However once you have entered rehab you can begin to regain control of your life: and much of this will centre around making connections. You can grow to be more than your addiction and make connections with new people on a different level, based on who you are and not on your decision to seek sobriety or how long you have been sober for.

Read more at Rehabs.com.

Tagged:
About the Author

Publishes articles about everything from Sports to LGBTQ rights.