We are mid way through a bank holiday weekend and I know that for many families this will have brought them misery as someone they love over indulges yet again on the drink or the drugs. In the coming weeks, in my job working in a rehab clinic, I will hear many stories of difficulties people have been experiencing this weekend – disasters, families in trauma, the lies told, people going missing, becoming abusive etc etc. It is happening in many homes as I write this on Sunday evening.
So What Happens Next?
So what happens next? Tomorrow is a bank holiday, as is Tuesday and the alcoholic or addict will wake up full of remorse – again. Some will get up early trying to get things back on track and hope that they will get away with it. Others will only surface later in the morning or even after that. There will be many apologies – I won’t do it again. We might mean it at the time but we can rarely stick to it.
Some of us will go on to repeat the same old destructive behaviour very soon. We might be able to stay off it for a short while because we don’t want to repeat the performance and the memory of our last experience and the damage caused is raw. But in reality we will do it again at some time and probably soon. Addiction is a progressive illness and it never gets better on its own.
Change Is Required – drink or drugs
For those of you reading this who recognise this pattern the sad truth is that the only way to break the cycle is for there to be a change. For many it has to become very painful before they are ready to make this change and then most people will need help in order to effect it.
Just stopping with will power is not a recipe for happiness as we will be constantly white knuckling it and thinking about drinking or using even if not actually doing it. We become in effect a ‘dry drunk’ – with all the same attitudes and feelings that we used to drink or use on, but just not taking the chemical to help us dull those feelings.
AA/NA/CA
One way that you can get the help to change is through going to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. If you take the big step of going along to a meeting near you, you will almost certainly be amazed at how many people there are in your area who need the help of these support groups.
If for any reason attending these groups is not sufficient to get you stopped (and staying stopped) then perhaps you need some residential rehab help. This is what many of us need and only when we get a complete change of environment, away from the temptation of drink or drugs, can we find the inner strength we need to really change.
Miracles Can Occur when off drink and drugs
Then miracles can occur. We can say sorry for what we have done in the past and mean it. And we can prove that this time we really are different and the best amends we can make is by showing the people who love us that we really won’t put them through those horrible and destructive experiences again.
The Haynes Clinic is a drug and alcohol rehab clinic offering detox and treatment for those suffering from addiction to alcohol, drugs and prescription medication.
Call 01462 851414 for confidential help and advice.
