For a person who is addicted to alcohol and trying to get sober, life can be ultra-challenging to say the least. Alcohol cravings are tough and the addiction is strong but there are enormous environmental factors that make staying sober seem like a constant fight for survival. Needless to say, many who try and stay abstinent from alcohol ultimately fail and return to drinking.
Let’s say that Bob has been drinking for many years, suffered many problems in life due to his use and abuse of alcohol, and has now decided that he must stop drinking for good and leave alcohol behind.
Maybe Bob begins recovery through a detox unit to safely withdraw from the alcohol, without suffering life threatening physical consequences, and attends self-help meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous which were designed to help a person overcome the urge to return to drinking. Regardless of how many meetings he attends or how hard he works to stay strong and resist the constant urge to drink, he may find himself constantly bombarded with enticements to relapse.
If Bob is a sports fan and he attends a sporting event he will undoubtedly face massive ads for alcohol around the stadium and at the concession stand. There may even be concession staff that travel through the aisles with a tray full of hot dogs and beer in case Bob doesn’t want to go to the actual stand. Unfortunately for Bob, the sporting event that he had planned on attending for enjoyment can ultimately turn into one big painful reminder of how badly he wants to drink.
If Bob decides to go to a concert he will likely encounter the same sort of scenario. He finds alcohol promotion everywhere and often a good majority of the crowd is drinking alcohol around him. Of course this depends on what kind of concert he decides to attend.
So Bob decides he will not go to concerts or sporting events. He does however have office parties after work where the guys from the office get together and socialize. But again Bob will be unable to attend because the guys usually meet at a bar of some type and the social event again turns to drinking. Bob has to turn down the many drinks offered to him and he feels dumb or weird for having to refuse what everyone else enjoys at ease. They seem to be able to drink socially and nothing ever happens, he thinks, but he knows this is not true for him.
When Bob is out of milk or needs gas he stops at the local convenience store where he passes through long aisles of beer and maybe whiskey behind the counter. Big beautiful ads displayed throughout the store and on the outside remind him of how “wonderful life is with alcohol.”
He goes to the grocery store and there is a beer and wine aisle with a huge selection of his favourite elixirs. His neighbour invites Bob over to a barbeque and upon arrival he finds a cooler full of beer and is offered one about every half hour since the tipsy neighbour forgets easily that Bob doesn’t drink.
At home he watches almost any major TV network and discovers advertisement after advertisement for alcohol with sultry woman and successful men having the time of their lives. Bob drives to work and passes billboard after billboard displaying these same sultry woman and men living a successful life while enjoying the very substance that had ruined his life.
Worse yet Bob may have a relative or family member of who drinks often so that Bob has to endure this constant trigger as well.
Bob lives in doubt and shame as to why he can’t just live “like everyone else” and be able to drink moderately and have a good time without letting it get out of hand.
Bob or anyone like Bob had better get intensive treatment designed to help him fully come to terms with his past, gain the true ability to confront life as it is, and gain the strength to set goals for himself with the tools to carry them through.
Alcoholism is extremely difficult to overcome. It can seem like all of life is against you and there is nothing but struggle and pain in being sober. While this is actually not true -because there is an amazing amount of beautiful things that appear in the life of a sober individual – a person trying to battle with cravings, guilt and depression associated with alcoholism will not be happy. Life may just be miserable and therefore, why not just have a drink?
At Narconon we understand the difficulties and dilemmas of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. At Narconon for almost fifty years we have helped alcoholics like Bob address the underlying factors which trapped them in addiction and left them facing continual battles to stay on the wagon. By helping the person handle physical factors such as cravings and by giving them the skills and integrity to live drug and alcohol free lives, Narconon enables people like Bob to attain a positive life. True recovery means that one is no longer left continually fighting internal pressure to take that "next drink." Rather, it means that one is free to pursue his or her goals, to honestly enjoy family and friends and, most of all, to succeed and be happy.
"I am proud of being able to help people that fall into the trap of alcoholism and I know that anyone can have a beautiful new start if they are truly recovered. Life can be good again."
– Derry Hallmark