6 Tips To Help Family Members of People with Alcohol Use Disorder

This is a guest post from Efosa Airuehia MD on alcohol use disorder. 

There is no singular treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder. A comprehensive approach to treatment yields the best results. Alcohol addiction management can be done, inpatient, or outpatient. This choice depends on the severity, as well as on individual psychosocial factors.

Regardless of the setting for treatment, there are various facets of treatment. One often overlooked component of treatment is the involvement of the family. It is well known that families play a large part in the recovery process of someone struggling with alcohol.

People with alcohol addiction usually have family members and friends involved in the process. This involvement may be positive, negative, or both. Often, there is initial support for their recovery. Unfortunately, this may eventually translate to frustration and despair from family members.

Loved ones usually have questions and concerns regarding alcohol addiction. As such, they also need support to understand the problems and give them the motivation to continue to remain supportive. The ordeal of seeing a loved one struggle with alcohol takes a toll on many families. Hence, family members also need to take care of themselves.

There are many ways family members can keep themselves going so that they continually provide love and support for people with alcohol addiction.

Let us talk about some of these.

1.  Learn About Alcohol Use Disorder

Family members usually struggle with why a loved one becomes “hooked” on alcohol. In a lot of cases, they often think they should be able to “shake off” the addiction, or “just stop!” Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Addiction is a brain disease with familial tendencies (it can be inherited).

It is important family members are aware of this. Also, they should be made aware of the fact that relapses do happen. There is a belief that addiction is due to weakness. Education can, thus, help families escape the blame game.

Families learning how addiction stems from changes in brain chemistry might help them let go of their anger. This process will help them focus on healing. There are tons of free online resources that give a good account of substance use disorders.

2. Managing Expectations

Families are usually relieved when their loved one gets into treatment. This hope can slowly shift to frustration, though. Changes in the patterns of addiction can take a long time. Many family members do not understand this as they expect a quick change with treatment.

Recovery is a process and should be understood as such. Relapses are frequent, but these can cause family disappointments. Families need to understand these to help them cope with the pitfalls. With addictions, things do not always improve as quickly as family members expect.

3. Engaging in Personal Interests and Hobbies

Having a loved one with alcohol addiction can be draining for family members. They need to keep in touch with their happiness. This contact can be in the form of work, personal interests, or hobbies. Finding time to do something fun, relaxing, and fulfilling goes a long way. Such activities may include cooking, writing, playing an instrument, or photography.

4. Regular Exercise

Studies show exercise is beneficial to people’s physical and mental well being. There are huge benefits to getting some cardio activities regularly. Exercise is proven to help with anxiety, depression, and stress management. Aerobic activities help release “happy brain chemicals.”

5. Therapy Sessions

Alcohol addiction can cause severe issues in families. Secondhand drinking refers to the impacts on an individual brought about by someone’s drinking behaviors. These actions can lead to verbal abuse, marital issues, sexual assault, neglect, or bullying.

The scars from the effects of drinking heavily can take time to heal. Family members may struggle with these for years. In a lot of cases, therapy is needed to help ease these rifts. Private therapy sessions go a long way to help improve things. Also, family therapy sessions can be beneficial. They help to break down the feelings of distrust and guilt.

6. Support Groups

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization of men and women who have a problem with alcohol. It is the oldest and largest alcohol support group in the world. There is also a counterpart for families of people who have an alcohol addiction – Al-Anon. This group is a worldwide fellowship that offers a program of recovery for the families and friends of people with alcohol use disorder. Alateen is part of the Al-Anon fellowship designed for the younger relatives and friends through the teen years.

The idea of these support groups is to provide help for families. These programs provide a safe, non-judgmental space for family members. The goal is to provide family members with a better quality of life, lower levels of stress, and a better understanding of addiction.