Some people who live with an alcoholic get addicted to that person.
YES, you heard me right, they GET ADDICTED to the alcoholic in their lives.
They are dependent on that person. That is they depend on them to feel good about themselves. They are CODEPENDENT.
AN EXAMPLE OF CODEPENDENCY: If the alcoholic is in a bad mood so is the codependent. So the codependent will try and make the alcoholic happy. If the alcoholic is happy so is the codependent. How do you make an alcoholic happy..?
Loving someone who is addicted to alcohol can be a tortuous experience. An "emotional roller-coaster", "like living in hell", "alcohol seems to be his first love" are just some of the things I've heard from those who are trying to cope with loving an alcoholic.
Despite the different experiences people have of living with an alcohol dependent, what, in my experience, they all want is not just help for their loved one but help for themselves. C.P.Lehman in his book Help Me! I'm in love With An Addict gives the significant others of alcoholics the tools and confidence to get their lives back while offering support and encouragement to their loved one.
Is a member of your family an alcoholic and you don't even realize it? It pays to be able to recognize the signs as alcohol dependency caught early is much easier to treat than more advanced alcoholism.
Read signs of an alcoholic to discover the three major signs of alcohol dependency in a family member.
There's no easy way to figure out if your teen has an adolescent alcoholism problem.
As you'll see, many of the signs and symptoms of teen alcohol abuse can also be considered as typical adolescent behavior.
However, combined with your intuition, this list of signs of adolescent alcoholism is as good a place as any to start, if you are concerned about an adolescent's behavior.
An alcoholic intervention is a process in which the alcoholic is talked to by family members and friends concerning his drinking behavior and how his excessive, chronic, and irresponsible drinking has affected himself and virtually everyone associated with him or her.
For more on how to conduct an intervention, when not to undertake an intervention and 10 tips for a successful intervention, read alcoholism intervention.
Deborah Morrow, M.S. Addiction Psychology, is the director of treatment programs for The Alcoholism Guide website. In her practice, Deborah provides on-line coaching and support for those dependent on alcohol or who require other services such as relapse prevention or court mandated services. (Read More)
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